to think council right to buy scheme is a joke

[doublethetrouble]

just been watching property ladder on home and leisure and couple renovating property have bought it for under scheme at half market value and although they arent able to sell for 2years they are moving on and renting it for 2 years at £900 per month profit! Not blaming couple i would buy house for peanuts 2 if i had chance. Do think its mad that folk like me have no money and huge mortgage though.

double, yanbu to be sad about this. BUT, yabu to moan about this, especially as that was a very old episode! You chose to buy your house and not wait for a council house.
Most of us are in the same boat, barely making enough to cover our bills and struggling to pay our mortgage.

Discounts have changed now and you can't get as much off, we know as we've looked at it in our area. So what if they want to buy it and make a profit?!! Isn't that the idea that they've paid rent for so long that really, they've bought the discount themselves?!! YABU!

Smacks of sour grapes to me.

IMO the right to buy scheme - introduced by Margaret Thatcher - was wrong. I don't particularly have a problem with the people who used it to buy their house and make a profit. As loulou says they have qualified for the discount by paying rent and they have just legitimately taken advantage of the system.

I think it was wrong because it has dramatically reduced the number of houses available to rent to low income families. She also changed the law in favour of private landlords, making it much easier for them to increase rents and allow short term tenancy agreements, meaning many families in rented accommodation have zero security.

We now have a situation where there are very limited numbers of affordable rental properties available and thousands of amateur landords carping on about the fall in property prices and how it's a terrible state of affairs that the rent on their property no longer covers their mortgage on it

I think your right and the system has changed re discounts. Like I said I don't blame the couple. Based on the fact that my parents put their name down for a coucil house and are still wating to hear back I think its unlikely I would get council house.

To put things in perspective though a friend whom has never worked a day in her life for no good reason managed to buy her council house for peanuts. I worked hard at school and university to try and secure a decent future for myself and find myself with practically no disposable income whilst she can go on lovely holidays and to the pub every week as she barely has a mortgage. By all means I think the government should help those less fortunate but also help those that try and help themselves and they may be able to better afford this if they weren't giving away houses for peanuts or had given houses away for peanuts if this is no longer the case.

I rented whilst at university, the landlord didn't give me opportunity to buy house at discounted rate.

you will be pleased to know, that however long i live here i have no right to buy on this property. some properties dont qualify.

Hmmm....I guess it depends how you look at it. Not everybody is in it to make a profit. When my DP lost his business and therefore our jobs and our home that went with it, we had no choice but to rent. Ridiculous laws granted to landlords meant that we were yet again screwed over again and again. As a result, we have now ended up in a crappy council maisonette and when we get a council house, having the right to buy it will be the only way we can secure an inheritance for our children unless the housing market changed dramatically.
Not everyone in council housing is out to screw the system!

Yes completely appreciate that Zephyrcat. I know not everyones out to screw the system and to be honest if you were in a position to take advantage of bargain buy who in their right mind would say no.

I'm more fortunate than most, my parents lent me a deposit to buy property, however if they hadn't I would never have been able to get on the property ladder. Never able to get a council house as I'm so low down on the list and therefore unable to secure any inheritance for my kids. I know other people that are in similar position to me other than they don't have parents who can lend them the deposit for a house/flat and it must be a bit soul destroying to see folk that have used the system a lot better off than them and able to provide more for their kids.

YANBU. Not the couple's fault - who wouldn't do the same, but the system is flawed.

Social housing is a vital resource and there is a huge shortage caused by a combination of right to buy and the failure to replenish stocks through new building. It's very unfortunate that these properties are being used for private profit instead of fulfilling the basic need for housing.

The really insane thing is that local authorities and housing associations are increasingly turning to private landlords to provide accommodation. The landlords get their properties managed by the association and rent is guaranteed (at market rates) every month. Why the hell should we be paying their mortgages? It's an amazingly inefficient way to provide social housing.

i'd agree with you. i think the affordable housing scheme we have over here (ireland) is a joke.

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post here. I'm sorry about resurrecting such an old thread, but I stumbled across this by accident on Google and the title compelled me to reply.

Is the Right To Buy scheme a joke?

I was given priority housing need, about 17 years ago, after being released from a prison sentence that was handed down to me due to crimes I committed in relation to a severe Heroin addiction. My Doctor provided the local authority with a letter explaining that I would be at increased risk of relapse if I didn't have stable accommodation. The Council kindly obliged by giving me a secure tenancy on a small studio flat, in a town about 30 miles from central London.

To cut a very long story short, some years later I was in a position to be able to buy that flat, and due to the Council undervaluing the property, and also giving me a 65% discount, I was able to buy it outright with cash.

Not long after buying the place, I moved in with my Girlfriend (who has been my DW for the last 4 years) and let the flat. As many people will probably know, I had to wait 5 years before I could sell the property and be able to keep all the proceeds. This is exactly what I did, and in that time, the rental income completely covered the purchase price of the flat, as well as much of the money that I spent doing it up to a high standard of finish.

Due to the huge rise in property prices in the London commuter belt over the last few years, I ended up selling the flat for over 5 times the amount that the Council generously sold me it for.

My DW and I now live in a very nice suburb of a large city 150 miles from London, in a 3 bed detached house, which we own outright, and was fully paid for out of the proceeds from the Right To Buy flat sale.

Neither of us have yet got to our 40th birthdays, and due me once being a drug addicted convict, we can look forward to the rest of our lives rent and mortgage free.

Many of my old school friends who were at university when I was in jail, are still struggling to even get their foot on the first rung of the housing ladder, with the way property prices are in South East England.

So, is the RTB scheme a joke? Hell yes, of course it is!

Wow, resurrecting and 8yr old thread to brag about your good fortune. Why?

Mind you don't choke on it.

Oh and Ive never needed social housing, I inherited my house, so not jealous.

I'm not sure what your point is Kenny?

How did you even find an 8yr old thread to comment on it?

Cool story bro.

um good for you i live in a council house i dont want to buy had a mortgage once been there done that etc