The Labour Party are bloody hypocrites

[prestatynprlck]

I think Angela rayner has got a nerve to start slashing the right to buy when she has profited from it, is she going to give the money back then that she pocketed from this scheme when she sold her house? I have always been a labour supporter and I am as working class as they come but I am so angry about this. I am not denying that the right to buy policy has its issues but it's just tinkering around the edges of the housing crisis and ignoring the real issues. I may be slightly emotional about this as I live in a one bedroomed council flat that I was planning on buying next year, my only hope of probably ever owning a property. Instead, if and when I choose to have children and I am overcrowded, they will now have to rehouse me themselves instead to a bigger property and I will now probably be a lifelong council tenant. Fabulous. Why are they targeting the people at the bottom? I can't support them anymore sadly.

I am saddened to read they are looking to remove this- as a single parent with 3 DC I had every intention of purchasing our home In a couple of years - however with the savings threshold being £16k before you completely lose your UC even with a big enough deposit , becoming a home owner will only ever happen for me if I win the lottery 😢

I am in exactly the same situation but it doesn't mean we should be able to remove social housing from the market when there already isn't enough. Them's just the breaks. We should at least be thankful that we have a lifetime tenancy at a reduced rate, can't have it all.

Social housing should be just that. Not an opportunity to buy property. The right-to-buy just takes rented housing away from people who need it.

What's the deal with the rent on these? Is it market rate?

So in effect @prestatynprlck you wish to pull up the ladder for those who need social housing? I have always thought the right to buy was a terrible idea. It should always remain as stock for social housing. A one bed flat would be super for a care leaver.

Are you a home owner?

Yes I am a homeowner. I was born in a council house and my parents moved out when the 8th child was born into a house they bought. The council house, 3 bedroom, was given to another family.

I have always thought that the right to buy was a divisive and terrible idea. I'm also disappointed that Angela Rayner did it.

The rest of your life might be the operative words. Before RTB, houses went back to the council, once bought, the houses go to the beneficiaries of the deceased’s estate.

In addition, before RTB, there were tenants who bought on the open market if their circumstances improved. After, they would use RTB as a stepping stone towards buying a better house.

RTB is great for the individual who is able to benefit, but public assets should not be sold for a fraction of what they are worth. A better way might be to keep the scheme but make the discounts considerably smaller.

It is generally cheaper than private rents (often substantially)

Important to remember that Rayner bought her council house 7 years before she became an MP. I still think she shouldn't have done it-but people are allowed to make bad decisions...

The majority are cheaper than private rental properties. Some new builds can be similar prices to private rentals though.

Mine is a 2 bedroom flat and I pay £500 per month. 2 bedroom flats for private rent in my area are in the region of £650-£700 per month.

Yes, quite. Labour encouraged 50% of young people to pay for their degrees, but then forgot to mention there was never going to be a 50% increase in graduate jobs.

Pretty much the same number of new graduates are getting the bona fide graduate jobs as they did years ago. DD2 is doing an under grad placement year with one of the Big Four. When she graduates she will enter their graduate program. Everyone she has met have very good degrees from RG universities.

All the rest of new graduates end up doing non-graduate jobs, earning non graduate levels of pay.

I’m a council tenant and have never agreed with the right to buy.

Yep Here is Sadiq Khan supporting your view

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13844765/Fury-Sadiq-Khan-suggests-prisoners-given-choice-housing-cut-reoffending.html

Why are you asking?

Yes, some local authorities chose to sell council houses to tenants before RYB; also new town commissions sold houses at discounted rates. In some areas it was appropriate. RTB forced all local authorities to sell council houses to tenants at specified discounts whether appropriate or not. Not so much RTB as obligation to sell!

But why should you get a 50% discount on housing stock which collectively is supposed to be there for people who'll never be able to buy, and which you were presumably glad enough to secure the rental on yourself?
You wouldn't get it from a private landlord so why expect it from a social one?

Sorry, but this sounds very much like "the housing market's a mess and many more should be made available - except if it inconveniences ME"

Because it’s so easy to say that (for example) RTB it’s a terrible policy when you are sitting cosy in your own home.

I said it when I was in rented accommodation. It’s one of the most insane policies Thatcher came up with - and there are plenty to choose from - and a big factor in the housing crisis we have today. All as a way of bribing people to vote for her.

I've got my own home now but lived for years in rented property. I've always thought it was a terrible policy.

I can see why it's shit for some people if RTB is stopped. Of course I can. But I can also see that it's shot when there is no social housing available-because it's been taken in to private ownership and is no longer available for the people for whom it was intended.

To think MPs should not punch their constituents in the face?

The original concept of RTB was sound to a point. Council estates generally had/have more antisocial behaviour, and the theory was that this was due to pretty much everyone renting and not feeling 'invested' in their area, and if they owned their property they would take better care of it and of their surrounding area, there would be a greater sense of commuinity and responsibility.
Unfortunately, like many positive plans, people took advantage of it to buy their property and then either sell it at profit, or rent it out at profit.
On top of that it reduced available council house stock and makes it harder for those in high need.
In reality they need to overhaul the whole council house system, people should get the property for a fixed term of for example 3-5 years, and then need to re prove eligibility. If they can then afford to private rent or buy, they should be asked to do this to free up properties for those in highest need. I work with disabled children, and the single biggest challenge we come up against is housing to meet their complex needs. In areas like London it's not possible to keep building more, so it should be prioritised for those with the highest need.

Well, yes obviously not - but what has that got to do with withdrawing the Right to Buy?

The theory was to bribe council house tenants to vote Conservative. Please let’s not pretend there was any element of social engineering other than that.