To think social housing should be means-tested annually like benefits?

[EqualLedgerJay]

Situations change, why should lifetime tenancies exist if income rises? AIBU to think fairness cuts both ways?

This

No, you are 🥲

I’m not.

But apparently everyone is.

People on benefits.
People in social housing.
Trans people.
The LGB community.
Children.
The disabled (1 in 5 adults)
Addicts
Domestic abuse victims

Out of the list above I would say people paying £400 a month in rent with no other significant life factors aren’t ‘disadvantaged’ at all.

And they could stop councils selling through Right to Buy. If Wales and Scotland don’t allow it now, why does England?

Some of the most disadvantaged then.

People who cant pay market rate rent or ina million years buy their own house.

Everyone deserves a house to live in securely.

Why are you attacking those who have a relatively safe place to live? Rather than questioning the system that means those in private rent do not have a secure, affordable house? Why?

You just sound really really bitter.

That’s absolutely awful and I am so sorry . I suppose you’ve alrettried shelter and the like for advice.? I hope things get better for you soon.

Why can’t they pay market rates or buy their own house? If their earnings increased as seems to be not-unheard-of then what’s stopping them?

I think things should be equal.

Nobody should be saving £££ on rent at the expense of the taxpayer when they earn £50k.

I’m sick and tired of being told to ‘question the system’. There is no conspiracy. There are no shady puppeteers conspiring for peak capitalism. What we have is a set of shitty global events and the downfall of the West, alongside uncontrolled mass immigration to a tiny country and one which has sold off most of its housing. ‘Questioning the system’ solves none of that. Either we are all in it together or nobody is.

Letting people hang on to their social housing ‘because it’s their home’ is a nonsense.

Please explain, with evidence, how the taxpayer funds social housing?

Thank you for your kind words. Our situation has been minimised time and again so its actually really validating to be understood and not being made to feel dramatic, or like a hypochondriac chancing our luck to abuse the system, thank you.

And the social housing that was built 60 plus years ago. Long paid off and council gather rent each week which is far more than they pay out on maintenance on these properties. For about 20 years barely no property built at all. .

Because if Sue insists on never moving from her 3 bedroom council house, then a family in need of housing must go private which will cost us ££ in housing benefit.

Well I live in social housing and completely agree!
However I don’t think it shouldn’t be at a level that benefits are, more like if you end up having a combined household income of say 80-100k per year THEN you’re given 6/12 months notice. Anything below that income threshold - no problem.

I only say this as I don’t think people realise how many now-very wealthy people live in large social housing homes still, even once their many kids have long since grown up and moved out…
I know of one family on my friend’s street who kept their 5 bed housing association house long after their kids had moved out, got married & had kids of their own. It was a new build when they moved in, with integral garage (she said the house only had the integral garage as that was apparently the only 5 bed the developer did back then) 2 en-suite shower rooms & 1 bathroom and massive garden. They were fully entitled to it when their kids were young and I don’t for a minute suggest they or anyone should lose their home as soon as their kids have moved out but they went on to become quite successful! He became manager of a dealership and she became a headteacher yet they remained in their home (and no, they weren’t permitted to buy it, she told me that herself once). They’re both sadly no longer with us but boy did they live it up during their retirement, paying so little for such a massive house that would undoubtedly be worth over a million now, round here, and taking up a huge home that could’ve been life changing for a large family stuck in temporary accommodation….

Now bear in mind, in my area at least, all Social Housing properties have the same rent charge (currently £551pcm) whether it’s a 1 bed flat or 5/6 bed house! Makes no sense I know but it is what it is.

I’m genuinely a bit lost - what point are you trying to make about SH or do you just want to rant at random people online?
GB news not quite my style - not a fan of right wing racists, but you do you.

Thats not funding social housing though is it?

That's not the taxpayer funding social housing, that is funding private, buy-to-let LL.

You could resolve that by capping rents at a reasonable rate, building more affordable housing, and making being a private landlord unattractive. We do not need to race to the bottom. We can make things better instead.

That will be very area dependant though.

I pay the same for my 3 bedroom SH as I did for my 3 bedroom private rental. I live up north where rent is usually cheaper and also not in the greatest area so rent prices etc haven't been driven up due to demand.

So the tax payers are paying the same amount for the housing element of UC as they would've done if I was back in my private rental. Not everyone lives in/near London or other expensive areas where the difference is usually huge.

This isn't true.

Singapore don't just give you a tenancy, they sell you a massively reduced price home.

Canada might not give you subsidised housing forever, but a lot of the below market social housing doesn't require annual (or any) requalification.

I assume you are comparing council housing with subsidised housing and those are two different things.

we have no more space to build housing.

And as long as renters are made aware that a tenancy is a short term assured tenancy, then it's the tenants decision to go ahead and rent from that person. I made it very clear to tenants that I would be selling when able, so they could have chosen to rent elsewhere.

Yes, for corporate landlords then lifetime tenancies could be offered. But not for those renting out their sole home for a set period. That's 2 very different things.

Making it compulsory for individual landlords to grant lifetime tenancies would reduce the number of properties on offer (mine would have just sat empty or been offered as an air bnb if I had had to offer a lifetime tenancy). This will lead to fewer available rentals and push rents even higher. As it is, the number of available properties doesn't meet need in many areas, which is causing inflated rental prices.

Of course it's a big part of the issue. I brought it up to say that it should be the most vulnerable people who are housed first, but that isn't often the case as those who know the tricks and play them get in first. I'm on the list, I'd willingly let someone more vulnerable go ahead of me.

Wasn't the whole point of social housing to provide housing for a wide range of people and create communities, not create defacto ghettos filled with the low paid only.

The answer is more social housing, not penalising people who start to do well (and whose stable living situation probably contributed to this!).

The private renting sector is fucking brutal, broken and incredibly stressful to navigate. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, and I don't begrudge anyone stable housing if they've managed to secure it.

There just needs to be MORE of it.

There’s no room for more housing. We are hideously overcrowded. If you mean by converting existing buildings in all for it.

Is simply knowing the system and how it works knowing the tricks? Or are you talking about people faking things so that they can get ahead?

The only reason I have SH is because of my child and I think the vast majority of parents would put their child before a stranger.

I think most people in favour of SH are fine with less BTL landlords. Lots have been pushed out in the last 10years. The market does need to stabilise but long term it’s the best thing IMO.