To think you should downsize your council house if it’s just you?

[OuchOuchOuchh]

Oh my goodness I have created war at work and everyone is gunning for me.

My auntie has a huge 4 bedroom council house she has lived there since the 90s with her one son. That has now moved out.

All i said was I think it’s unfair that she’s living in such a big family home perfect for a family to bring their kids up in. Large garden backs on to the woods plenty of visits from deers and fox’s it’s beautiful! Anyway all I said is that if you haven’t purchased the property in a certain amount of time you should have to downsize if it’s just you living there.

Theres families overcrowded and can’t get anywhere then you have my auntie paying £100 a week in rent for a massive house for just herself.

please tell me if I am being an asshole! I appreciate it’s her family home but it just doesn’t seem fair to me.

Yes absolutely but moving is a big undertaking especially in later life. Not enough is being done by councils and housing associations to support downsizing within the social sector. Definitely cash incentives should be offered. There's also a problem they there aren't actually that many good condition one beds in the social sector to swap down into.

Exactly.

Can you not buy your home?

I have never needed to live in council accomodation btw but i think it is abhorrent to throw people out of their homes to rehouse others.

but younger people deserve homes too why should they be deprived of a chance to have a family life?

The people who are denying them are the government who have destroyed the supply of affordable housing that was supplied by council housing/ social rent. They are to blame. Not someone who wants to continue living in their family home.

What incentive is there to try and move away from living in a Council house if you think you can stay in your big 4 bedroom home with nice garden forever?

The welfare system (benefits, council houses etc) should always only be for those who absolutely need it. You can support the welfare system (which I do) but also believe that its been completely abused over so many years.

How often are council tenants circumstances checked? I dont know as I dont live in one but would like to think its every few years?

It's hardly "suffering" to be moved to a smaller house. The melodrama.
Of course things should improve for private tenants, but that's not what this thread is about.

@Cuppasoupmonster
"Support system" means neighbours that are known, friends who live locally, Drs who, if you are lucky, know your health history, perhaps nearby family; all people who contribute to a feeling of security and belonging and who can help in tough circumstances. It must be awful for those people who are wrenched away from this especially if they are elderly.It is a hard-hearted policy as per the example I gave.

Yes exactly this. There used to be incentives for people to trade down as the got older - bungalows/assisted living in the same area, sometimes smaller places in the country or coast.

What the OP is suggesting in effect is that the aging population, after a lifetime of paying the rent adn being good tenants, should be booted out of secure housing into insecure private housing with no assurance that they can stay there beyond the next month.

As you say - blaming tenants for the abject failure to manage affordable and social housing is punishing the innocent, not the guilty.

council houses etc) should always only be for those who absolutely need

Council houses have only become for those in greatest need because the supply was destroyed by the government. They used to be quite aspirational housing for the upcoming middle classes.

It’s really quite revolting to say people in council houses, uniquely, deserve no housing security. The rights of private renters are being improved, yet those in council housing should have them removed?

Why does there need to be an incentive? You can stay in it for the remainder of your life if you have a lifetime tenancy, that’s one of the attractive things about the tenancy. I don’t know why you think council tenants aren’t entitled to this. You do know wealthy people take out long leases on properties as well don’t you? And you do understand a tenancy is legally binding? Why do you think council tenants should lose the benefit of the tenancy they signed up to because other people have created a housing crisis?
Why would council tenants need to have their circumstances checked? They have a legal right to live in the home so long as they abide by the terms of the tenancy. People in receipt of benefits are under constant scrutiny in case god forbid they might win a bit of money, etc., but you do understand that most council tenants are employed, don’t you?

Family of 15 face homelessness within weeks if big enough house isn't found for them
Deborah and Craig Douglas have until the end of April to move out of their home in Dumfries after their landlady decided to sell up but they have no where to go
Deborah and Craig Douglas and their 13 children are in a race against time to find a big enough roof for their heads
A couple and their 13 children are facing homelessness if a house big enough for them doesn’t become available in the next nine weeks.
Deborah and Craig Douglas have until the end of April to move out of their home in Dumfries after their landlady decided to sell up.
Despite applying for a number of private lets and pleading with housing associations, the family still haven’t found anywhere big enough for their brood.
And Deborah, 38, feels they are being “discriminated” against because of the size of their family.
She said: “We’ve been in our current home for nearly five years but the landlady told us in November 2019 she was selling.
“I immediately went to the council’s homeless department but 15 months down the line, they still haven’t found anywhere for us to go.
“We’ve now got just nine weeks to find somewhere or we’ll be out in the street.

Who in society does have complete housing security? Bar lifetime tenants?

after a lifetime of paying the rent adn being good tenants, should be booted out of secure housing into insecure private housing

Like most private tenants then 🤷🏼‍♀️ only they’ve been paying the market rent all along! If you haven’t saved a few quid over the years living in such cheap housing then what hope does anyone else have?

A smaller house maybe miles from everyone and everywhere you know because tough shit you’ll take what you’re given. Sounds great

Its not so simple op! I have a relative who lives in a 4 bed HA property alone after all the kids moved out, she would love to downsize. However she has been told that they no longer do lifetime tenancy and she would have to renew her tenancy every 5-7 years if she moves and also the rent they charge is nearer to market rental costs on new tenancy's. So for example she is paying £130 pw on her current home but should she move into a smaller two bed property she would no longer have a lifetime tenancy and her rent would be around £200 pw! Who in their right mind is going to do that?

Private renters are forced to do this all the time.

Only going to respond to the second bit as that's from my post - I don't agree with RTB.

I do agree that people should only have children that they can afford to home? Is that controversial? Why do adults have the 'right' to bring lives into being just because they want to, if they are unable to provide those lives with adequate housing? No I'm not talking about eugenics, I'm just talking about taking responsibility and not having 'contraception accidents'. I'm not happy at all that some children are born into miserable circumstances for no other reason than their parents wanted a baby and didn't think any further than that.

Everyone is allowed to make whatever choice they want. I am allowed an opinion about those choices, just as you are.

What’s the pint of this post sorry? Goadiness?

Completely agree while there's a housing crisis on.

But that is not a sensible argument at all.

It's ridiculous to suggest that people should give up stable housing and move into private rental (and no doubt pay more for the pleasure), just so someone else can benefit from their home. No one is that altruistic

Do you think the standard that society should be aspiring to? That everyone is treated terribly? If you have a lifetime tenancy you are entitled to remain in the property for your lifetime. Council tenants are creating shit conditions for private renters. Maybe take it up with those who are

Who caused the housing crisis? Was it council tenants?

Social housing should be allocated on a needs basis, not sentimentality. It should be reviewed on an annual basis and if the property is deemed to be inappropriate then residents should be moved into something more appropriate.

We don't allocate other government resources such as health care, education, social care, benefits on the basis of sentimentality so I don't see why housing should be any different.

So you do want aging people kicked out of their house after a lifetime of being good tenants in a contract both sides freely entered into?

Nice to know. Perhaps we should encourage the eviction of mortgage holders in properties with extra bedrooms - after all the contract can be overturned can't it?

Presumably you will also whinge about the early and extra care bills likely to be incurred from an aging population in this situation.

On and social housing is not "cheap" its market rates and tends to accommodate those who can't afford more by default.

The housing problem lies squarely at the feet of successive governments but was massively triggered by the Thatcher policies of selling off housing without replacing the stock.

Your statement is incorrect because this financial statement takes no account of the capital costs incurred in generating the rentals, or the opportunity cost of having that capital tied up in housing and land. Given the cost of both in the UK, these costs will be substantial and represent a large subsidy from the public purse.

Well tough shit then. Homeowners, private renters, even new council/HA tenants don't get to live wherever they want.
I also highly doubt there are many places where appropriate swaps couldn't be arranged within a couple of miles.