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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

People in Council houses should be reassessed…

352 replies

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 20:44

I want to tread carefully. But then again I’m pissed off.

I live in a 3 bed house with a mortgage. On our estate there is a selection of Council houses. I have no issue with people having Council homes, people fall on hard times and DESERVE support.

however what really grinds my gears, is on our estate we have one Council house which have 2 brand new Audi’s. Top of the range. Just got back off holiday to Florida. Weekends away. they pay £350 a month to the council for this 4 bed property. (They are very loud about telling everyone this)

it really really winds me up. We have a COST of living crisis, people are going to be struggling to pay bills but yet there are people who are in these Council houses on holidays and brand new cars.

it doesn’t seem fair. Surely Council houses need to be regularly means tested… How can this happen? Able to afford 2 brand new cars but cannot afford to pay their own rent/mortgage!

or am I just being a moany witch!

OP posts:
DubLynn · 30/08/2022 21:00

@tabulahrasa how is it not support of subsidised? I was under the impression your rent was tiny compared to what you'd be paying in a comparable private rental.

I'm in Ireland though so maybe your system is different.

gogohmm · 30/08/2022 21:01

Perhaps the rents need to be looked at but I'm guessing there's more to this one

Quveas · 30/08/2022 21:01

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 20:57

@x2boys You don’t believe me? Ok go away. I talk about my finances until the cows come home to anyone. Why does it have to be a secret to know how much someone pays for things?? Just because you wouldn’t do it doesn’t mean someone else would.

It doesn't need to be a secret. But seriously, who bloody cares? Mostly it seems you, and only so you can compare yourself to others and whine about them. You are being ridiculous.

FarmerRefuted · 30/08/2022 21:01

YABU.

If council housing was means tested and you would get booted out once you were earning over some arbitrary threshold then where is the incentive to further your education/training/career? Why would someone take more hours or a promotion or go to university to retrain if it meant losing their home?

Then you'd have communities suffering as people wouldn't put down any roots, people moving in and out all the time, and because they have no roots in the area they're not going to care about the area or the people in it. Why would they if they're going to be moving on?

Council houses/Council estates would become sink areas with no investment, no amenities, and no prospects. Why would we as a society want to return to having slum neighbourhoods when we should be working to eradicate that type of existence?

Council housing is for anyone who cares to fill in the form and priority of allocation is based on need not means.

Sounds like you're jealous of your neighbour.

PS: before anyone mentions it, Council housing is not free or subsidised either.

richcouncilhousetenantfreehouse · 30/08/2022 21:01

There are no flats here. And I'm disabled. I couldn't do stairs.

What a completely stupid inane goady post.

Original poster
AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:02

Very strange people on here. There is a lack of social housing, people need social housing. So people in social housing should be reviews financially to see if they can be moved on (WITH SUPPORT) to free Council houses for others.

with low costs for Council houses people should be SUPPORTED by the government to make better financial choices to save their money.

The government has a lot to answer for. People need more financial education and support to make better choices.

OP posts:
CeeJay81 · 30/08/2022 21:02

I'm in a council house. Yes we are lucky, there is actually a reasonable number of council houses here, not its easy to get one but easier than many places I've lived. It's £456 we pay for a 3 bed though.

Isonthecase · 30/08/2022 21:03

It would be nice if the rent was means tested up to market rent and the additional rent went to providing more properties for the people who do genuinely need it at that point. It does seem unfair to turf people out of their home.

CeeJay81 · 30/08/2022 21:03

I do get where your coming from though. We are on a low income and if we could afford to buy we would.

FarmerRefuted · 30/08/2022 21:03

Council housing isn't free and many tenants pay full rent.

In many areas it is no cheaper than private rentals.

Private rents are artifically inflated.

Council housing is not for profit, any profits generated go back into Council coffers, and the housing has paid for itself many times over from the rents paid, rents which fund the repairs, etc.

user1471556818 · 30/08/2022 21:03

Horrible post

x2boys · 30/08/2022 21:03

RootinandTootin · 30/08/2022 20:59

My neighbours don’t work, own a car and a converted camper van. Have a pedigree dog and 3 pedigree cats. A tv the size of a cinema screen and can afford to smoke. It pisses me off that I work very hard all week to scrape by (especially now the electric and heating have gone up) and I’m on not a bad wage. Why should my tax pay for that? Benefits are for emergencies not to buy luxuries. If you can’t work then I get it but if you can you should. I don’t blame the neighbours I blame the government for making it easy

This is nonsense unless they are on top disability benefits for several people ,they wouldn't be dble to afford that, my son gets high rate care and high rate mobility DLA for severe disabilities and we get associated benefits my dh also works full time we pay full rent and can barely keep our heads above water .

richcouncilhousetenantfreehouse · 30/08/2022 21:04

I worked my fucking ass off in that council house. I made it a home. I furnished it and carpeted it and decorated it and I put myself and three kids through university while I lived there.

But because I had a bmw we should've been out on the streets. And how would that have enabled me to provide opportunities for my kids? I've (in age order) a nurse, a doctor and nearly a teacher. They're all giving back. I work in the third sector. I would not have been able to do ANY of that without security of tenure and a fair rent.

vodkaredbullgirl · 30/08/2022 21:04

I'm in the South West and my rent is £505 a month for a 3 bed house.

User36373729472847273 · 30/08/2022 21:04

Where do your suggest the people in the council housing move to?? I mean there is a housing crisis with very few private lets available and what is available is through the roof cost wise (or they are here in Cornwall anyway!)

council housing has never been reserved for those on the lowest income. It is not means tested. I bet your point to a degree but are you honestly saying they should be kicked out their homes? Council house is most often a home for life!

many many years ago I think a third of people in the U.K. were in council housing, it was easier to get a property and it was pretty normal. When Thatcher came along and did the right to buy and no new council houses built, it screwed the whole system.

I grew up in a council house. I went on holidays albeit mainly in this country and had nice ish cars.

Original poster
AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:05

I’m not jealous or bitter of anyone. But there is a massive crisis going on and imagine cramming your 4 person family into a one room b&b while you AWAIT a Council house while getting food from a food bank…

and there are people in these Council houses who could maybe afford private rent if they didn’t spend thousands on cars and holidays.

OP posts:
richcouncilhousetenantfreehouse · 30/08/2022 21:05

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:02

Very strange people on here. There is a lack of social housing, people need social housing. So people in social housing should be reviews financially to see if they can be moved on (WITH SUPPORT) to free Council houses for others.

with low costs for Council houses people should be SUPPORTED by the government to make better financial choices to save their money.

The government has a lot to answer for. People need more financial education and support to make better choices.

Where are you going to move them to?

tabulahrasa · 30/08/2022 21:05

There isn’t enough housing stock because governments sold it off for pennies, not because some people don’t rent privately who could.

FarmerRefuted · 30/08/2022 21:05

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:02

Very strange people on here. There is a lack of social housing, people need social housing. So people in social housing should be reviews financially to see if they can be moved on (WITH SUPPORT) to free Council houses for others.

with low costs for Council houses people should be SUPPORTED by the government to make better financial choices to save their money.

The government has a lot to answer for. People need more financial education and support to make better choices.

It is not the fault of social housing tenants that there is a shortage of social housing and they should not be punishes with eviction just to satisfy your spite. Direct your ire at the government and write to your MP to demand that they lend their support to building initiatives in order provide more of it.

richcouncilhousetenantfreehouse · 30/08/2022 21:06

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:05

I’m not jealous or bitter of anyone. But there is a massive crisis going on and imagine cramming your 4 person family into a one room b&b while you AWAIT a Council house while getting food from a food bank…

and there are people in these Council houses who could maybe afford private rent if they didn’t spend thousands on cars and holidays.

Maybe afford ...
If they didn't ...

Deserving and undeserving poor. Ship them to the workhouses.

EscapeRoomToTheSun · 30/08/2022 21:06

Yeh sure of course they do

Mydogbog · 30/08/2022 21:07

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:05

I’m not jealous or bitter of anyone. But there is a massive crisis going on and imagine cramming your 4 person family into a one room b&b while you AWAIT a Council house while getting food from a food bank…

and there are people in these Council houses who could maybe afford private rent if they didn’t spend thousands on cars and holidays.

This was me and I don't think people on this post see this side.

I saw one women with 6 children in a hostel her husband died and left his house to another women.

She deserved a home. There is no homes. So they should kick the people who can afford cars which are a years worth of rent out.

InChocolateWeTrust · 30/08/2022 21:07

Yabu if you think they are somehow breaking rules, as they likely are not. Many council tenants are on lifelong tenancies and often the circumstances that made them eligible for the housing help initially are no longer a factor in their lifes.

Yanbu to think council housing should not be for life, and if people financial situations improve to where they can afford private rent, they should be encouraged to move on so that a family more in need can benefit.

Council housing is a subsidy. I can't think of any other state provided benefit, provided to some people and not others, that is given indefinitely to people who arguably no longer need it. Our government is skint, I'd rather the value of the council housing subsidy be better used on the families most in need.

richcouncilhousetenantfreehouse · 30/08/2022 21:08

As to make better financial choices. Are you for fucking real?

I was literally out with the clothes we stood up in. I had to work (yes, work!) and claim benefits and commute miles to a job (60 miles each way) that paid minimum wage. Where the fuck were my better financial choices coming from? The sky!?

FarmerRefuted · 30/08/2022 21:08

AlwaysAnnoyed · 30/08/2022 21:05

I’m not jealous or bitter of anyone. But there is a massive crisis going on and imagine cramming your 4 person family into a one room b&b while you AWAIT a Council house while getting food from a food bank…

and there are people in these Council houses who could maybe afford private rent if they didn’t spend thousands on cars and holidays.

The private rental sector which is unregulated, overpriced, chock full of rogue landlords, and specialises in unsecured tenancies that could see you evicted on nothing more than a whim.

That private sector?

Sign me up, it sounds wonderful!