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.

You think your Nan living 30 seconds from you is a reason to justify her staying in a council house if it was too big for her? What about the millions of people who survive walking, driving or getting the bus/train to see their relatives? Living 30 seconds from a relative is pretty unusual for most people and an absolute luxury.

Why is it ok for the rest of the population to travel to see their relatives but not ok for your whole family? If there was a smaller property a short distance across your village/town/city, it is not going to kill your Nana for you to travel a short distance to see her (like the majority of the population).

Council houses are for those who are unable to work or are on low incomes who would struggle to afford to rent in the private market or purchase their own home. It gives them a roof over their head at a reduced rate.

Neither of these sentences are true, @OopsAnotherOne .

CH rent isn't at a "reduced rate".

CH shouldn't just be for people unable to work, unless you plan to create ghettos.

Well there are no 1 bed properties here. Which is why she was allocated a 2 bed. So it would be miles away. My nan is my concern so yes indeedy as long as my nan is ok

I agree with you but trying to find one and two bedroom council housing is near impossible, so unless they can offer a very good alternative if I was her I would stay put .

I am starting to think MN has been invaded by Matthew Parker Street. The past few weeks seem to have been hate filled thread after hate filled thread or bonkers threads about the Royals.

Problem is if you means test then you take away incentives to get work or better paid work if you would lose your home.

We purchased our house based on the fact my nan lived 30 seconds away and it is next door to my mum.

Why would be change this situation when we have no reason to? The council allocated this property to my nan as a single person. She has always had 2 bedrooms. Why would she move when she uses the second bedroom, she pays for the second bedroom and she is in a convenient place to live next to her family.

Whether you "refuse to believe it" or not, the reality is that those suitable properties aren't there. Did you not read the posts from people whose relatives want to downsize, but can't, because there is nowhere to go? * *

@Eyerollcentral I never said society should be punished? Just giving two examples (as per the topic) of where occupants of council housing are not in need of it.

I hope your nan continues to enjoy her lovely home.

I'm in a similar situation, in the next 10 years my children will have finished Uni, and there's no way of knowing if they'll have their own place, or if they'll end up moving back to my house, many adult children are living in their parents house until they are late 20s or early 30s. Should I down size even though my children will still consider this their home, even though I've invested a lot of money, time and effort into the interior and the garden? Maybe once I'm elderly, and the stairs are becoming a problem, then I'd downsize, but until then this is my home.

The housing shortage is something the govt caused by selling off social housing and not building new homes, and the solution is to build more affordable houses.

Where on earth do you live that there are no 1 beds. I just don't believe you.

As long as she continues to pay in her rent every month she is entitled to continue living there dear. And most likely she, her husband and any children have all been tax payers so they are entitled to enjoy the benefits of the system of social housing those taxes contributed to over many, many years, possibility since even before you were born. Further if it was a lower income family, they have proportionally paid MORE tax over their lifetime than wealthier people. She hasn’t paid cheap rent, she has paid the rent under contract for the property.

Thank you. My 2 boys 11 and 8 have just walked through the door after going to her house after school for tea. She lives for her great GC. It would break her if she ever had to move

So if I move into a rented property, I’m entitled to live there as long as I pay the rent?

There are no 1 bed properties in a 2 mile radius that a HA owned. Why else do you think they gave a single person a 2 bed property?

Sorry to go off on a tangent but does anyone else read some of the ‘entitled’ posts on MN and wonder how some posters are so shockingly naive about how a society and economy actually work? 🤔

No but I look at some of the thick as shit comments and wonder how the fuck they remember to breathe sometimes.

A third of the population used to live in council housing. They were just for the poor. In fact the idea was the doctor could live next door to the butcher etc.

So the PP who said these old ladies got the housing cheap when they couldn't afford private are not accurate.

HNRTT but do you also think over-bedroomed homeowners should be expected to downsize?

Sorry above should say they weren't just for poor

I agree with you and this is a rea bugbear of mine.

'They've lived there all their life', or 'they raised their family there' - good for them, now time for someone else to raise a family in the massive 4 bed house!

There needs to be enough smaller properties to move people into though, which there doesn't seem to be.

If she owned the home would you expect her to sell and move? No. So it shouldn’t mattered that it’s social housing, she shouldn’t have to move because someone has chosen to have kids when they can’t afford to own their own home. That’s the other side to look at.
however in my area you don’t get lifelong tenancies anymore so once a child is 18/21 if in education then their tenancies end and they have to down size if they’re under occupying.

Well said.

Exactly this. It absolutely infuriates me when bloody homeowners sit there pontificating about social housing being a temporary measure for homeless people when that's absolutely NOT the point of it at all and never was. We may have come to this now, but it was never the intention and the blame lies squarely with the government.

If I ever get a decent council house you can pry me out if it with a fucking giant crowbar and kiss my wrinkly fat arse while you do it. I'm not being forced out of MY home into a grotty little flat.

If you're so concerned about deprived kids then give them YOUR house? You can apply for a small council flat instead. The council would probably snap your hand off.

(Obviously I mean older people with no dependants at home here)

No. Didn't think so. And why should you?