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.

It has nothing to do with communism, you seem a little confused. Britain has never been communist.

What do you mean by "don't floor it" then? If I hadn't floored mine, my 2 babies at the time would have been living in a dusty cold house. I couldn't let them crawl on the floors or they would get covered in dust or cut themselves.

Council houses have different tenancies so that the residents feel secure. The homes can be in poor condition and need to be looked after , decorated and have flooring installed etc so the responsibility for them is different to the private sector. Residents invest a lot of money into the properties.

Not that long ago over a third of the population lives in social housing with a mix of families , older people who had a variety of jobs etc. People should be cross that there is a lack of suitable housing , however, the blame is not with people where children have grown.

Your point is valid and it would make sense but where do you suggest the people under occupying 3 bed properties to move to? There is a shortage of 1 bed places too. Cannot kick them out on the streets, most would not afford private rent.

so YABU unless you have a solution to where they can live??

where I live there were barely any one bed places. Council flats aren't really a thing in my area, just houses and some bungalows for older people.

also, quite frankly it's their home. For many it's all they've ever known, raised their kids there etc!

I grew up in a street with 1970s built council houses. Ours was council but the issue was that I would say over 50 percent of the houses were bought by the tenants under Thatcher and now privately owned, in more recent times many are private let out for extortionate prices! That is a massive contributing factor in the lack of social housing in many areas - Maggie Bloody Thatcher.

Why not go the whole hog and just give them cardboard boxes to live in ?
My god, some people have no idea of their privileges and sneer on those beneath them. Nasty.

I remember in the 1960s in the city where I lived they built one bedroom bungalows for the over 60s which were low rent and very easy to heat. They were an attractive option for people, sometimes the carrot works better than the stick.

It was probably in the 1980s that locally they emptied a 12 storey block of flats and put in facilities for the elderly like one of the flats on the ground floor became a community area where the tenants could organise activities. It went from being a bit of a rough place to being a popular choice and I think they did the same with a neighbouring block. That first block will have freed up nearly 50 houses for families and provided something positive for the people who moved into it.

I think a bit of creative thinking could achieve a good outcome for both groups.

Swapping should be easier as well I think.

if two people are happy to swap houses providing one isn’t trying to upsize when it isn’t need they should be allowed to get on with it.

someone moving from a three to a two is better than them not moving at all.

So it's never been painted, never had flooring, no curtain rails, no lightshades? Really?

No. It is cruel. That is someone's beloved home. They just expect parents to fork out thousands for removals, deposits, new furniture, carpets and curtains???
Just build more houses and stop penalising regular people.

Exactly!
You get given a shell of a building. We ended up having to get a loan to buy all the things we need to even make it livable. Still paying it back years later.

fuck building more to sell them off again. they should start serious buy back schemes.

And also incentives moving to a smaller property with a cash incentive. Imagine your children move out, you stop receiving child benefit but you know that you can move into a 2 or 1 bed property and get £6000 cash. So many people would do it. So many fucking people would do it.

This again, yawn!

Everyone has to take their turn. I was also at one time stuck in a 2 bed flat with 2 dc (opposite sexes) looking at all the old people "hogging" 3 bed houses. I had to wait until mine were teens to get a 3 bed. That's how it works.

I then managed a canny swap and got myself into a lovely 4bed. (At the time, 2005, my HA would allow you to swap into somewhere with 1 more bedroom than needed) Beautiful house (Victorian on a private street) brilliant location. Like hell am I ever giving it up and I have a secure tenancy so it is mine till I die! You don't like that, tough.

My HA offer 1k per bedroom to downsize. I'd need at least a 2 bed as autistic DS will probably always live with me. That's 2k I'd get and I have spent several times that on doing up this house. It just isn't worth it. I have paid my own rent since I moved in so the bedroom tax doesn't matter.

I am going to enjoy my house to the fullest. Random strangers stuck in whatever they're stuck in is of no concern to me. That's life.

They are relying on someone else to support a basic need

given all the interventions with mortgages, stamp duties and ftb deals I’m going to say that people who haven’t received, directly or indirectly, some sort of ‘support’ to acquire a ‘basic need’ has been received by a large proportion of the population.

That’s before even thinking about those who’ve had substantial family help. It’d be interesting to trace back the proportion who have indirectly benefitted because of a previous generation originally needing that basic support and gaining right to buy…

It’s not true to say there aren’t smaller properties for them to move into. The majority of people seeking a 3 bed are families who have lived in 2 bedroom council houses for years, and their children have now reached an age where they qualify for 3 beds (usually when oldest is around age 10) but they are waiting for years. I don’t understand why the HA’s (as they’re not usually council owned anymore) don’t just force a swap from the underoccupied with the overoccupied.
The bedroom tax was a farce as it didn’t apply to pensioners.
Social housing needs a huge overhaul.

Assured tenancies are given to ensure there are stable communities where children can grow up in one place and older people have the benefit of friends and neighbours they can trust.

Transient communities generally dont care so much for their properties or neighbours. The housing stock would soon become run down if people didn't spend out to decorate and improve them. It makes sense for long term tenancies to be provided.

I'm in a council property and have been for 17 years. Two of my children were born in this house and have gone to the local schools. It's a rural area so the community is quite tight knit. In principle I'd be willing to downsize when my children are grown and leave home, so long as the rent was cheaper, I kept a spare bedroom for my children to stay when needed and I still had a garden, even if smaller. I'm happy to compromise but wouldn't want a one bed flat in a tower block in exchange for the tenancy that means I could stay here for life.

I very much agree that the housing situation is very difficult but moving people from place to place isnt the answer.

I wonder what the bank would say to me if I missed a payment and I told them they couldn't repossess because I like gardening and I need to use the spare room for visitors. Similarly, I wonder what a landlord who had asked me to move would say in a similar scenario. Why should social tenants have the luxury of a social network etc... when no one else does, unless you pay through the nose for it? Also, people saying 'just build more houses' have failed to consider the impact on the environment. I'm afraid more houses is the last thing we need.

YANBU. It is not their property and they are being unbelievably selfish staying in them.

As soon as their kids are gone they should be made to relocate.

British families who live in social housing are not beggars, what an absolutely disgusting attitude. Sick of people putting the country and my fellow citizens down in this type of way.

While I understand the concept I think it seems cruel to remove somebody who has paid for that home for many years and made it a home and had lots of memory’s in it with loved ones move. I wouldn’t give up my mortgaged house just because my kids had grown up and out so why should council tenants. They pay the same way the rest of us do and it’s their home full of memory’s

@ofwarren that was my experience too. I had to floor and decorate and do the garden. It was an absolute shell. I had to finish stripping the walls and they weren't fit for even wallpaper so I had to get them skimmed because the council wouldn't. And the house had been soaking with damp and the walls were black.

of course it is their home. They are not homeless. It is a rented home but a home nonetheless.

@Ahbisto okay no problem, I won't floor or carpet it and instead I will live in an empty shell with planks of wood as the flooring. My 9 month old will thrive crawling around on that 👍🏻

Goes to show some people start commenting on stuff they know naff all about!!

I also wonder if most people realise that council and HA tenants normally pay a higher rent than a mortgage would be on the same property. It is often reduced compared to private rent , which is quite simply unaffordable to most and is creating terrible problems.

That was to @candycaneframe but it was deleted whilst I was typing!

Are you saying that people who rent dont have homes?