To think that there is a misunderstanding about social housing.

[Bitchesbelike]

On social media, lots of people assume that people in social / council housing are getting a free house and don’t work.

i grew up in social housing: my dad worked from age 15 to 65.

my brothers have worked since they were 16 and both live in social housing.

its not “free housing”: it’s rented, affordable accommodation.

why does @wheredidthetime owe that single mothers kids more than the childs OWN FATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Classism AND misogyny. Women in SH owe a kid they dont even know more than the fucking penis owner who helped to create the kids.

You have a point!

Quelle surprise.

oh it gets worse. On an ITV report that Daniel Hewitt did a single mum living in a hotel was offered an SH place. She had to turn it down cos her ex vetoed it as it was too far for him to have to travel for contact.
Yep you read that right. Selfish bastard.

Exactly as a single woman with no kids I’ve been in terrible situations when private renting which led to me being homeless numerous times - all the while working full time and paying taxes .

I appreciate I’m not as vulnerable as a child but my life and safety matters too.

Let’s all push for more social housing for all, instead of a race to the bottom where
we think it’s only the destitute who should receive affordable housing.

Thankfully friends took me in but I had a single friend in a similar situation who ended up in some dodgy hostels with people with severe drug problems when she lost her job. she was told had she had kids she would’ve been housed.

Single people are low on everyone’s priority list and when things go wrong in private rentals there is often no-one to help. They should never feel bad about taking social housing and getting some security for themselves.

Yep the child free are always considered last

Council house rent is usually about 50% of the market rent. So it is a lot cheaper. And most people in council housing will be using housing benefit to cover some or most of that already reduced rent. So the individual is most likely paying an awful lot less from their own pocket than someone completely independent of any financial assistance.

I hugely support council housing. Would like to see much more of it.

The shortage of social housing is a huge issue. In the past most working class people lived in social housing and most worked. Now due to right to buy there is very little social housing and so people are inevitably fighting over it. Meanwhile slum landlords make a killing off both the state (if they are paying rent), vulnerable people and in much of the SE the large numbers of adults and families not on the housing ladder. It was one of the worst policies ever invented because it's so hard to undo.

Social housing for those who need it is extremely important. But I really think we need to look at sensible schemes of moving people out of it or into smaller homes as appropriate, in order to free up homes for those who need it now. And we absolutely need to stop selling it off. Right to Buy was a terrible idea.

Its cheaper than private renting, it’s more secure than private renting, and there are rules regarding repairs and upgrades which don’t exist in private renting. So yes, I can understand why some people get frustrated when it seems to be used/ allocated ‘unfairly’

A colleague rents her one bed council flat in Lambeth for £600 a month. Average rents for a one bed flat in Central London privately are £1600 a month plus.

I support social housing. But we need more of it.

Yeah, so you make your tenants pay for YOUR ownership of the asset you're renting to them, and will continue to own more & more of as you keep raking in the rents. You're making them pay your mortgage.

I don't suppose you'll be reducing your rents as your debt decreases?

You're correct about one thing. Right To Buy is what fucked it (quite deliberately). At the same time, a system of ever-tightening restrictions was placed on councils and HAs which meant - for several years, at least - they weren't allowed to spend their own money on new build!

I'm not up to speed with the intricacies of government control these days, but Right To Buy needs to stop. It's the main reason for the shortage.

I guess if more social housing were available, market rents would fall?

The vast majority of landlords with mortgages have BTL interest only mortgages so they can scale their business. In these cases the tenants aren't helping the landlords pay for the asset as such as the landlord has no intention of every truly owning the house. In fact lots of landlords don't really make a great deal of 'profit' from the rent. The model instead relies on house prices going up and the landlord making money that way when the the house is sold. It's a gamble of course though, as house prices can go down as well as up and so can interest rates. The landlord is also responsible for the maintenance of the property so a new roof etc can also be a huge threat to the business model.

You seem very angry and bitter but landlords perform an important function in the market.

Not even considered at all in many cases! lol

kinda off topic but it drives me mad when governments bang on about doing this and that for families when it’s things that affect everyone including single person households! I’ve noticed politicians use that rhetoric slightly less recently so I wonder if someone’s picked them up on it.

“It’s not a matter of numbers: singles are not being ignored because there simply aren’t that many of them to matter electorally. Last year, there were 8.3 million people living alone, representing 30% of all households, with millions of others in shared accommodation. And yet they are absent from the political rhetoric and major policy discussions about alleviating pain for “typical households”, families struggling with childcare costs and mortgages. After all, it is often single people at the sharp end of the increasingly unhinged private rental market, with singles half as likely to get on the housing ladder than 30 years ago.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/25/hard-working-families-single-people-cost-of-living-crisis

This thread merely highlights the point that more social housing is needed. The problem with tenants in bigger houses having nowhere to downsize to is real and is being addressed with new developments featuring more 1/2/3 beds rather than the 4+ beds that were being built 15-20 yrs ago. I do remember the bedroom tax being announced and the governments response at the time to people who couldn’t afford it was to “downsize” when even I knew there wasn’t the housing stock to support that. It is being addressed, but it’s the public sector, so everything moves at a glacial pace.

But the system as it is isn’t working, it is inevitable that changes will have to be made. But this thread has made me reflect on the perception at the moment that everything will be fixed if you just “tax the rich”. Perhaps I’m wrong but it seems to be the belief of a lot of people that if others have “more” they can pay. Whilst in theory, I agree with that, it’s worth remembering that we all have “more” than someone. So, for the people saying they could but won’t leave their social housing or downsize because “why should they” there is someone else who believes you have “more” and they need it more than you do.
I think we are all going to have to make sacrifices to get out of this mess.

In choosing not to charge the market rate for the rental income, the council /HA are sacrificing some potential income.
I
This is subsidising.

Im not sure you understand what subsidised means. The council receive reduced income for these rental properties therefore it's a cost to the council, of lost income. That lost income is one reason council's currently struggle to meet all the costs of the services they have to provide like social care, refuse collection, libraries.

However you want to spin it, social housing is significantly below market rents and for those living in it and using housing benefit to pay for it, it's effectively free.

Can't believe there are people on this thread trying to claim social housing isn't really cheaper 😂

ok, I’ll bite. What is “unfairly”?

Should someone with no kids turn down social housing and struggle on in private rents because they don’t and sometimes can’t have kids ? Should someone with “only” one or two children turn it down as they should give it to those with 3+ kids? Should people with non disabled kids decline as “a family with disabled kids need it more”? Should anyone who actually works full time and not on benefits turn it down because someone else is on benefits? (And btw someone’s income on benefit if they have kids can often exceed a single working persons income)

There’s always someone “worse off” than yourself but we do what’s best for ourselves in every other avenue of life, so this absurd idea of the “less deserving” (as you may see them) stepping aside when it comes to social housing is ridiculous.

Why don’t we all push against inflated rents and poor standards in private rents which affect everyone from unemployed or disabled on benefits to full time time working professionals. Rather than saying “oh them over there have it better in social housing, and they don’t seem quite desperate enough - not fair”

10 years ago we were housed in a HA home. We have a 3 bed and rent of £615 a month. I work full time although my privately owned neighbours to my right are of the assumption I don't work. I work for a LA so mostly WFH unless I'm in court/mediation/a drop in session.

However, even 10 years later the situation in our LA now is so dire that if you work you aren't ever going to be eligible for social housing. You will be backed with a tenancy guarantor scheme and deposit by the LA and expected to rent privately. Only those with no means to rent privately will ever be housed here now.

I would say though, re repairs, I dont ever contacted my HA for repairs (I appreciate it am lucky to be able to dodge them) HA repairs are absolutely rock bottom in terms of quality and even being done correctly.

Because greedy landlords are forever increasing their rents to maximise their own profit.

Housing associations are not looking to profit on their housing stock in the same way.

So the private sector is massively inflated rather than HA being subsided.

It amazed me how many people lack the basic thinking skills to be able to figure that out.

For a lot of landlords, it’s a business. When interest rates rise, so do the mortgages on their properties. Do you expect people in business to make a loss?

@Sendcrisis2025 thats is storing up issues though isn’t it. My friend and her partner both work also for local authorities. It’s ok pay but not amazing. Due to the SH shortage any new neighbours are people with the most points and need. Now for many that could mean they are perfectly fine but so far all new neighbours have been awful with addiction issues and various problems. Someone got axed in the head a few months ago a couple of doors down over a drug deal, person caught thankfully. There seems to have been a cycle of SH. Right to buy however people feel emotionally it improved some areas, shortages now mean it’s only going to get worse. Probably ending up in some places like the projects in America.

My heritage is immigrant parents, I was raised to believe you were a failure if you needed it.

Yes, i do think we are heading towards problems. When we got ours our HA prioritised those who were working and earning. Now they are not allowed as those don't even make it on the housing register.

Any form of earned income deems you capable of privately renting and social housing is going to become worse in terms of the tenants. Here it is now only those completely unable to rent privately for whatever reason.