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?

Sorry just to add- it would be irresponsible to compete with developers just for the sake of it. HAs have ROIs their developments must meet that that is imbedded into their governance process and likely their loan agreements.

it would be irresponsible to use customers rent money to overpay for land

I have the same issue on my new build estate of 30 houses… they’re all Indian. What’s your point? Seems a bit xenophobic to me

That’s the impression I get too. Our first house was 2 up 2 down, no pavement outside, just went straight onto road. Kitchen smaller than most en-suite bathrooms. We were (and are) by no means rich and we had to pay £1400 in mortgage to live there. Absolutely squeezed if anything went wrong and had to do it up slowly or with help from family.

That poster was replying to me, I have one arm with zero mobility and 2 under 2 so I can't just carry the buggy up the stairs, nor can I carry 2 babies up and down the stairs at the same time.

My flat is also unsuitable as due its lack of extractor fans and ancient windows its full of damp and mould and my newborn has Tracheomalacia.

Do home owners also get someone threatening to take their property and then threatened with a fine for the cost of taking it.

Pretty sure we’d get repossessed….plus late fees, damaged credit score

By property i meant mobility scooter wheelchair etc.

Right, right. Well in that case, it really isn’t a suitable place to house you. You need somewhere to store it. I have less sympathy for people who choose to have children in properties that are unsuitable.

The government did introduce a ‘pay to stay’ paper a few years back, essentially looking at private market rents & looking to bring social
housing rents in line with them. It was thrown out as unworkable. Social housing rents are set at not for profit levels. The costs are covered - rents are not subsidised. I agree with another commenter who said we need more social housing provision, not less applicants. I live in Ireland and rents are assessed on household income. The higher the income, the higher the rent. All working adults in the household are expected to contribute … this subsidises the rents for unwaged.

That sounds like a good idea. Is the rent then reviewed periodically as incomes change, members of the household change etc?

Yes. Any income/household changes have to be reported. And a review of all rents is conducted every five years or so… bank statements have to be provided along with details of all residents

Overall, mortgage payers spend an average of 20% of their post-tax income on their housing across the duration of the mortgage (it starts at about 37% and gradually reduces over the years.

So perhaps once a family has a post-tax household income that exceeds five times the social housing rent, they could be obligated to pay the difference between their social housing rent and 20% of their household income into a fund for building more social housing? (Up to a ceiling of 90% of the equivalent commercial rent for the property)

To put some figures on this - say a family is paying a social housing rent of £1,800pcm in an area where a commercial rent for a similar property might be £3,000pcm.

So until their household income exceeds £108,000pa after tax, they aren't getting a particularly better deal than mortgage payers and they just pay the social housing rate.

If their household income goes up to £130,000pa after tax they would pay their £1,800pcm rent and be expected to contribute £367pcm towards the social housing fund to have an effective rent equivalent of £2,167pcm. Eventually if their income reaches £162,000pa after tax their effective rent equivalent rent (including contribution) would reach a ceiling of £2,700pcm which they'd be welcome to keep paying indefinitely in their secure tenancy (and it would go right back down again if their circumstances changed eg incone could suddenly crash if someone got cancer, so totally fine to stay for the security no matter what)

With no offence intended, IMO Ireland’s housing policies are some of the least successful I can think of and there is nothing to replicate there.

But HAs are already building new homes with excess rent. The only real reason people want the system to change is envy.

There are 600,000 empty homes in the UK (this number rises to 1.5 million when you add in Airbnb). Of these, approximately 190,000 are owned by overseas investors. This figure is rising every year, with up to 32% of new build homes in central London being sold to non-residents last year.

Get angry at that, instead of squabbling with those less fortunate than yourselves over the scraps they are allowed.

So would you expect me to turn down a promotion at work in order to keep my council house or would you expect me to take the promotion, move into private rent and have less income because of the higher rent (and then possibly need UC to top up my income)?

Thank flip none of these suggestion will ever come to fruition. Load of hot air.

Keep frothing people!

Are you kidding? They have differential rent at least, much more sensible than what people are describing here.

I'm not angry, and the suggested limits in my post would only affect people much much more fortunate than me, so quoting my post to make your point wasn't really relevant.

I'm all in favour of social housing being a secure permanent home.

We definitely need to crack down on foreign owners, those that have never lived and have no intention of living in the UK. I get that people may need to go abroad for work and may rent their house out for a year or 2, but there should be an intention to return. No one should be able to own more than 2 properties at a time, and even then, only for a transition period such as having bought one and struggling to sell another or other circumstances outside their control.

Private Rental should ideally be more of a professional concept- renting in same way as rent from a HA, but at market rent, rather than reliant on goodwill of a landlord to have basic safety and quality of accommodation.

And there is no envy in me wanting a different system, I have 'no skin in the social housing game'. It's pure frustration, seeing families with disabled children not have their needs met, struggling every day, in some cases children I work with have died as a direct or indirect result of their poor housing and being stuck on a social housing wait list for up to 10 years. So yes, I put these children lives before someone wanting to stay in a 4 bed HA house on their own.

Having gone to funerals of children who i have worked with for many many years, whose deaths were avoidable, looked into the eyes of those grieving parents, and know that the current system so badly failed them and their child - this will forever haunt me.

We live in a small village.
there is a row of three and four bed LA houses, all big with large gardens, big drives etc.
seven of the twelve are being lived by an elderly couple or single person.
its really not fair.
bungalows were built a couple of years ago to offer appropriate housing but these residents refused to move.

But as long as the rent is paid a SH house is yours for life so it's worth spending money on decor or the garden because you know you're not going to be evicted.
We've spent thousands on "our" home because it's ours until we die (or go into care). It might not be ours in terms of actual ownership and obviously we can't pass it on, but it's ours in every other way and has been for 30 years.

We'd never waste money on a private rent where you need permission from a landlord to bang a tack into a wall, and can be evicted at any point.

Everyone knows about the state of the Irish housing market. What impact is differential rent having ?

It would discourage so many people from finding work or increasing their income. Who would risk losing their home? I actually love working but if I had to give up work and go on benefits to keep my home I would do it.

It’s not a race to the bottom! Private renting is the worst option for anyone looking for a long term home. Social housing used to be the norm in this country & it was a better life for people than the current exorbitant rents with little security.

Yeah, I am confused by some people thinking that private renting is something to aim towards. SH is great, and owning your own home is great. Private renting is bloody awful. I think it is sad that it is the only choice for many people.