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.

Oh I’m so sick of this. The tired old refrain that ‘But YOU could have this if you just voted the right government in’. Seriously? You think every family in the country could be offered a 4 bedroom house for £400 per month in a ‘nice’ area of their choosing, if only we voted Labour or whatever other party you endorse? Have you ever been to planet earth?

Name changed for this OP, eh?😉

I can't wait for the disability benefits bashing threads to start up in the wake of today's announcements.

But in case you are genuine - it is not your aunt's fault there is a housing crisis. I doubt there are any properties in her area to downsize to for a start.

Because it is not your house.

Yes I do and I agree with them (and have said we should build more) for those who need them and dont have the option to privately rent or buy. It was a massive mistake ever selling them off and reducing the stock.

If circumstances change over the course of someone’s life and you do have the option to privately rent or buy, then why should you then still live in a subsidised home?

I'm pretty sure those on here with council /HA housing can understand why those of us on here who are private renters (even those on modest/low incomes) get a bit uptight about this subject. I appreciate that you don't make the rules and the issue is lack of affordable and appropriate housing to offer to many of modest means- doesn't mean though we can't feel aggrieved that people have lifelong tenancies when in plenty of cases they no longer need the size or subsidies.

Social housing is allocated on a need basis.
OK so yearly review, I decide I’ll just have a baby every year and they’ll have to move me to a bigger house every year.
You are moving people round every year. Massive amount of money spent on the administration, appeals, etc. How do you know what resources you need in any area for schools, doctors, water, refuse collection from one year to the next if you never know from one year to the next with any degree of certainty who is going to be living in an area in 12 months time.
That’s before you come on to the total chaos on a social and personal level.
It only really takes 30 seconds of thinking to see that your plan to punish council tenants for a crisis made by the wealthy to see that it would unleash more problems than it would solve, doesn’t it?

You don't think paying thousands, and having to do weeks of work, to be forced out of my home into somewhere smaller, miles away, where I pay more rent would cause me to suffer?

I'm sure if you were forced to sell your ex council home, pay fees for moving and then have to pay a higher mortgage for less space somewhere you don't want to be you would consider it suffering as well

I don’t think people should have to move, unless there are smaller homes built in the same areas and they are given compensation for decor etc as most will no doubt have done their homes up and made them lovely and then have to start over again. Some older people have lived in their areas for years, their family and friendships are there including support if they need it. They shouldn’t be forced out.

I have been homeless with my 4 kids for 5 years this feb. I don’t expect anyone to be moved for me. I have had to battle for the council to downgrade me from 4/5 bef to 3 bed as my older two sons are 21/17 so won’t be living with me forever and I don’t want stuck in a big house I don’t need (& have made nice etc) when they move out. One will likely stay with me a long time due to sen but at least the house won’t be huge and it gives others the opportunity for the bigger home. The one I’m in now will be returned to the HA as the council rent it from them and I’ll move on to either my own house or another temporary one, which makes 3 homes in 5 years. It’s crap and I work (nhs nurse) but this limbo is rubbish.

People suffer all the time. Our house is about to go up for sale because we can no longer afford it 🤷🏼‍♀️ tough titties to me

You’ve totally gone off on your own tangent there haven’t you.
The reality is it’s not the fault of those with lifetime tenancies that there is a housing crisis any more than it is those home owners who are mortgage free with spare bedrooms.

I thought most did move now - where there were suitable properties to swap or move to mostly due to the bedroom tax.

I can understand people not moving to private sector short term rents - you;d be mad to give up long term security of council property.

I know where DSis is there has been a huge building project more HA housing - but her ex DMum is looking to move form a 4 bed to a new smaller property.

Nobody’s saying their fault. They’re saying that resources should be allocated to those in need. Not the same thing.

No, but she is the tenant and she has a legal right to remain there.

they both live in London and there are far more one bed flats in my area than family homes.

Where I live AND where I grew up, there are almost no one bed council properties and the two beds are mostly tower blocks. Most are 3 bed houses. It really is not easy to downsize in the way suggested.

Yes of course she should move. I believe she has a moral obligation to do so.

Why cant she buy the house and sell it and buy a smaller house in a nice area she may even have some money left!

Because under the law you have the right to. There doesn’t need to be any other reason. Why do wealthy people hoard housing? They can only live in one house at a time can’t they? There is a housing crisis, why don’t they hand over the property they have a legal right to reside in so someone else can live in it?

That is all well and good if there are properties for her to downsize to. Which there aren't in many cases.

Difference is one house belongs to the government, one doesn't.

Yes and we are saying she shouldn’t 🤷🏼‍♀️ that’s the point of this discussion.

Exactly-sorry to hear about your situation with selling your house.

Also the comment from the above about ‘weeks of work’ if asked to downsize council house to suit circumstances. Alot if people with mortgages can only afford to be able to get on the property ladder by buying a house that needs months/years of work to make it liveable. Plenty of hard work involved in owning and renting a home.

Because the majority of CH tenants are working people who are paying to live there. That's why it's different.

Council housing is a financial asset to local authorities. Despite the people who keep saying it's subsidised by the tax payer (who are also the people who live in CH btw) it just isn't.

To all the private renters moaning about how low it is don't deny you wouldn't snap a CH up if offered.

To everyone who judges those who have used the RTB scheme, don't say you would have turned down the opportunity to buy a house for 40% it's value.

I will keep saying this over and over to people. The problem isn't how much lower CH rents are. It's the greed of BTL landlords who purchased houses they can't afford by expecting other people to pay for it whilst still making a profit.
Also the lack of any government intervention in private rental rent rates.

Mortgaged properties should not be allowed to be rented out at profit. Can you imagine the amount of properties that would appear on the market if this happened? How much house prices would fall? How private rents would fall?

These are the things you should be mad at. This is where you need to direct your anger. Not to those in council homes.

There are plenty of empty properties though in the private sector. Why doesn’t the government introduce legislation to requisition those?

I agree with you. Tenants should be rehoused to homes which match their needs to keep the housing stock flowing in an appropriate way.

Apols for not having RTFT but this is a really interesting and important discussion. I did a few years as a councillor and we found that one solution was to offer single inhabitants of family homes, usually women whose children have left home and husbands have died, a new purpose built low-rise accomodation and help with moving, decoration etc. Not just paying the costs but giving the occupier two sets of stickers, green and red. Green on the stuff you want to move, and organise the moving.

There are sometimes incentives for downsizing but what happened was, the tenant would end up being taken to view a flat that was occupied, dishes in the sink, clothes drying on the radiator and sensibly think 'no thanks'.

And as I know many of us know, council housing IS NOT SUBSIDISED but is not built for profit.

Back to the OP, how does your aunty feel about it? Lots of happy memories, or struggling to keep warm in a big house that may not have been perfectly maintained? Loving all the space or lonely? If you have a sensible council then there could be a conversation to be had about getting a priority bid in for a one or two bed property.