To think councils should move people to smaller properties when kids move out?

[Faithin]

There's a huge lack of 3 bedroom social housing where I live (and everywhere I think?)
a lot of the people living in the 3 bed places are usually just 1 or 2 adults as the kids have grown up and moved out. Meanwhile there's lots of young families overcrowded in 1 and 2 bed flats with no garden etc
aibu to think those that actually need the space should be in the houses and those who don't should be made to downsize?
as the waiting list is so long, what tends to happen is peoples children are in their teens by the time they are moved into a 3 bed property, the grow up and leave within a couple of years and the parents stay, so the vast majority are under-occupied.

Exactly this.

It’s their home. They are settled and comfortable and they will likely get less space for more money. Plus the hassle of moving house, getting rid of half your possessions to fit and often a sentimental attachment to a home where you brought up your family. People don’t want to move away from existing support networks of neighbours and family and often. Councils do offer incentives to downsize, but if they are happy, then effectively the Council would have to evict them.

Look, it’s not even about Council tenants - you get the same discussions about elderly homeowners sitting in 4 bedroom properties with gardens, while families are desperate to move into larger homes. Same issues apply.

I don’t know where people live but in my part of London there are loads of 1 bed flats way more than 2/3/4 beds significantly more!

Instead of forcing people out of their home the government should increase the supply of social housing. You are looking at the problem from the wrong angle and blaming the wrong people. The government has sold off council houses and doesn't build enough new ones with an increasing population so demand outstrips supply.

Yanbu. It’s unethical that familes with young children are housed in tiny 1-2 bed flats while 3 bed houses have one occupant.

I get that people may orefer to stay in the 3 bed inatead of downsizing. Who wouldn’t?! But it isn’t their house, it’s the taxpayer’s house and it should be lent to whoever needs it most, not given to one person for life.

Don’t even get me started on the huge profits some people make with ‘right to buy’.

What is wrong with you of course it is their home!

I think there is a lot of emotion tied to this and that’s why tenancies for life are being scaled out. I personally believe social housing should be reviewed annually as to the need and if the need no longer exists then end the tenancy And move to either a smaller property or to a private rental if income has increased past the level you’d currently be eligible/

my opinion is they should be there to fill a need for as long as it is an actual need/

Well there are some quite nice 1/2 bed flats in this area with gardens. I lived in one myself at one point with 2 dc.

I'll quite happily move into one like that again when the dc leave home. I'll not go into some tower block though or somewhere with no outdoor space

No, it's their home. My aunt lives in social housing in a 2 bed, her DS has moved out but has complex mental health issues so stays over often. She's also paid in rent over the years circa £210k which is much more than the house is worth on the market even with repairs included, if she had been fortunate enough to be able to club together a deposit years ago she would happily own the family home for substantially less than she's actually paid and be able to live in it for life and her son get money once it sold. As is that's not the case.

i certainly don't hate those people as I am one of them, I live in social housing myself and receive benefits as I am a single parent with a disabled child

Yes, people's needs should be assessed every 5 years, I know people that got houses or flats 20 or 30 years ago when they needed them, now they are all earning good money and have 2nd houses abroad, its rife but obviously kept quiet. They could afford to now rent privately. It's a micky take

I think my parents would benefit from a smaller house I suggested putting in for the new build but they like their home so that's where they will be stay.

What a great idea, that will definitely encourage people to better themselves 👍 🙄

If I were to take a job with a pay just over the threshold which would then double my living costs, I just wouldn't take the job, it wouldn't be viable.

I agree

The amount it would cost to set up a system and conduct annual reviews would be eye watering, not to mention when we look at other judgements made as part of gov initiatives it would undoubtedly be very unfair. Depending where you live there aren't actually always a tonne of 1 or 2 bed properties, there are hardly any here and the wait list for a one bed is longer than for a family home. The better thing surely would be for the gov to actually address the mess that is housing.

How do you suggest they renew tenancies annually ,?have you a idea of the time and money that would take?

Yeah good idea. Worked well in the Soviet Union and allocated housing works efficiently in China now. Probably equally good in North Korea if only we knew.

You are overlooking the fact that some people can never have a mortgage or own a hom e. They shouldn't be forced to be transient.

They need to build more three beds. But also rather then evicting people from the three beds once they only need one or two why not just put the rent to market value rather than the normal lower rents proving there is someone smaller available for them.

Its Encouragement to move or if they don’t want to, ring fence the money towards building more three bedroom houses.

Yes, let's give tenants a shell of a property, have them floor and decorate it, purchase furniture to fit that house and then decide to turf everyone out annually and start again. Very smart

I wasn't referring to you OP. I just get the feeling that there are a lot of people on here who think that people in social housing have no right to family life and they do tend to come out on threads like this.

The problem is that private rental is so prohibitive that once people get social housing they are able to have a bit of stability in their lives and some people seem to resent this.

The reality is that there is not enough social housing, the private rental market is appalling and the housing market even worse. Until something is done about this things will only get worse.

The answer is to free up housing stock such as Airbnb. Vast amounts of housing is being taken out of the housing pool for people wanting to make a quick buck. The answer is not to throw older people out of their homes.

That goes for private tenants too. Can be forced to move for many reasons. Picking up their whole lives and having to move to the other side of cities because the landlord wants to sell or move back in.

Ok maybe not annually but every two years or five years, whatever the,point remains. For me it should not be for life, but based on current need.

sure there will be some folks who don’t want to better themselves to keep their council house.but I don’t believe that’s the majority and if your kids grow up then you don’t need three bed anymore if just a couple. And I grew up council and my parents clung on to their three bed. They could also have afforded a one bed private rent.

@Faithin are all the flats in your block actually still 'council' flats? I live in a 1950s council block. 28 flats - only about 6 are still council owned. The rest were bought up due to Right to Buy. Some the owners live in them, some are privately rented out (we are in one of those). A lot of people assume I live in a 'council flat' but I don't - I live in a private rental.
Your neighbours might be crammed into small flats but it do you know if they are all actually council flats?