to buy my housing association home?

[wheredyaparklouissss]

House is worth £100,000. I pay £400/month in rent. I love my home and want to remain here forever. Would you buy it? Or keep renting? What are the advantages or disadvantages?

I was always strongly against the right to buy as thought it was the downfall off social housing
but watched a program and really interesting there’s not a great deal of profit in social housing the people who buy would more or less be life time tenants so realistically the house wouldn’t be freed up anytime soon to house someone else so very little impact on housing crisis

the only thing I think they should do is if they sell one build another ( easier said than done )
and there should be massive restrictions on reselling for a profit

There's another thread about wealth taxes...couldn't make it up how perfectly your view ties with that.

At the end of the day, greed is a powerful force.

@rwalker I think that is in or os the plan if sell one must build one
And your right if i buy mine or continue tenting ( hopefully ) we will be here for many many more years so it won't free ip stock
You know have to keep the house fo c amount of years as well and if sell before pay back some of discount
The scheme itself can work well if done properly

@Dunelmer who is being greedy ?

Totally agree. The people who talk about this being immoral are usually home owners themselves. The issue with a lack of social housing runs way deeper than you buying a property you have probably sunk thousands into renting. It’s the whole economic and social climate. We don’t live in an egalitarian socialist society and thinking morally about this issue is again something the affluent can afford to wax lyrical about. It doesn’t really affect them. They will carry on buying property, contacts, education etc whilst thinking ethically about what other people do. For the rest of us neoliberalism means we all have to be realistic and secure what we can for our futures.

@Dunelmer its not greedy wanting go buy your ha house and secure a future for your kids
Anyone thats bought a house and turned around for a profit , has paid over the asking price , bought a second home , bought a btl have all contributed to the housing market being so over inflated that many people cannot afford to rent privately but yet again its somehow only the fault of council/ housing association tenants fault for buying their home
Not successive goverments who have not built enough over the years with a growing : aging population

Think it’s if u sell before 5 years or you have to pay back
I’d be brutal if you sell after any length of time you pay the discount back at current market value
for those who just want there home and security it so be a good deal
for those who want to profit it would stop that

Unless your house is worth a huge amount so the sale is enough to enable you to opt out of all state provision and pay for private care (at several thousand a week for however many years) the last part isn't really true for most.
Self funders and fully funded residents tend to all be in together, sharing exactly the same facilities and amenities. Your house is sold to pay towards this basic state care, not to buy you a better version.

No. Don’t . It can fall under leasehold. If so you’ll be paying for repairs in your block that are rented. Check out the conditions. HA and Council are the worst freeholders.

if not leasehold, might be an idea.

@healthadvice123

Housing associations are a nation's wealth. It was paid with taxes. The fact the OP can get a discounted value is just appalling use of public funds.

Would you also defend PPE contracts too - which are similar taking of a nation's wealth? PPE was delivered, just bad contracts. Just like HA->private ownership

Greed is the strongest emotion. No one likes paying tax, but everyone wants everything for free (just paid for or subsidised by someone else).

On aggregate this policy by thatcher was awful. It halted social mobility and massively increased housing poverty.

Will the OP start voting Tory to thank the late Lady for the gift?

@rwalker but you may need to sell later on to downsize
My nan did she bought her 3 bed council house with discount lived in it for years and to basically gut the place over years , new electrics , heating , windows , repointing , insulation the lot
She then got older and sold to buy a small 2 bed gff maisonette , she made enough to pay of her mortgage and buy smaller place outright this was probably pre the huge boom
There was no other money left this was prior to the big boom in the last 20 years

If you have a secure lifetime tenancy I wouldn’t buy. Not out of concern for social housing stock, but for the advantages of being a tenant.

There is so much more to think about financially than the cost of the rent v mortgage payments and the fact that a mortgage will end one day. Housing maintenance costs never end, the only difference is who is paying for them. Once you’re retired you’ll either need to find money for maintenance or money for rent, and claiming benefits for rent will probably be easier. Don’t underestimate how expensive it is to be a homeowner and the responsibility that goes with it is worth considering too.

@Dunelmer oh please go away its actually a policy thats helped many
Do you own your own home? Taxes pay for many things and guess what shock horror most if us who live in HA pay taxes as well
My taxes also paid to bail out banks who you may of had your mortgage with
Its not greed to buy a ha house its just looking after your family
And labour never fully overturned it ?

@Dunelmer if you think the selling of CAnhas caused all the issues we are in you need to do a lot more research
Nothing has stopped councils using money to build more
And many HA are not funded by taxes nowadays either

@Dunelmer You're not the only poster to confuse housing associations and council housing.
Housing associations are private non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost social housing.

We can get £116200 discount we just looked into it which is amazing and means we can have real security for our dc . It’s council not HA so may be different discounts for HA but worth checking
good luck !

@healthadvice123

Populist policies never get overturned.

That is why the country is in a really terrible state. The Brits are famous for their awful election foolhardiness.

Because consecutive governments do whatever pleases the electorate quickly, rather than investing for the future.

If it is worth buying for the tennant, then surely it is by definition worth keeping for future generations?

It is a terrible policy.

Buy it op, it's your chance to own your own home, people can argue ethics all day but you have to look after your own family first.
The alternative is to give up your secure housing and the next tenant will probably buy it with a discount.

@Dunelmer little but if stereo typing aye brits all under one brush
Of course popular policies are kept but also nothing has stopped them using money to build
Ha now often sell older properties as cost to bring up to standard/ eoc can be too much and building newer properties is easier
Also in my nans case she bought house later on in life that she had bought and paid for in rent alone , she then lived in it for a further 18 years and spent thousands bringing it up to a good standard as then the councils did bare minimum , no decent homes standard then.
She sold paid of mortgage and was able to buy a little flat outright and live of her old age pension
If she had continued renting the goverment would now be paying her rent as if she had rent then pension would not be enough
So your looking at things way too simplistically
The best thing any of them could do is build more social housing
Do you criticise private landlords in the same way ?

If you can afford to buy it, do so.

Social housing is not your issue to solve. Put your family first.

You will be responsible for all repairs but will be able to clear mortgage and be free of that cost burden when you're older.
IIf its a flat then never, otherwise go for it.

Take no notice, you have a chance to buy it, go for it.
People telling you not to buy, are probably comfortable their own homes.Easy to take the moral high ground with someone else.
Give yourself that security OP.

Yes, if you can, buy it. I would absolutely say don't buy it to sell on for a profit but if it's a forever home for you and your daughter, then I would buy it if possible.

@Roundabout78 Out of interest, where are you based, if you are willing to say? Around me, people can wait years for social housing. That's great to hear it's not like that everywhere

I don't think it's for you to decide the U.K. policies around buying council houses. The government are more than aware there's a shortage and are deliberately being obtuse about it.
I personally would compare rent to mortgage and go from there with regards to your own affordability. You'll almost definitely be able to sell it and break even again with the discount offered and possibly make a profit if you can afford to stay in it for at least a few years.