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.

The central government housing budget for grants is less than it used to be but still about 10-15 billion a year. Most of it these days is for building or renovation. Of course other budgets and other grants are available for other costs

Grants being needed to build it in the first place pretty much rubbishs the claim that it pays for itself doesn't it?

No one said new homes were not needed. But lots of people on this very thread have claimed social housing isn’t subsidized. It’s a matter of public record that it is.

Absolutely- and ongoing costs are often paid by grants and tax breaks from other sources (not central housing budget).

People on here say subsidized when they are talking about the rent. Multiple comments on here saying just that.
Rent is only subsidized if the tenant is on housing benefit, which a lot of SH tenants are not.

The rents include an element to repay building costs. Any evidence of grants and tax breaks? Of course you won’t be able to find any.

No - rent is being subsidized when the social housing provider is given government grants to build or buy the house in the first place (as they are). Also social housing providers don’t pay corporate tax and are often funded with grants for other things too. They are not covering the costs of providing housing. The taxpayer is paying for a large part of it.

I’ve just provided some. And it’s total fiction that rents contain an “element to repay building costs”.

So basically I am paying tax on my HA house.

And social housing providers get tax advantageous regimes as do councils. They don’t pay taxes on their profits. Housing associations are either charities or are taxed like they are.

you should look into this

No, we taxpayers are funding part of your housing costs

What about all the houses built 60-100 years ago. Were they all given grants then?

It’s not fiction, unlike your grants and tax breaks. And what would a not for profit pay corporation tax on? The clue’s in the name.

My Ha house is already paid for, built 1990.

In the council I work for, the repairs done by our Building and Maintenance department are done to the best of their ability on a tiny budget which is spread across a few thousand houses and flats.

Yes you will get cheaper vinyl flooring than you would probably like, but you will be given a ( limited) choice and if you want to lay your own, you can. Our budget just doesn’t stretch to anything other than fairly basic materials. As it is we generally run out of money by the end of the year, meaning that anything other than emergency repairs end up being cancelled.

And we do work around school
pick ups, hospital appointments, holidays - hell, one woman I spoke to the other day cancelled the appointment to have her new windows fitted because “Oh no dear, I always go shopping on a Tuesday.” So despite having had the appointment confirmed with her ten days prior by text and email, and the contractors booked for a specific time, we cancelled it and rebooked for a time that she wasn’t out shopping. So that’s one day we had to pay for contractors who we couldn’t use. Multiply that sort of thing by a few times a month and you are racking up loss of time, manpower and resources.

We do not have keys for individual properties, we rely entirely on tenants being home to grant us access. So if they lose their keys ( and oh my GOD they lose them all the time - only the other day someone lost hers in a tree) they have to sort out a new set with a locksmith. At their own expense.

something I DO see in Social housing is that while plenty of people take good care of their properties and maintain them as much as they can and decorate and take pride in keeping them looking nice, the higher percentage of people in SH with mental health issues, chaotic dysfunctional families and anti social personalities means that a high percentage of the houses end up with windows smashed in, furniture trashed, rubbish in the front gardens etc because there’s no money to pay to have it taken away… all of this gets fixed - “for free” by the council.

Then you have heat poverty - and mould. People refusing to ventilate their properties because they don’t want to let precious warm air out resulting in mould. Completely understandable - but who has to fix the mould? The council. We can only do so much - the reasons why people are poor and living in poverty - that ship has sailed. Do I think they should be given more opportunities? Yes. Do I wish the education system hadn’t failed them ( and their parents, this shit is multi generational) Yes of course. Do I wish they would stop having so many children with useless fucking men and perpetuating the cycle of poverty? A hundred times yes. But that is not the fault of the council, it is interlinked and goes back generations now.

It can only be solved by rigorous cross party agreements made and upheld by successive governments with an eye watering amount of funding that tackles education, health, employment and benefits. Which just won’t happen.

"The Taxpayer". Who is this strange person who keeps being mentioned on any thread to do with social housing/benefits?

Many people in SH work and are taxpayers.

social housing was funded by the taxpayer then too.

it’s not necessarily wrong to subsidize housing (although often lots of housing associations and councils are rubbish at getting value for money). But it’s nonsense to pretend it’s not subsidized. It is and it’s supposed to be.

My parents have been in their council house for over 35 years. They don't claim any benefits. How are they being subsidized?

It’s not subsidised.

Exactly 💯

People who get benefits (with perhaps the exception of some pensioners) are very rarely net contributors of tax. Maybe some social housing tenants are but again, likely to be the minority.

Does the rent go up as the occupants earn more money?

people living in subsidized housing may be net contributors but they don’t tend to be. And if they are, perhaps they should consider moving and leaving social housing for those who need it.

Rents go up each year.

Why would it? That does not happen in the private rental sector, or with people who have a mortgage.