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!

No, the problem is that the housing stock isn't replaced as people, rightly or wrongly, exercise the right to buy. The shrinking of social housing stock is the problem (along with the diminishing quality of same)

I’m a social housing tenant myself but I do think the contracts show me reviewed, say every 5 years, to reevaluate the position of the families and if there’s still an actual need for it.

It makes no sense to have people hogging 2 or 3 bedroom houses when they’re adult children have moved out, they’re able to work and sometimes are even bringing in very good money. Save for a deposit and then vacate the house to the next family in need.

The biggest issue is subletting !! I work in local authority fraud and can tell you that the abuse of the system is so rife my team could be employed for another 50 years and still not touch the end .. it goes like this .

Get yourself a council flat or house .. at a third of the going rate for rentals - any big city will do but obviously London is the biggest earner .. you then sublet your home for below market rate but still £££ more than you are required to pay .. so for example .. a 3 bed in Bromley south London.. council want £800 pm.. private rental £2599.. but you rent for £2k cash .. as the tenant you pocket £1200 and either stay with your parents or buy a house in your spouses name …

My rent is three times what my mortgage was. HTH.

It’s a difficult one…..
MIL had a 4 bed house and lived in it on her own for 20+ years…
It was the house she raised her kids in, it was her home but….
There are families in temporary accommodation or overcrowded houses that needed that 4 bedroomed house.
We did eventually persuade her to move to a one bed bungalow.
So I’m on the fence 😂

Is it? Can you back that up?

I dont know about asking people to leave but it is certainly frustrating that they pay a lot less than private rent and therefore generally have more disposable income. Many of the people I know in council/ housing ass work part time in lower income jobs and have a similar standard of living than me (but they have a car and I dont, and can generally afford a holiday every year, maybe two, whereas I cant).

Of course, it should be means tested every few years. Otherwise where does new stock come from?

I can compare my mortgage to my family members rent, because we live less than 10 miles apart. If you lived here, at that LTV for a 2 bed, your mortgage would be sub 400. Your outgoings aren’t comparable in this situation. If you can’t afford your area, even though your mortgage lender has assessed your affordability, you can move. There are cheaper areas of the UK. Your comparison is irrelevant.

I agree with you OP.
Council hoses should go to those in need. There should be assessments every 5-10 years to establish if someone still needs their council house both financially and space wise.

And for the argument that the council house is the tennants home and they are therefore entitled to stay in a 3 bed house as a couple or single person: it's utter bullocks!
Many morgaged homeowners downsize when the children have moved out. It's not some draconian concept. It's just common sense.

Yes, it is. Back it up? What, with bank statements or something? Yes, I can, but I won't be, to some random stranger on Mumsnet. 👍

I’m in a council house but I can completely see where you are coming from. My council house is falling apart but Jen & Paul down the road (with the same house) have a massive camper out front, holiday 2-3 times a year & their house looks like it’s had an extreme makeover. Kids have all moved out of course & there are 2 spare rooms. I can totally see why this would anger so many people.

the council do allow tenants to swap, as long as it means you wont be under/over-occupying. More encouragement to exchange your council house once it no longer meets your needs should be looked at in more depth. An 80 year old with a 3 bedroom house would be much better suited to a 1-2 bedroom bungalow & the lady & her 2 children in the bungalow would be much be better suited to the house. Am I making sense…?

General needs don't get white goods repaired, may have them gifted.
Supported housing do, this is because the white goods belong to the HA or they rent them. These customers pay a service charge, included in that charge is a matinance fee for white goods repairs/replacement.
When leaving they have to leave them.

The shocking price of private rentals is what is causing so many folk to be declared homeless. It’s really sad.

It is surprising how much of the thread happily demands subsidised homes for life as a reward for every individual claiming to have a housing need, and blames shortage of these almost-free houses on Mrs. Thatcher. Virtually nobody ponders if many governments' action and inaction and misguided or ill-considered policies, allowing the population to double, then double again, could have caused any imbalance of supply and demand, for houses and services and everything else.

Perhaps, as this is Mumsnet, the readers may be mainly people adding to the population, but has nobody ever noticed any problem at all with a world, or a country, of finite resources and excess of demand? Legal or not, the population increases from overseas additions, and on top of that, every religion and every party appears to still think that the purpose of a woman is to produce unlimited numbers of offspring, supported by charities, taxpayers or, in the case of Africa, by Bill Gates.

And possibly have to claim housing benefit if they are on a low income or retired.

Yeah makes sense.

Totally agree. My PIL are still living in the 3 bed council house they got when my husband & BIL were kids, they don’t need 3 bedrooms yet you have got families with 2 kids living in 1 bedroom flats because that is all that’s available.

It should absolutely be reviewed and reorganised to ensure people are in the correct properties for their current needs/circumstances.

I know someone in a 3 bed who desperately wants to downsize to a 1 bed bungalow or downstairs flat, elderly, don’t need the space & the stairs are too much for them- 3 year wait!

They were paying 600 in their private rental in a better area before their landlord sold up. They were there for about 4 years.

Also - I don’t want to stay in a council house all my life. It may be far fetched right now but one day I dream of becoming self sufficient & buying a little house for me & DD. The council helped save us from an impossible situation (DV) but it’s not something I would want to rely on for the rest of my life.

Property prices are much lower in our area of Northern Ireland

Hence why they were homeless

Very hard to get a 25 year mortgage over 50.

So, I assume you mean they should rent privately as pensioners (hard to compete as rents increase) or become homeless in old age?

Move away from good neighbours and need more social care?

Their kids should have no safety net to come back to if they need. So, they may become homeless too?

I get that circumstances can change and maybe people could be reviewed.

However there's a lot of people in council housing with limited capability for work due to health reasons and also single parents, one income households, people who would find it very difficult to rent from a private landlord for various reasons, let alone ever be approved for a mortgage. So even if they improve their circumstances may still need the security of an assured tenancy and the option to pay rent and bills with benefits if needs be (which private landlords don't accept).

We are a one income household, I have one child and various health issues. Dh works. I'm jealous of able bodied people who can hold down a job, move house if they want (very difficult to ever move once you've been housed) and at the same time grateful for my assured tenancy because as a disabled person with a child I need the security. So swings and roundabouts.

The system is broken on paper you might say I’m not worthy of social housing I have a good job a decent salary, but thanks to having to sell a house in negative equity I lost my stability, I can’t afford private rents I have no idea what I’d do if I didn’t have social housing as private rent would leave me choosing between food and heating, and my 14 year old would be able to have no hobbies. Even with social housing things are tight.

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.

So the government is subsidising their lifestyle.