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.

Council, and all social, housing should be "what you need, when you need". Not "I've lived here for x many years, I don't want to move"

Absolutely this.

Isn't there bedroom tax?

Years ago, when your aunt got a council house, it was pretty much thought it was ‘yours’ - obviously on a rent basis not owned. So it’s hard for older people to adjust to thinking they need to downsize. Many will have downsized in the past naturally by applying for a smaller place locally - and getting it, and at least in my town the flats are now not as nice/safe as they once were and personally wouldn’t want an elderly relative in many of them.
Theres a whole host of housing issues of which too little council housing is just one, it all needs so much change that I’m not sure a request to downsize in council sector would do a lot but I think how council housing is used can change going forwards- so new tenants are aware of their rights and the council’s rights.
I have been a council tenant and paid really not that much less than private in same area at the time. The private houses were a lot nicer tbh but obviously not much security - the private rents are much higher now of course and are quite a frightening prospect for folk on low wages or low hour contracts. So much to be unpicked.
I can’t decide if your aunt should or shouldn’t be asked to move - at some point she may physically have to, but then you lose the community around you, which is so important a part of ‘housing’.

The money offered to downsize isn’t enough.

It’s generally 1k per bedroom given up and £500 towards removal costs. I moved to my current home in 2006, did all my own packing and it still cost £1000 back then! So I give up an extra bedroom and get 1500 total, which is about what it would cost for removals maybe (possibly more). Why should I? Out of moral duty? No.

I’ve so far paid 150k in rent on this house since 2006. If I work till retirement age that’s another 150k, so 300k total that I’ve worked for and paid (not even counting the rent paid on my previous homes). Offer me 10k per bedroom and I might consider it! Otherwise I’m staying put. I don’t care if it’s selfish.

@MsJinks It is hers. She has a lifetime protected tenancy. That is a legal contract.

Ah so I should be forced to spend money I don't have to put myself at a financial disadvantage for the rest of my life? Makes sense.

The government does a good job of turning people against each other for simply trying to exist while they sit ripping the absolute shit out of us in every which way and laughing about it.

Many council tenants do work. It is a huge misconception that only unemployed people live in council housing. Both my parents worked, and live in a council house.

Don't forget that a lot of social housing is through housing associations these days, there's not much actual council owned stuff left (certainly around my area). And they're ineligible for right to buy (unless they were a council tenant and a HA took over the property). There is right to acquire for housing association tenants, but it's nowhere near is generous. So right to buy is more or less extinct these days.

Yes but bedroom tax only applies to people who are paying their rent via housing benefit or UC housing element and are under pension age

Totally agree with this. Mine is a life time tenancy too with right to buy. It would cost me a fortune to move, I have put up outbuildings/sheds, spent money on the garden, put flooring down etc..

Someone mentioned a 70% discount to buy? Mine is a 15% discount, I live in a expensive area, with the 15% discount I will still never afford to buy. Most councils no longer offer right to buy, only people who started renting 10+ years ago seem to have it, if I was to swap houses I would lose right to buy.

Another thing, people assume council houses are free or cheep? Some may have relied on housing benefit when they first moved in but many have laid there rent in full. My rent is less than private rent but not by a huge amount.

yes up to a point. A single person in a 4 bed council house is ridiculous, however I don’t think that they should be crammed into a 1 bed flat either.
I have a 2 bed HA house, two daughters one works away, the other at uni, when they are both home they share a room. My house is still their home base, I’m not going to move to a 1 bed so that there is no space for them to visit or come home as and when needed. If I had a larger 3/4 bedroom house I would consider downsizing to a 2 bed but no smaller than that.

That only applies if you claim housing benefit. Not everyone in council housing claims it.

But there are families squashed into bedsits right now, desperately needing 4 bedroom homes. Surely the Auntie must understand this? If you want idyllic views, you pay a huge premium for this when you get a mortage or the private rental market.

One of the solutions is definately to build more social housing and to make it that no social housing is a ‘forever home’ (as people’s circumstances change). If we had more social housing, we could move people to a property that suits their needs more easily and try and keep people in their area if possible.

Hmmm but it’s not I’ve lived here and I don’t want to move. It’s I have a legal right to take over this tenancy should I wish to. It’s v odd that one of the only secure routes for lower income people to maintain their ties to an area - through secure council tenancies and passing that on for one generation only - is regarded as the height of abuse of the housing sector. You do realise healthy communities are based around people being from the area who are invested in it and the people in it. Not just shuffled round every five years at the whim of a DWP decision maker who decides you don’t need that house any more. There would be absolute chaos in society. It’s absurd that none of you advocating this mass social manipulation do not see how Stalinist it is. Council tenants did not create the housing crisis.

How much does it cost to heat?

You’re right. Welfare (and that includes council housing) is there as a safety net. It should not offer the same advantages as non- welfare.

Social housing should be kept under review. Do you need that asset of the state? Or can it be put to better use by people who also require state help? It’s a very limited resource that needs to be allocated according to need.

@Delectable

how would you buy a council house at 70% less of market value if you don't work?

Seems to me that the social rent is just massively too low. Why not set rents for multi-bedroom properties way higher, with huge discounts applied for those with under-21s living at home. That way it's properly affordable for families to have sensible housing, but once the kids leave, there's a huge incentive for the people/person left behind to downsize.
After all, the problem generally doesn't arise when someone is 70 or 80, it will really have arisen when the kids leave home, when the tenants are likely to be in their 50s.

I don't see the point in these posts because ppl in my area cannot have property passed to them any more.

As another post said, social housing should be what you need when you need it. Not what you want.
If you want freedom on choice you need to be in private market in my opinion.
I own and I don't get to live wherever I feel like. In fact I own an ex council house and I'd much rather pay my neighbors council rent than my mortgage. But that's life. We don't always get what we want.
The government does do a good job turning us against each other. But that doesn't change the fact that we're in a housing crisis, and it's absurd that social housing can be under occupied for decades whilst others are overcrowded.

No I quite honestly disagree. I’ve a 4 bedroom house, at one point 4 people were living in it, each of whom had their own bedroom. Then it became 2 people here for a good number of years, then 3 again and now I’ve had my daughter it’s 4 people now all of whom need their own bedroom. When it was just two people here WHY should we have left OUR HOME that we’ve worked so hard to decorate and make our own AND pay rent for every single week because governments are so incompetent they won’t build homes to meet demand? When our circumstances changed again and needed a 4 bedroom property we wouldn’t get one. I’m sorry but it’s very entitled of you to just think people can be thrown out into a 1 or 2 bedroom house because our rents might be significantly less. Take it up with the government and the council regarding the shortage of houses. If I privately rented a 4 bedroom house there’d be no outrage even if a family “needed it more” than we do. I’ll never be downsizing I have security here, I’m not going to be thrown out of my home due to a landlord selling up. Maybe redirect your anger at tenants living in their homes to your local authorities/government to build more homes to meet the crisis demands.

Its hard to get private housing if you own pets.

Exactly-its an asset of the state which is why people cant make the comparison with mortgages and privately renting (which is not).

If you are going to be helped out with a council house, it should be one that suits the exact needs of the family living there.

I've spent a fortune already on home improvements and will no doubt spend £1000's more over the next 10-15 years

Spending money doing up a place you’re renting doesn’t make it anymore ‘yours’ if you’ve spent money making it comfortable whilst you were there that’s your prerogative but you’ve never been under any false assumption the property belonged to you.

So why should I then downsize to something that would most likely be shit inside, a flat where who knows what the neighbours would be like, away from my neighbours who are a source of support.

Again, whilst I can sympathise, you’ve spent money and built a life and relationships/support networks based around a house that isn’t yours, a house that’s part of a constantly shifting countrywide subsidised renting scheme to provide people in need with appropriate accommodation largely at the tax payers expense. You’re only entitled to the home you’re currently in while your needs make it appropriate. If you want to be ‘entitled’ to stay in your home forever you have to purchase it if you can’t do that then you play by renting rules. You can’t simply take the ‘well I can’t afford to buy a house so I’m just gonna feel entitled to this family council house forever and dig my heels in because screw everyone else”.

As much as it might seem a waste of space, it's my home and as long as I pay the rent then why shouldn't I live here?

Because there are other families who actually, on paper, you have no more ownership of your home than they do, who are sleeping in cars and hostels because you don’t want to move on when you no longer need the space.

I am not responsible for the families that need a bigger home

No, you’re not, and we (the home owning, tax paying, non benefit receiving, masses) are not responsible for subsiding housing for your family yet here we are.

it's the governments fault for not replacing the housing stock

One could argue that the government does not in fact owe you, or anyone, a house. Their main obligation and priority is to house children and disabled. People who have not got the ability to, or are heavily disadvantaged in being able to provide for themselves. Arguing you’re entitled to keep your council house because it’s the governments fault for not building more is ludicrous really. I’m not defending the government but they’re massively subsiding your family life from the sounds of it and you’re cross they aren’t just investing endless millions building new homes. Talk about flipping off the hand that feeds.

or for not coming down tougher on rogue private landlords who don't keep their properties of a good standard at a decent price

ok now this I get. People shouldn’t be allowed to own more than one property per adult. I would fully support that. However I will say that it’s not the governments job to police or legislate this and you can’t force landlords to rent at certain prices. That’s like someone forcing you to work for a certain wage they felt appropriate.

The other question is, if all the landlords in the country suddenly were forced to sell properties, so properties were in good supply, could you or most of the people like you currently sleeping in cars or hostels waiting on council houses afford to buy? I don’t know anyone currently in a CH or HA who currently has a house deposit or good enough income to buy even at a good price 🤷‍♀️

YANBU and I agree with you a million percent, this countries benefits system needs a shake up from top to bottom and the care sector and nhs. This country is just bikers 🤬 🤦‍♂️