Housing stigma

[Antiquedoll]

Has anyone else noticed an increase in bad attitude towards social housing from property owners? I hought the UK was progressive and believed innequality but it seems to me the division is growing?

But whyis it assumed that all council house tenants are not working? Out of the tenants I know only one is not working but that's because she had a major stroke and CANT. Oh and my son in law's grandparents but they are in their 80s

How is the rent subsidised? Think it's more like paying the cost price rather than lining the landlords pockets

if only I’d realised a brand new carpet to cover a hallway, stairs and landing and re plastering of walls following a damp problem which cost money to sort only cost £15 - silly me! 😂 back in the real world owning a 90 year old house is not that cheap. Geez are you living in the 70’s?!!!

I think you are completely missing the point here - I don’t object to social housing but I do object to people like the OP being smug about their situation!! Do you think it’s right she is living in a property bigger than she needs while families are sat on long lists?

what is unreasonable about people being expected to provide for theirselves which involves sacrificing things now - everyone seems to wander around with the latest iPhones, manicured nails, tattoos , coffees from Costa everyday (the list goes on!) yet no one seems to want to go without and provide for themselves.

So I'm subsidising my own rent then.

Why does it need to be brand new?

@RubySquid why did you decide to buy a 90 year old house?
Perhaps you should have bought a newer one if your finances weren't going to stretch to maintenance as well as mortgage.

In the old days council housing was perfectly respectable and people took great care to keep their property nice.
Since Maggie sold it all off there's hardly any and what there is is given away rent free to benefit cheats, scroungers, criminals and asylum seekers so the percentage of decent people still occupying council property has plummeted.
Not helped by the fact that when councils approve new developments with conditions regarding how much should be put aside for locals and social housing nobody is bright enough to nail these people down to an actual figure or percentage and rely instead of vague promises which are never fulfilled.

complain to the banks, why are mortgage rates so high?

And that's not include costs, maintenance.. Why should landlords barely break even for doing a business?

You expect to pay cost prices for your clothes/ food/ holidays?

Taking social housing from people who do need it when you should pay full market rate, is that what you are doing?

Says it all, really.

It should be a temporary safety net, hopefully it becoming that way.

@TheCheeryTurtle if landlords are running it as a "business" then they should be doing exactly that.
To me that means actual long term rental agreements - not 12 months. That's not long term.
They should have a dedicated maintenance crew or a specific company they always use so any maintenance issues are quickly and correctly fixed.
If long term then tennants could have the option of providing their own white goods which may suit their needs better than what the landlord decides to buy.
Tennants should be allowed to decorate (which keeps the property in a better condition).
Unfortunately.... that's not how most private landlords work.
Not a very good business if you ask me.

I earn £1700 per month after tax, that's working 40 hours per week. Why should I have to pay £1000 per month (what next door went for as it's a private landlord) in rent when I can pay £550? You're saying I should live on £700pm for all my bills and food? What?

Because houses that are new cost more!!! It’s basic facts!!

You may not have noticed that we have a country of old housing stock. When I bought the house the roof didn’t need doing - years on it does - again maintenance which is a basic fact of owning a house. what we do knock all the old houses down ?! 😂

What I chose to do was not make my housing issue everyone else’s issue. I’m guessing from what you are saying you’ve never purchased a house!!

I have been in HA properties for 30 years and things have certainly changed in that time. I applied many years ago, wrote directly to the HA and was interviewed and vetted before being given a tenancy. All the tenants on my estate worked, as did I, some nurses, school caretakers, you get the picture and it was a lovely safe place to live and bring up my children.

In 2020 I downsized as 2 of my DC had moved out and I accepted a smaller new build property. I lasted there 4 years before I finally had to admit defeat and I’m still getting over the trauma now. Serious drug problems, neighbours dealing, cars pulling up all night long, neighbours with aggressive dogs that pulled down fences, gardens full of furniture and rubbish, loud music, domestic violence, children left to just get on with it, several taken into care… I could go on. I spent most of my time scared and became a shell of a person. I was so desperate to get out and spent 3 years on homeswapper trying to find a swap, I became so desperate that I eventually accepted a flat, which whilst is quieter it of course has the same ubiquitous weed problem and domestic violence issues.

If I had the money for my own place there is no way that I would move anywhere near Social Housing and yes, people are right to judge in a lot of cases.

And if ppl stopped buying those things the people working in those bussinesses would end up losing their jobs and be even more likely to need social housing.
Not a great critical thinker are you.

No I have never purchased a house.
Too poor.
Although not poor enough for a council property.
Stuck in private rental world.
Surely buying an old house though means the likelihood of high maintenance is always going to be there.
There are some gorgeous Victorian properties in my road - some which sell for almost a million quid but as they are very old I would imagine they are going to need regular maintenance.
You choose an old house. That's your choice.
(where i live new builds are much much cheaper than the Victorian/Edwardian stock)

you have £1700 a month AFTER TAX? and subsidised rent?
and you complain?

I don't even know what to say.

It's not subsidised rent. I can't understand people complaining about living in SH as though it some sort of lavish lifestyle.

Because those people are making landlords rich courtesy of the tax payer and I suspect many MNetters are landlords :D so it’s all good then eh

Social housing isn’t necessarily subsidised. It is just set a more fair rate and they’re not allowed to do massive price hikes. In my area a new HA estate charges £700 for an unfurnished 2 bed. In the private flats a 2 bed furnished would typically ranges from £650-850 +.

depending on the area there’s not always such a massive difference in price and even when there is the issue is private rents are inflated, we all know that! So I don’t get the expectation that HA flats inflate their rents too?!

Also £1700 is a low income surely? Why is that poster acting like it’s a huge income?

I was on around £1700 pcm back in 2018 while working as an intern. My rent was about £600 plus bills for a room in a shared flat.

It was okay, I wasn’t destitute but I wasn’t living the high life either especially with the cost of travel to work.

No difference at all for me. I'm paying for SH the exact same amount I paid when I had my private rental.

Who is subsidising my rent? How much do YOU have after tax?

It's the lowest full time income you can get, yes. I'm on minimum wage so any less would be illegal. No idea why @TheCheeryTurtle is acting like it's some kind of fortune. I'd love to know what she earns if she thinks £1700 per month makes me rich. 🤔

HA RENT IS NOT SUBSIDISED!

These threads are full of people stuck in private rent who are salty about the fact they’re having to pay to line greedy pockets of landlords. So the only thing they can do is look down on the social housing tenants

Apparently we should give up secure housing to give to the non working people who need it most, to go live in an insecure rental that probably has a shady landlord and pay through the nose for that privilege….but here’s the kicker…when we do that the only people in social housing are the non working scum/drug dealers/whatever other stereotype comes with council estates.

Fuck me some people need to pick a lane and stay in it!

no need to rage, we just need to reform the whole system and bring it back to what it was supposed to be: temporary

or for key workers

Not a lifestyle choice.

Funny how it's always about "greedy landlords", never about the bank who charge interest rates or people who abuse the system 😂

Not surprised to hear that. Unfortunately some people have little idea of how HA properties work in 2025 but they are over confident in making these kind of statements about how easy HA tenants have it.

The reality is the rent is often not that low and as pp have said there’s often no flooring or white goods so tenants need to pay for that themselves.