To thiink more needs to be done to stop people accessing council housing who already have overseas homes?

[livinginatravellodge]

I know a person who is a dual national but not has British Nationality. They still have really strong links to their country of origin.
In their home country they have a fully furnished 3 bed apartment that they visit with their children when going home. They also one an apartment which they rent out and the income is kept in a bank account overseas. They also own a prime piece of building land. However, in the UK they live in a council property.

I believe that in most councils you are not allowed council housing if you all ready own property; some councils are more explicit and say in detail that this includes overseas property.

If a person attempted to gain a council property while already owning UK property they could very quickly be found out and be taken to court for housing fraud.

I know of another couple, both from different countries who live in council property in the UK. I am friends with them both on Facebook and every year they go on holiday to their alternate country of origin. Again, they have a property to stay in when they visit their home country. I would think that this situation is more common than we all realise.

I own my own property and have been fortunate enough to never need to live in council property but I find this really unfair.The first person mentioned is not a very nice person in many ways (but that is another matter). I reported him to the council and have provided my name for further information.

I am intrigued to see what the council do but I am anticipating nothing as they may find it too hard to prove.

AIBU to think that more needs to be done to ensure that council housing is not allocated to those that already have an overseas home?

YABU

Really? So it is ok for familys to be living in B&B's while other live in council property while already owning multiple properties abroad?

Seems like a very niche crime, how do you know so many people who are in this situation?

@Ohthatsabitshit I am married to an immigrant (for 25 years) so as a result know many people who live in the UK but have a different country of origin.

Actual "council" properties dint really exist anymore mostly they are housing association whose rental prices are close to the private sector actually in mu area they exceed the private sector if you want to rent a (very dodgy) new build

I didn't know you could still get council houses. I thought it was all housing associations now.

The only advantage of a housing association/council property is the assured tenancy

@MissBattleaxe https://www.gov.uk/council-housing

Which actually is a huge advantage compaired to the private rental sector. One of he reason many low income families find themselves in B&B's is that their tenancy ends and they can't find a property in the private sector in their budget etc.

Yeah that leads to a 404 error when I put my post code in. It's increasingly rare to get council houses.

These threads feel intended to stir up anger.

What you're describing are unusual scenarios.

@bergamotorange It really isn't intended to stir up anger and it really isn't as rare as you think. I am actually married to an immigrant so have no reason to want to stir up anger. I do feel very strongly though that council properties should be for people who don't own a home anywhere in the world.

Council housing isn’t for the poor although the allocation rules mean that the most needy should receive it first. You can have a council house and a high salary or income from investment.

I'm not saying council housing is for the poor. When applying for council housing it usually states in the criteria that you cannot apply if you already own property. Some councils expand on this and will mention no oveseas property. But realistically if a person owns a house overseas, who would ever find out if they say that they dont have a home?

You have no idea how rare it is or isn't, have you got any real data to back up your claims? That'll be a no.

"feel very strongly though that council properties should be for people who don't own a home anywhere in the world" yep, and that's who is allocated housing association properties.

If you think you are aware of a fraud case report it.

Well, not that high a salary as there are rules re income and re savings that would disqualify a person on a high salary from qualifying.

There are both council houses and Housing Association properties where I live. The council houses are significantly cheaper than local private rent (about half the price) and the HA properties are also cheaper (around 3/4 of the price of private). If you look at the local Housing Allowance, you’ll see that the Housing Association properties are generally around that in most areas. This is because otherwise they’d be unaffordable to those on benefits and a low income.

OMG! My ex SIL, Bulgarian. Multiple properties in Sunny Beach, rented out, plus her own. Ripping the arse out of the UK on an industrial scale, but my db forbids me even to raise this issue (they have a dd together). Post divorce got a council flat in Chiswick!!!!! Brought her sister over and parents from Bulgaria for long-term treatment (just by registering them with her GP, that was all that was required), now both parents are in a council-paid care home. Lying that my db does not pay child maintenance, and by doing it obtained a 100% bursary to a boarding school for my niece. Posts on Insta all the time (flights are cheap even during school hols), nobody checks, nobody cares. A consummate liar, and I am afraid the niece is turning into one too - already knows what to say, what to withhold, very alert, like a little old woman, mummy tells her to make friends with the non-bursary people at school 'to progress'.

And the rent is much cheaper than the private sector. You have more freedom when decorating without the restrictions from the landlord, or the worry that your property will be put up for sale in a month. Can you can have pets should you wish.

Subletting a HA property, getting a long term benefits claim in and going home. Both well known ways for people from overseas to get income and there are teams of people who work on investigating this.

You can better your earnings whilst living in one though. We did and eventually managed to get a mortgage. But we could have stayed their for life if we chose to.

That's only an issue because so much council housing has been sold and very little built to replace it.

If Britain builds lots of council houses then we don't have arguments over where people are in the queue.

Hi, @livinginatravellodge . You must be new here.

Mumsnet Rule No. 3
If you want to watch people defend literally anything, just frame the question around foreigners.

i also know someone who is in over 50s accommodation in the uk
has a house in Spain
they are columbian and have a Spanish passport and used to live in Spain
came to the uk to work several years ago ( pre Brexit )

Got made homeless around 3 years ago and applied for council/ housing on the local housing register and got a place within a few months as they are over 50

They are no longer working due to an illness and get Universal Credit and PIP

They have a lodger in there house in Spain and that covers the mortgage I assume

flys over to Spain every few months to check on the house and stay

Why?

Not true. There’s 4.4 million social housing properties in the UK and approx half are council