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.

You don't understand what social housing is. It is not 'someone else housing you' it is society housing its own people. British people used to have access to housing built and rented out by the state. Our whole housing market was far better when this was the case. All of us were more secure, those who owned homes and those who did not.

They are not beggars, they are social housing tenants.

Either you are a free market right-winger or you are unhappy someone has got something you have not.

Of course if Mrs T had not sold off the social housing stock at knock-down prices, there would be more options available.

If they give people lifetime tenancies then it's just that. Council's fault. I work within the community and see so many elderly people in 3 plus bedroom houses that live in just 1 room, but at their age could not bare to move. It's not even that they are particularly happy there, I am sure they would prefer one of those places with other elderly people so they have company. It is just the hassle and stress that would be involved with packing up their whole lifes and moving.

But why on earth should she move out?!

My ex best friend's DM lived for years in a 3 bedroom council home and moved there when her children were children/teens from a rented flat above a shop. She stayed there for years with 3 older children and 1 much younger (my friend) and then naturally stayed there afterwards whilst she had grandchildren who occasionally came to stay.

She was encouraged by her DC to 'stay in the house' for presumably it was worth something but she never did right to buy. The council eventually did a deal with her and rehoused her in Essex (by the sea) in a smaller property but obviously a much cheaper area and by then she'd retired/could afford to retire and so she moved there. Her DD then moved from her council flat to the same Essex area and similar property and they both did right to buy on their houses as it was the only way they'd ever be able to own a property.

The thing was, even though they freed up a council house in SE London for a couple/family with kids whilst she'd lived there as a tenant, she'd looked after/decorated the house as best she could, had made it into a home for her family and cared for the garden and one reason she'd moved there was because her own parents lived in a council house nearby.

I can't understand, personally, a council who choses to just turf out tenants, especially ones who look after their properties and the area around them. The housing question is always a big one though.

While I completely get where you're coming from, you've completely missed that these are peoples homes. Not to mention that they may still need the extra space. My PIL for example have my nieces to stay over night twice a week when DSiL works a night shift and her DH doesn't finish work till 11pm. They wouldn't be able to have them over night if they were forced to downsize, leaving DSiL with no childcare. Nothing is ever just black and white 🤷‍♀️

they are social housing tenants.

so by using the word tenant you do understand it’s rented accommodation? As this seemed to be something you were arguing against.

we do not live in a communist state. Social housing should be available based on need. It should never have been a life long right because it’s led to abuse.

Have you never seen a council house?
When you move in, there is literally no flooring. Upstairs is bare floorboards and downstairs is usually poured concrete.
Are you saying that council tenants should just stick with that and not put down carpets?

They are also totally undecorated, unlike a private rent. If you are lucky, the previous tenant was good at decorating. Mostly, you are given something that looks like this.

Worth also mentioning that a shit load of banks have just withdrawn their cheaper or fixed rate mortgage products, interest base rates are rising and many 'kids' will be returning to live with their parents - I've got one here now who is desperately hoping his mortgage application gets approved.

Have you never seen a council house?

ffs for the third time I grew up in one, all my neighbours were also in them and my parents still in them and they don’t all look like that, give it a rest/

@KeepOutingMyselfAnotherNameChange i agree some maybe even most would move if it was seamless ie someone to help pack and sort out logisitics, it was to a nice accessible flat or bungalow in the same area so they are still in the same community not 5 miles away in a tower block where they are scared to go out

I think a lot of elderly people do tend to move out of council houses to care homes if they can't live in the house by themselves (even with carers).

A lot of it is the fact that moving takes time/effort/emotional strain at any age, especially elderly. Then there's the question of finding sheltered housing/care home places for them which is suitable. A friend of mine works as an OTA and has to specify extra equipment/changes to the building to make it suitable for council tenants and tells me that often tenants tell her (or owners) how hard it would be for them to move which is why they need/want the equipment/changes made.

This. That’s why pensioners are exempt from bedroom tax.

My council lift all flooring for health / liability reasons.

I'd put in extra cupboards in the kitchen and installed a double oven and hob. They were happy to keep my extra cupboards but I had to remove the oven and hob and reinstate it as a hole for a cooker.

I would've left the stuff but their rules are the house has to be left as was, even if the additions are improvements.

Of course they don't because the tenants have made it how they wanted it. Does your parents house look the same as it did when they moved in? If not, why not?

No, YABU. When people are given a lifetime tenancy in a council property, it is just that.

My parents live in a 3 bed council house. They have a room made up for grandkids (and me). They have also been living there for decades, so they have accumulated stuff to fill their house. The "all important" 3rd bedroom they are "hogging" is a tiny box room that is not fit for anyone bigger than a baby in a cot. My DM is a keen gardener... it would destroy her to end up in some high rise.

It won't happen

So why argue about it?

I agree. I lived in a council house until I could afford something else then when I could I felt it wasn't fair me taking up a council place when another family could live there. Same goes for the big house. My auntie lives in a 4 bedroom council house alone. Utterly baffling.

This is a tough one; I completely get the fact bigger properties are needed and overcrowding etc (I waited 3 years for our house.. in a crappy b&b and then a awful tiny flat). But those houses become homes! My dd is a way off leaving home yet but I’d be gutted to be booted out of our home once she leaves for uni (10’ish years away) as I’ve done work on it, made it our home!!

I agree with this.

It's no harsher to say that someone in social housing should downsize if their needs change than it is to say that I need to downsize if I can't pay my mortgage anymore because of circumstances outside of my control. It would upset me greatly to do so but if I ever can't pay then that's exactly what would happen! I couldn't say 'please don't repossess me, I really like my home and where I live and I've spent loads of money and time on my garden!', could I?!

Private renters have to move out of their homes all the time, on the whims of landlords who decide to sell etc.

It is difficult, but that's life I'm afraid. No way should a couple whose children have grown up and moved out be allowed to stay in a 3 bed because they like their garden and their home when another family is overcrowded across the town. It's ludicrous.

Requirements should be assessed annually, and people placed in suitable homes for their current requirements not what they'd like in an ideal world. I also agree that we need more social housing - that goes without saying!

Or we could invest in building a lot more social housing and then there wouldn't be such an urgent need to ask these people to downsize.

I grew up in a HA home, along with my siblings and parents. One by one we've all left and now it's just my dad on his own, but it's been the family home for 42 years. The thought of being forced to move would be agony for dad. I realise there's a housing shortage but evicting people from their homes to make room for bigger families would be very cruel.

Separate issue but I can't believe that they are homes for life with no thresholds! My friend's partner has just got a new job and their annual combined income will now be over £50,000 (up north). I asked them if the new job would mean they would have to leave and couldn't believe it when they said no, when you're in the system, you're in! Surely council housing should be available for those who need it?!

It’s led to abuse? How exactly? By people living in it?

Yeah pretty much it does.