Surprised with the quality of some council houses

[LydieL]

Hi all, so I recently moved to a town in the north west, very low income area, the town is as you’d expect a sea of terrace houses that open to the street with concrete yards, some of the nicer parts have gardens but for the most part that’s not the case. There are also some newer estates.

Anyway I work for a charity, we support families where a parent or sibling has passed away. As part of my job I’ve seen a lot of council houses, in this area it’s mostly the terraces which are small or post war builds which are bigger but these tend to be “rougher” areas to live.

Lately I’ve been working with a family, mums been offered a council house and today I went with her to just go over a list of what she needs to do to get out of temporary accommodation asap and into it. I’ll be honest I’m a little stunned at the quality, it’s a 3 bed terrace, small front garden, mid size back garden (more than most around here), large kitchen, bay window. Council have fitted a new kitchen and bathroom and re-plastered the whole house.

It’s also in a “nicer” area. For the amount this place would sell for, you could probably buy 2 cheaper 3 bed terraces and considering the shortage of council housing stock I’m surprised that hasn’t happened! She will be paying about a little Over half what it would go for on the rental market.

Now I know this is the exception rather than the norm but AIBU to be surprised councils are holding onto higher value properties like this rather than selling them and either getting 2 houses (so 2 families can be housed) or putting the profit into the local area?

I am aware this is far from the norm but after talking to colleagues the council seems to have several properties in this little area, this mum has also got very lucky with her housing situation as she’s only been in temporary accommodation for a couple of months.

Only a very recent terminology. I believe the government have decided to call state pension a benefit is so that they can justify means testing it at a later date when it's younger people's turn to retire. State pension credit is a benefit. State pension is not unless you choose to label it as such.

I see. Though if those people
are claiming UC they have not paid enough NI during their working life to claim a full state pension and so they are indeed claiming a benefit. People who have 35 years plus of NI contributions are entitled to a full state pension and they would not qualify for UC or the other benefits that claiming that unlocks. I was also thinking that true Council Houses are like gold dust after they were sold off under The Right to Buy and never replaced so older people in council houses that are claiming benefits to pay rent have probably been living in them a long time, hence it appears that there are more older people paying rent through benefits than there are younger people. They are likely to be in private rented accommodation.

The difference is that it is a contributory benefit that only people who have made contributions can claim. It is therefore different from UC etc. I don't know if what you say about older people not liking being "lumped together " with benefit claimants is correct. But it is very different from other benefits and should be thought about as such. Beware allowing the government to "lump it in" with other benefits that are not contributory because once we allow it to be means tested or diminished, it will never return.

Only if you have paid the necessary number of NI contributions. Otherwise you are on pension credit.

Disgraceful attitude that just about sums up everyone working in this branch of the parasite industries, as I call them - create a huge class of unfortunates from birth, then attach yourself to them for life in the form of doctors, teachers, politicians, psychiatrists, housing associations, and so on.

Sorry, you’re wrong. This is why women who don’t work outside the home are advised to claim child benefit even if their partner has to repay it. See second bullet point.

You’ll need 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any new State Pension.
A qualifying year is one in which you were:

• working and made National Insurance contributions
• getting National Insurance credits for example if you were unemployed, ill or a parent or carer
• paying voluntary National Insurance contributions

You might also qualify if you’ve lived or worked abroad or paid reduced rate National Insurance for married women.

I think a lot of assumptions have been made here about the point the OP is making. No one is saying that people in council housing should be offered lesser accommodation or locations, simply that in the current climate it doesn't make sense for councils to hold onto high value property when there is such a huge wait of people that deserve to also be in a permanent home.

My mums neighbour lived in her council house for 50+ years and in that time the area became quite exclusive and the value of that property shot up. If sold, it would've bought at least 4 houses in another area. It's not that the people in it don't deserve it, and in a perfect economy there wouldn't be anyone in rubbish temporary accommodation and everyone would be offered a safe, clean, home. But that isn't the case. The point here is more people need to be housed and it's surprising that the council haven't made the decision to do this.

You are at least the 5th person to post this almost identical post

Since the 80s a lot of the council housing stock has been sold especially in the " nicer" areas.
I really sad that these beautiful homes are no longer available for families to rent and more and more families are being put in flats.
What's even worse is that often people are encouraged to buy thier home by unscrupulous mortgage companies specialising in lending in this market. The buyer often fails to make payment, the home is repossessed , sold on the open market to a landlord who will charge double the council rent which often is paid by benefits, so as a tax payers we end up paying more.
There nothing to prevent the tenant in doing this several times and each time a house is lost from the housing stock.
Every family deserves to live in a decent affordable home and the only shocking thing is this beautiful properties are lost from public ownership.
I feel disappointed that you as a support worker can't be pleased that someone has got " lucky " and moved into a nice home in a nice area

Councils have not been allowed to build homes to replace those sold. That is why there has been a shortage of good housing. Current govt has said it will change this. That will help but obvs councils will be building to last, getting value for money.

I think it’s also a hard pill to swallow when someone who hasn’t been in the UK for years (she is a British citizen but left shortly after graduating, so hasn’t contributed to the economy at all) returns, gets given a beautiful property, hand outs of every flavour etc.

Goady McGoadface in the building!

I agree, I was in temp accommodation for 8 months due to my mum having a mental breakdown making me and my kids homeless! We got very lucky and ended up in a very desirable area in social housing (not as cheap as council but still extremely affordable compared to private renting). This post is very judgemental.

Apologies mustn't have seen it all

Apologies, mustn't have seen it all. Still quite new to mumsnet

Councils have a duty to help the homeless and those on low incomes (and the boat people apparently). Why should they sell property to private landlords and housing associations so they can make obscene profits when they can rent it out and get some money into the council pot

As for the new kitchen, that is usual every 5-10 years depending on the council

Haha,
I hope your post somehow gets outed to your employer because, you are seriously in the wrong job.
You are really too judgemental to work in this sort of role.
Imagine if my mental health workers said anything about me or any other of their clients online. I'd be mortified.
Sorry but you are AWFUL and should be sacked.

Considering this poor woman has suffered a bereavement I wouldn't begrudge her nice accommodation.
For somebody who claims to work for a charity I can't say I'm impressed with your ' them have poorer quality / smaller homes' attitude.

My point exactly - sounds like a nasty piece of work.

Didn't op just mean it would be more beneficial to house 2 families not one.

Bitch brigade out in full force putting words in her mouth 🙄

Yes. Everyone who tried to say this was immediately shouted down 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s literally in the thread title - surprised at the quality of council houses.

No, OP commented on the quality of the housing, not the capacity. Read it again.

Everyone understands this. It wasn’t hard to understand.

but it’s not a great idea, doesn’t work in the real world and people have explained for pages and pages why, yet others keep popping up saying the same as you as though you’re the first to suggest it.

Have you not read OPs updates and the tone of which she writes?
So, no the bitch brigade is not out, she's is in fact in the wrong job and should seek out alternative employment

Your taxes are paying for all sorts of things including wars, including other seedy things.

Lifting people from poverty should be something to celebrate as it spirals positively rather than creating more poverty.

Your mortgage is for your home that you can sell and invest elsewhere, move to Spain, retire in Thailand etc.. The council tenants don't have this privilege I'm afraid. They have to ask if someone can replace the moldy carpet and get a new washing machine as then old one jas rust in it.

I'd say you're still more fortunate than the council tenants even though your taxes leave your account.