To think council housing is really unfair??

[Helpmechooseausername]

I totally get that some people need to be housed by the council, but AIBU to think that the system is abused - but it seems to be his the system works?

I know of two families who have lived in their council houses for years and raised their children there. They needed help when they first moved in, and so were quite fairly given council houses. But, now the kids have grown up and moved on. The parents both have got jobs, nice cars, holidays, go out for meals, etc., etc.. They can continue living in their council houses for the rest of their lives.

It seems massively unfair. Is it really not means tested?? Surely the houses should be given to other people who need them? How can it be right that they aren't told to move back into the private property market?

I feel a bit like when I stand in a queue in a shop, waiting to pay, while people come in and just take what they want without paying or queuing!!

And yes, I'll admit that I'm jealous! I can't afford to do any nice things for my kids and I, despite working hard, and it seems to be because I chose to own my own home and get a mortgage instead of getting a council house!

This is probably what would happen if enough people grumble about council housing being cheaper. Rents would be raised to be more inline with private.

Look what has happened with Birmingham Council's equal pay claims - they don't want to/can't pay anyone more so they are trying to reduce the wages of the refuse collectors so all the pay is equally low.

Why would she make it up? Doesn't make any sense. She was just happy about it because she moved from a rotten place where she paid 1000/month so she's got 800 more per month to spend. It's not something you would brag about so I do believe her. She's only declaring half of her income so that is probably why she gets such a low rent.

Yes, and my mortgage and rent for my 2 bed new build on 75% SO is £1300, no idea if I’ll ever be mortgage free as I live alone. It would be lovely to get more space for nearly half the cost as well as free repairs on my white goods…

Right so precisely a million, lol. Someone with £800k in the bank is ok with you?

The only reason why I live in a council house is because it's adapted for my son's disabilities. My son suddenly became disabled last year and couldn't be discharged from hospital until we had suitable housing for him as our rented property was no longer suitable.

I certainly don't feel lucky that my son became disabled and we had to leave the house both of my children were born in. There's also nothing to be jealous of either.

As for cheaper rent? I pay the same amount of rent as I did for my private rental.

It's secure housing. Of course the majority of people aren't going to give that up to rent privately and risk being turfed out at any given moment.

Thanks for the replies. I find it really helpful to get other people's opinions to help me see things from different perspectives.

I didn't ever mean that people should be 'kicked out' as a lot of people seem to think I said. I think their contracts should never have stipulated that they could stay forever, but then we can't turn back time. Maybe in the future the terms could be written for new tenants. Or existing contracts could be amended to say that the house can't pass onto their children when they die.

I also didn't mean to imply that people who have a genuine need to have a council house were stealing, I was just saying it makes me feel the same as when I'm doing the right thing, standing dutifully in line waiting to pay when others just take what they want. The feeling of unfairness is the same to me. I don't think that people are stealing their houses!! I'm sorry if that's how it came across!

The problem with council housing is the ridiculous discount people were getting to buy them with. This has now thankfully stopped.
I know of people who were on the housing list who lied to get on it to enable them to buy with this huge discount.
And secondly when sold they were never replaced.

I believe homeowners who have worked, saved, and purchased their homes should be free to do what they wish with them. Private ownership and autonomy go hand in hand.

We had to do this to my grandads house too. We were told it had to be left exactly how it was when he moved in (60+ years ago when it was built), everything had to be removed, the whole house had to be painted, the garden returned to just lawn (he spent years making his garden perfect) :(

They don’t allow you to leave any carpets, and even ask that you take the curtain poles down.

It truly baffles me how some people can defend council tenants staying in social housing when their needs and means have changed.

Imagine a family of 5, minimum wage, unable to afford a mortgage or private rental, so they rent a 4-bed council house. One by one the kids leave home, and then the parents win the lottery. So now they’re multi-millionaires. They buy each of their adult kids a house and a car, and a couple of holiday homes, and they have lots of lovely holidays. So there they are, in a 4-bed house, paying lower-than-private rent, and living the high life. Meanwhile, a family locally are in a B&B, 3 kids sleeping in one room, waiting for a council property to be available. I know that’s an extreme example, but how can anyone think that a system that permits such an example is fair?

I understand that people don’t want to leave their home, but if their financial circumstances change then their rent should go up, providing more revenue to the council, so they can house more people in need.

I think a lot of us can go right-wing when it comes to council houses because on the surface of course it seems unfair. We all roll our eyes when we see yet another article about a family who live in a two bedroom flat and have decided to have a third, fourth, fifth child and are complaining that they’re not being given a bigger house immrdiately. And don’t look at swap sites if your easily enraged by what looks like perceived entitlement.

But would I (or most of us) want to be in he position where I need one or it’s my only option? No!

My home will eventually be fully mine (assuming no financial disaster on the way). I’m not jealous of council tenants. I have friends in council homes.

My town has a large council estate which is in progress of regeneration, in other words demolition and rebuild where half the properties will no longer be council. Friend had a three bedroom home, her oldest child (oldest at home not overall) though was 20, youngest 10. She’s been moved to a flat, didn’t have much of an option as all circumstances were reassessed and, whilst they can’t revoke the lifetime lease she has, they didn’t have to give her another three bedroom house. Her oldest counted as an adult who needed to find their own home and she’s now in a two bed. That was her home for more than twenty years. No choice, it’s earmarked for demolition. Her and her husband both work, full time (like a lot of mums she has had gaps). Council housing removes most of your choices as well as your rent costs.

Another friend’s home, perfectly solid in many ways, just had all rendering redone and a new roof…..but again it’s choices. The council replaced the kitchens in the area about 5 years ago and my friend cried. It looked like the kitchen you get in a village hall….bright blue wet room floor, cold and sterile.5 years later, the cheap materials used are causing it to fall apart. Gas and electricity is pay as you go on a meter, Front door thin and let’s in a draught and damp, garden path is a crumbly state, fence cheap and falling down…..and like my other friend, she’s reluctant to spend money as she’s frightened her area is next in line for demolition ( regeneration does seem to be working it’s way round in our area). She’s also bound by rules for work people to come in because it’s a council house - she has to wait for the council to send their people round which can take forever.

My little cousin, who fits the stereotype we all love to hate and is waiting for a council house for her and her two children, has been told in her London borough she can expect a 9 year wait for a two bedroom home, and you now only get one refusal. I wouldn’t want to be in that position.

To have only one veto on where I live and then have no choice but to take or have nothing? No I’m not jealous of council tenants.

We need more council / HA homes and they need to be decent. We need a change in the rental market on the whole. Everyone should have a solid roof over their heads and be able to keep it. If the country wants to put more and more jobs at minimum wage then they need to think through affordable housing.

I don't care if it's an unpopular opinion, but they should be given to those who need them but only for as long as they need them.

As for the "after 20 years, it's their jome" nonsense. If you are living in surmised accommodation, it's not your house, it's the state or the council's so no one is entitled to it.

Il be flamed for this but here goes and il address the elephant in the room. There would be enough council houses to go around in Britian if they were actually awarded to British citizens, the council estate nearest to me appears to be mostly occupied by migrant families. This is why there is such a shortage of homes particularly in my region. Yes I know many have escaped horrors in their home lands and deserve a settled home. So do you suggest these people should be kicked out of their council home too once their homelands are safe to return to again?

Personally I'd fully support incentives for everyone to downsize or fill their houses up. Lots of ways to do it without forcing people out of their homes. Bit of tinkering with taxes to encourage downsizing, intergenerational living or taking in lodgers. For those who choose not to, the extra tax take can go into constructing social housing. The housing crisis is everyone's problem and we all owe it to future generations to start solving it.

That article is about the bigger economic picture of providing social
housing accounting for positive impact on the economy of building programmes, reduced housing benefit bill etc. I was asking more about whether councils make money now off council houses; as someone put it ‘the rents carry on pouring in’. Well yes, but there is also admin and maintenance around that too. I think this is important to establish as it does seem to drive a sense of entitlement and lack of recognition of council or social housing as a benefit, and a benefit not available to all.

over the years they will have more than paid for their house and yet will pay rent forever. The surplus will go to build new houses - at least that’s how it used to work before councils were hammered by sale of their housing stock - and they were not allowed to pay off the debt they had incurred building bew stock that got sold off for peanuts. So it was that that totally undermined a good system of social housing that paid for itself

Well you either have a threshold or you don’t.
If you look at a million in terms of what high ticket items you can buy with it - it really won’t stretch far these days.

im literally talking about need. 2 families in equal need should have an equal playing field, but they don’t because of the unequal two tier system that council housing currently offers.

Yes that was exactly my question - your proposed threshold. It wasn’t clear that “millionaire” was your cutoff.

YABU.

What's unfair is that you can earn enough to afford to rent privately / mortgage each month but in the eyes of the private landlord, because i don't earn 4 x The monthly rent i can't afford it!! And being a mortgage is almost impossible! You have equity and will one day be mortgage free not paying rent in your old age with a nice amount to pass on your to children. The council house tenant will not.

Usual depressing views of ‘force council tenants out of their family home’ away from their neighbours as soon as the youngest turns 18 (which would put young people in a terrible dilemma knowing if they move out, their mum loses her home and has to go cap-in-hand to a private landlord when heading for retirement).

But leave the rich in their mansions; the non doms with their empty, unlet apartments used as investment vehicles (huge block but only two flats with lights on); the middle-classes with their secret buy-to-let’s and Airbnbs.

Talk about focussing on the wrong problem ☹️

You’ll be thrilled to know the system has changed here OP.

There is no “council housing” as such. All social housing stock is owned by housing associations. For all new tenancies now (including existing tenants who move properties), a lease is only given for 12 months & your eligibility is reassessed each year along with your performance (for want of a better word) as a tenant. So probably more in line with private rentals?

Social housing rents are also not that much cheaper than private in this area!

...and that is why there are 10+ prospective tenants fighting over each rental property. Will the last landlord to sell up please turn out the lights.

Plus when it comes to private renting people will be quick to say to remember it's not your home it's the landlord's.