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?

Council house income thresholds will result in behaviour change. We see it with the income tax thresholds - huge drop off in tax revenue. We see it at the VAT threshold - so many small businesses reduce productivity to stay under. At just about any threshold in our system of tax and benefits, we see it. The data is overwhelming.

So I agree with those who say that having income thresholds on council housing will just stifle ambition and earning potential. People won't do better for fear of losing a stable home, and I wouldn't blame them.

What we need:

• Much lower house prices (please housing market Gods)
• Capped private rental prices
• Lifetime tenancies on private rentals. Oh you've come back from Dubai and want your house back from a good tenant? Tough shit.
• Plenty of house building

Ideal world, obvs. And I know negative equity is terrible and has other knock on effects, but I think the younger generations being able to buy into a secure housing system for a reasonable price is much more important.

Most people on £100k don’t want to live in sh. There’s always the exception but I can’t believe most would happily stay on a council estate for the rest of their lives on that salary. Some ambition would have been at play to go from mw to £100k.

Social housing tenants are evicted every day of the week.

however, as with any eviction, a judge has to agree to it and they may quite rightly question where a person in social housing would live once evicted. This is common in private rent eviction cases too.

it is common for tenants to be taken to court multiple times for eviction before it’s granted. But it’s not true to doesn’t happen. Housing associations have entire teams employed to evict people.

Oh give over, free 🙄

My cousin has not long moved into a council flat. New build, and it is bloody lovely. He has put a lot of time and effort into making it a nice little home for him and his dog.
He also works full time and does not claim any benefits, so not sure what free money you are on about.

Hugely more because they hadn’t been sold off. I’m assuming there was some kind of criteria back in the 60s but maybe not. Perhaps you got given one simply by asking (I might have to google as curiosity has got to me).

why don’t we stop bashing these people in SH? This country is in need of more social housing or lower rent rates. It’s not socially housed people who are to blame here

Pretty much, and very frequently felt it was awarded with a job, if local employers need to attract more workers then they would advertise the job with a family home.

my paternal grandparents moved from a multi room slum in east London to Cambridge so my grandfather could work in a factory there. It came with a 3 bedroom council house. Absolutely transformative for them.

There have been many valid points raised against the op's idea.

Anyone's mind been changed?

I notice alot of vehemently for posters have not returned to thread

You are assuming everyone is on HB.

Maybe rent should be based on income.

We can’t build yet more housing onto our already very very overcrowded island. We can’t. I don’t want it, nobody wants it.

Critiquing eligibility is not ‘bashing’.

I think when you have over 150k children in temporary housing, people who can move should move. Think Aspana Begum lives in a council flat.

I dare not say what I actually want to say. The SH tenancy we have I had to fight for, due to my DH disabilities in civilian life, his health already compromised by military service. And this was before the rules changed recently to give wider consideration to veterans. I work hard as well as caring for him, and I hope this is not going to be another "but of course I don't mean people like you" post. This kind of thread angers me beyond belief. We do not have a broad enough SH system because of previous government failures. Lobby your MP if you think the system needs to change.

Thats interesting [ I love a bit of social history ) I wonder how it worked
Where you able to keep your house if you left your job i wonder 🤔

How would that work in real life? People need tens of thousands for a house deposit, is that going to materialise out of thin air because someone gets a pay rise? Plus moving costs/availability of suitable housing to buy in your area etc. It’s just not workable.

Agree..

I know of a few elderly and some not so, people that live in housing that has more bedrooms than they need/use that would gladly move out yet whenever social housing is built in our area the only one bed properties are flats and TBF if I was in their situation I wouldn't want to be moved to a property where I had to live on the first/second floor or have no private outside space.

There are around c170,000 children in temporary accommodation according to Shelter. If we’re serious about lifting children out of poverty, surely their living situation is part of that. Any system that prioritises who got there first or assesses someone’s need only at the moment they applied some 30 years ago, over the needs of children today (plus other vulnerable groups including the disabled and those on lower incomes), is not fit for purpose.

We have homes blocked by people who no longer need the space, and i households who could afford private rent but are allowed to stay due to lifetime tenancies. Not to mention, in some cases, being able to pass on this fantastic tenancy benefit to their children... Meanwhile, thousands of children grow up in B&Bs and single room/cramped temporary accommodation because the system refuses to reassess and reallocate fairly.

You can still have communities if the tenancy is 10 years maximum. That is much more security than many in the private sector get.

And in many areas it is- social rent and market rent dependant upon income with many housing associations.

Yes because it was just a normal council tenancy, it wasn’t tied to the job.

my grandfather actually died at 45 and my gran lived there for another 40 years until she passed 😀

My grandparents were housed to bring my grandad to work at the Dagenham Ford factory when he left the military. The house was council and was for life, retirement notwithstanding.

social rent is social rent. Why should it be more?!

The answer is that rents should rise to market levels once you earn higher but you can remain in your home. That extra rent should be ring fenced for new housing

A high rise flat would be my idea of hell.
Maybe more one bed houses with gardens is the answer. I hate that a view on here is that only people with children should be allowed gardens.

It is at two levels in many areas due to income. As a SH tenant myself I'm not against that system.