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.

My home isn't too small but it's completely unsuitable because my child is disabled and it's in a huge block- I didn't know he was going to have a disability because I am not psychic. Not was I a single parent when I had them, and the intention was always to stay here a couple of years and then be in a position to move to private rent or mortgage, but life doesn't always happen the way you intent it to.

"It's still their home. It may not belong to them, but it's their home. Rental tenants (in private or social rent) have homes"

Only social housing tenants have a lifetime tenancy, if you private let you are paying for the privilege of house sitting, you have to ask permission to breathe and it will never be your home because you have the threat of eviction hanging over your head. I would love the security of a home but for those of us stuck in the private rental trap it will never be

Councils should be building far more one bed homes specifically suitable for elderly people, there just aren't enough options for them. Who would want to move to a flat surrounded by noisy young families in their old age?

Golden oldies don't always want a one bedroom flat! If an adult child or grandchild needs to stay a second bedroom is not a luxury. Councils should be building two as well as one-bedroom homes.

Which is why we need more council homes

I thought there was news on this a few years ago, you had to rent a spare room out or something? I can't recall what happened.

In theory, yes, this should happen. But in practice as others have said many people have made them their homes so why should they downsize/move when they've lived there all their lives?

I've got a close ex friend who lives in a 3 bedroom (originally 2 bedrooms but she made it into 3 bedrooms) house and she likes it as it's a decent size and has a decent sized garden and parking too. She's lived there for years and has 2 adult children who are now not living with her and has just had her first grandchild. She's had help from the council with e.g. double glazing etc but has worked hard to decorate it herself. I doubt she'd want to move to a smaller property just to give others a chance to move into her house.

YANBU

I was in a 1 bed flat with my teenage DD whilst the elderly couple down the road was in a 4 bed council house.

I’m now (years later) in a 2 bed place but my neighbour is a single women on her own in a 3 bedroom.

I don’t think they should be kicked out or moved somewhere they don’t want to go but more needs to be done to encourage them to downsize, especially if they have more than 1 extra bedroom.

The issue also is generally speaking you are looking at flats instead, and the majority of the older generation do not like flats, think they will all be big tower blocks with hallways that smell like pee, with no lifts causing accessibility issues. Most people still want outdoor space of some kind.

I understand your logic, but there needs to be a massive reinvestment of availability for accommodation for older folks that have an incentive for them to want to move.

Older gen would also be wary of moving away from a support system of neighbours and other family.

I'd happily move to a 1 bed house or bungalow (if there were any available, which there aren't), but a flat? Nope. Lived in a flat before, never, ever again.

Well - it is their home and they have likely been there sometime. They will have social networks, and maybe their jobs might fall apart if they are moved further away. The LA will have a contract with them which no doubt says that they cannot boot anyone out except under strict conditions - e.g. non-payment of rent, criminal behaviour etc. And quite right too.

I strongly disapprove of the idea that if you are in social housing you can be shunted around like a parcel for the purposes of some sort of social engineering, while if you are an owner-occupier you retain the choice to live where you wish and to keep your spare rooms for when your children visit or during the university vacations. .

However, I understand the concern of the OP, as it is not the best use of available resources. It would be good if LAs could offer those in unoccupied properties the option of moving to another property (perhaps with incentives - e.g. rent free 3 months), but this depends on the LA having sufficient stock of suitable smaller properties, and this would need to include "normal" housing rather than just sheltered elderly accommodation. How might LAs create this stock when they are seriously underfunded?

The solution is to build more social housing, of all sizes, obviously! Everything that's been built in my area recently is private development with (sometimes) a small proportion of social housing to pacify the council. The housing list is a mile long so those properties are filled immediately and the council are building nothing to even things out.

Of course the new builds are bought by landlords and rented out at twice the cost of the social housing, benefiting no one but the landlords. I realise it's lack of money which prevents the council building but it's so bloody short sighted, people desperately need affordable housing and the council could be massively increasing their rental income by providing it.

As always in this country it's all just appallingly badly managed and nothing is ever planned for beyond each government's 5 year term. No one in power ever seems to be able to join the dots, it's so fucking frustrating

@lannistunut

You don't seem to get the concept of beggars can't be choosers

If you're relying on someone else to house you, it's a bit tough when you no longer need larger space to be moved onto a smaller property.

The bedroom tax was supposed to make a difference by persuading people to downsize as their children moved out, however as many parents know children tend to come and go a few times before they move out for good.

A big problem for social housing is the very elderly people who won't move into sheltered accommodation. They often can't get upstairs any more and sleep downstairs using a commode or a downstairs toilet, There might be a 200 foot garden which they can't even get into and goes wild unless the landlord cuts the grass, typically just the first 20 foot or so. These are large family homes.

Some landlords are realising that people can't face moving into a tiny bedsit from a large house and having to shed all their possessions, so they are increasingly making sheltered accommodation flats instead of bedsits, but even that and financial incentives aren't enough to persuade people to move there.

It's a very difficult situation.

My sister is in a very large 2 bed house with huge garden. She is disabled and hasn’t been upstairs in her house in 2 years. Luckily the bathroom is downstairs. The housing association block every swap she finds. She’s desperate for a bungalow as she is only going to get worse as she gets older. She’s currently 36. No bungalows ever get built. So she’s forced to keep paying bedroom tax thst she can’t really afford.

Oh our council also likes to create "'hubs" that nobody really wants.,must be the in thing!

Someone's personal address is their home. Ownership has nothing to do with it. Please tell me you are not a landlady, as if you are you are a dreadful one.

If an adult child or grandchild needs to stay a second bedroom is not a luxury.

Of course having a spare room is a luxury!

OP, the fact that your child is in unsuitable accommodation is down to successive governments not investing in building what you need. It's not the fault of the people who are renting already. You can't expect to just take their homes because you want it!

lots of older people do not want to move into a 1 bed flat as the living area is often tiny and no garden. loads of retired people love gardening and outdoor space is valuable they could do with building bungalows with small gardens.
also some blocks of flats frequently have lifts not working leaving elderly to all intents and purposes housebound, they can be noisy and sometimes scary
small blocks of retirement flats with six -ten flats and a lift per staircase would be better for the older person especially if they had a small balcony
it is really hard to make new friends after 60 so people also do not want to move out of area and that in a city may mean even 2 miles away
in our village there are some lovely little semi detached cottage bungalows ramps to front and back doors courtyard size gardens, a full kitchen, a decent size lounge diner big enough for a table for 4 and a sofa plus another chair bookcase tv etc, a good size bedroom with 2 built in wardrobes a bathroom and a large hall cupboard, big enough for a wheelchair inside the house ie the rooms are not poky, also actually big enough for a couple so someone could move in at 60 and stay until really can't manage even with carers. we need to build more of these on bus routes so people can stay independent when they can't drive anymore

The notion that it isn't your home if you rent is batshit. Do home 'owners' not have a home until they've paid back the mortgage lender?

100% they should move them to smaller properties

Not unoccupied - underoccupied of course.

Council or housing association tenants still deserve homes 🙄they pay their rent in exchange for their home, just like everyone else

It's not odd, it's not their home in the sense that it belongs to them.
They were allocated the housing at subsidised rates due to their needs at the time. When that need no longer exists then someone else who requires it should have it

This!!!

@misssunshine4040 council housing is not subsidised