Right to buy - grossly unfair on private renters and private home owners

[Winterday1991]

Is it just me or is RTB grossly unfair. People that already have cheap subsidised rent and a secure tenancy can get over to £105k off the market value of their council property.

This seems so unfair to us who have to brought in the private market at full market price and private renters who often do not have secure long term tenancies. Why should the public subsidise this?

*Over £105k

It's probably swings and roundabouts subsidy-wise as when the property is sold, the council no longer has to maintain it.

Do any councils still have right to buy?
I ask because it was scrapped by Scotland years ago and I thought England had too

It's stripped the country of social housing, driving rental prices sky high and leaving many families and individuals with no choice and inadequate housing.

It was an awful policy when Thatcher invented it and it still is.

But it doesn't seem fair on a societal level. It's unequal playing field

It’s so wrong!

I think it’s a ridiculous policy not because it’s “not fair” but because we don’t have enough council property as it is so selling some off below market value seems plain stupid to me.

The RTB has been around so long, and these arguments are well known.
But it was a Tory policy, and got that dreadful woman Thatcher elected to ruin the country.

It's not fair on the people waiting for social housing because it reduces the stock which is not replaced at the rate it's needed. I don't see it as unfair to home owners.

I think at one point it had its merits. It took a lot of poorly maintained older housing stock off the books and allowed long term tenants the opportunity to upgrade them themselves. Additionally, being invested in the area generally improved the quality of the streets as well.

However, we aren't in that position any more. Property is hard to come by and the stock is generally in a better condition.

It should have been stopped long ago.

This^
we should be getting more not selling off what little HA and council properties we do have.

None of it was ever fair. It takes stock away particularly in good areas and they were never replaced

It also encourages the mindset that by paying rent you are entitled to get something back.

I was always against it. God knows where the money went ...

I never understood it as a policy. I remember my father absolutely furious that our neighbour bought his identical next door semi for about £4K when he had a £200k mortgage on ours.

You're right, it isn't fair.
I've privately rented for 20 years, and have just managed to buy at full market value.

My colleague is in Housing Association property with reduced rents and apparently a new kitchen and bathroom every 10 years for free (which I did not get in my private rental and will not get in my home). I don't know if they also have the right to buy.

But I'm also not sure what the alternative is.

society isn’t fair though 🤷‍♀️ it’s just how it is. I know people who have used the RTB scheme who otherwise would never have been able to buy. I don’t begrudge people who benefit from it. It’s better everyone has a chance. You’re looking at it from a really bitter point of view. It’s not that we have to pay “tax” to cover their rent etc, they (people in RTB housing) are paying the actual market rate for rent where as people in the private sector are paying the landlords overinflated costs. Covering their mortgage and their income. It’s the greedy landlords who should be punished not the people just trying to secure a future.

It should have been scrapped a long time ago. The need for social housing is never going to reduce we need the properties.

They're not paying market rate for rent. In a lot of cases it's about half the market rate.

You don’t get a new kitchen and bathroom every 10 years. This is a misconception (I worked for a HA). Also that stops if you buy the property but typically with HA homes it’s not right to buy, it’s right to acquire and has a lot less advantages/discount.

@G3t88 that’s because everyone else is paying something that’s stupidly over inflated. I’m just amazed that people can be so bitter about people in social housing 🤷‍♀️ it’s not that big a deal

Of course it’s hugely unfair.

God knows where the money went…

Exactly this. I have vague memories of it being touted as an answer to funding care - as in let people buy their council built homes and then sell them to fund care. Well that’s worked a treat.

But really, as a business model, selling capital assets and using the money to subsidise current expenditure is a race to the bottom. Unless they actively reinvest the sales returns in more housing stock, the councils will run out of homes to rent,,, oh, wait ..

Locally, (Scotland) our council has been taking on private rentals as emergency housing stock. Helluva deal for the landlords. Guaranteed rent , Council maintains to the standard they take over, council tax paid if empty.
You cannot make this stuff up.

I don't agree with the policy as it has created a shortage of social housing and a reason for an increase in homelessness.

But I wouldn't say its unfair to people who can private rent or buy their own home. It gives lower income families a chance to buy a home when they otherwise wouldn't be able to.

It could work amazingly if it was done correctly.

Only sold off houses over X years old so basically the harder to maintain older homes. All monies from the sale had to go into building new houses so for every 1 sold a new 1 must be created. Anyone who purchased their council house should they become a council tenant again never got the right to buy again, all funds for the deposit should of been proven to be saved via the tenant not a friend or family member “gifting” them the deposit when what was really happening was a non tenant was buying their mums or aunties house for themselves really.

But I'm also not sure what the alternative is.

Stop doing it and build lots more social housing. It’s not rocket science.

My mum used right to buy around 21 years ago to buy a lovely house she would not have otherwise had thw opportunity to buy (single mum of 4 children) it gave us the opportunity to grow up in a lovely area at a good school and feel secure. Myself now as an adult (34) is unfortunately not in a position to buy a property presently but I don't sit her envious or jealous of my mums situation (she was lucky and obtained a Council house in an affluent area of Cheshore). My motto in life is always concentrate on your own life and not how others live theirs.