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.

It is actually subsidised in that the rent is set at between 50% and 80% of market rents for the area depending on which council you are with.

People think of subsidised as having to fork out of their pockets for others .

Market rents are the problem. That needs to be brought under control. It's. Pisstake.

Yeah "happy 18th my child, now here's your bags packed and off you go, we've got no room for you now we're being forced into a 1 bed flat"..what kind of world do you live in where you think that making an 18 year old's life more difficult than it needs to be is ok? Most 1 bed flats don't have room for 2 adults let alone 3...or are you of the opinion that everyone in social housing is a single parent?

This happens on every thread about social housing... banging on that it is subsidised. It isn't.

Yep, inflated market rents should not be treated as the "right" amount.

Indeed. When my youngest sibling hit 18, all 3 of were still living with my parents. 5 adults in a one bed.... yeah, ok.

It is subsidised though? For example, United Welsh say they charge £600 for a 3 bed house - that’s much cheaper than a private rental.

Some people on UC will also have all of their rent covered even if they do work

Private rentals are inflated though. Social housing rent is what it should be.

It’s still subsidised thought regardless of your personal opinion about private rents

People can't wrap their heads around a model that pays in a circle. They can't understand how they're not paying out of their own pockets for people to live in SH. It doesn't make sense to them, so therefore they 'just do, ok!!

Then they come out with benefits like people in private rents don't claim housing benefit.

It's weird. It brings out strange people.

Because market rents are too high. Housing accounts have to wash their own face. Council housing rents cover the real cost without a profit.

Nothing wrong with social housing, open to all. The problem is that Right to Buy fucked our post war housing stock and there’s so little left. And created this situation with landlording as a job. So in reality you have to be willing to wait a long time, be very desperate or in very dire circumstances to access it. Which is right for the latter two, that’s who I want it to go to first. But for genuine socialised housing there needs to be enough available for everyone who would desire to be accommodated in that way. I’m left-wing with little inherent desire to own property and would have gladly rented a home in this way, but in my London borough since graduating university I’ve never been eligible to even get on the list. As a result I spent ten years renting privately until I could buy and it was crippling (then- and it’s got worse in the ten years since we bought).

Where I live there is a mix of housing association properties & privately owned. Some of the privately owned properties are rented out by the owners.

The housing association rent is just under £600 per month

The privately rented identical properties are £1100 +

It's a sought after town in the South East .

Round here there has been a large amount of social housing built. Rents are now very close together for private and social housing because there's no massive shortage.

Private rentals being inflated (usually because of a lack of them) doesn't mean social housing is subsidised.

The house is probably worth £1.5m though - how much would expect that to rent out for?

Yes, this is my experience. I understand that many people are working and living in council/housing trust properties and paying rent but nearly everyone I know in social housing is receiving some form of benefit and either not paying rent or paying a very low proportion of it. That is probably why some people refer to it as free housing. Social housing rent is very low compared to private rent so it is in effect subsidised. There is nothing wrong with that and people in lots of different situations need social housing. I feel there should be less stigma attached to it.

Hi, because the rent is low doesn’t mean it is subsidised. The housing association may not make a profit but it doesn’t mean that social housing is subsidised.

There are people in private rented receiving benefits too. And plenty of people living in social housing who recieve no benefits. My parents paid full rent and weren’t claiming benefits. So we’re both my brothers and their families

You need to define ‘subsidised’. If the rent is not market rate, it IS subsidised.

Who decides market rents? It seems private landlords can charge what they want nowadays. Rents will go up again now they will have to pay NI. And that will filter down to their tenants.

Social housing is not subsided. It is affordable.

That’s not what subsidy means.

l1.
a sum of money granted by the state or a public body to help an industry or business keep the price of a commodity or service low.

Once again, yes it does. Below market rate = subsidised. If I own a house outright with no mortgage and allow my child to live there rent free, I am subsidising them.

That’s a nonsense definition. It doesn’t have to be the state or a public body.
So parents don’t subsidise their kids’ adventures, education etc?
Students Unions don’t subsidise students bar and entertainment costs?
Our local cricket club doesn’t subsidise talented kids’ winter training fees?

Housing Associations SUBSIDISE housing for those in need. They COULD rent properties out at much higher prices, but choose to keep rents low and help those who need it.

Christ, the people who shout at clouds are out.

SH is not for profit. Private rents are. That's it. It's not that deep.

This is the definition of subsidy from the uk government.

A subsidy is where a public authority provides support to an enterprise that gives them an economic advantage, meaning equivalent support could not have been obtained on commercial terms.

so the government definitely thinks that not market rate = subsidised.

Again. When people talk about subsidised on these threads. They're thinking out of their own almighty taxpayer pocket. Which means they are aggrieved they don't get a say in how SH is run.

They do not think how much profit councils can make but don't.