Keeping a 3 bedroom council house when your children have grown up

[Iwishitwerewarmer]

Just pondering - what are everyone’s opinions on a single parent raising their children in a council house/housing association house and staying there once their children have moved out? Should they downsize into a one bed flat/smaller property or is it their right to remain in their home/neighbourhood?

Added extra - they have looked after the property well, have landscaped the garden, installed a new kitchen and generally added value to the property.

Yeah they can, nothing to stop tenants putting in improvements at all.

What about opportunity cost? Some councils have social housing worth £2 million. If they sold the property and put that money in the bank they would earn around £100k in interest a year. This could be used to fund all sorts of things. The people renting the houses won't be paying anything like this. People never factor in the cost of capital

If staying in it means a whole family have to squeeze into a one bedroom flat then sadly I think the obvious answer is to downsize.

Where do you propose they move to OP?

The UK and housing developers are not prioritising one bed homes simply because there isn’t a demand for them, I’d have to check but the last estimate was below 10% demand for one bedroom properties.

There is isn’t enough social housing and this will only be made worse by The Renters Act coming into force in May.

Landlords are desperately trying to sell their properties and at a massive loss.

At least your niece has a local authority property. I was on the list for over 12 years and when my DC turned 18, they took me off the list (the old non-bidding system) because I was no longer eligible.

I mean, I understand totally sympathise with your niece. It is very very hard to be over crowded and it makes family relationships difficult and causes tensions in the home, particularly with teenagers. But it's even harder when you're moving every 2 or 3 years because your landlord is selling or wants you out in order to be able to massively raise the rent with a new tenant. Both of which happened to me.

It’s heavily subsidized rent though funded by council tax payers and often people will get a council house and then build up careers and have big incomes that could afford private rent better than others.

in your shoes I wouldn’t move out though.
But I do wish that council houses were reviewed every 5 years and if the family were bigger earners stop charging social rent and start charging affordable rent, so that that can be spent housing other people.

it’s really unfair that someone could get a council house then go on to become and investment banker or lottery winner and still have their housing subsidized by people who are struggling.

In many cases, I would hazard a guess that the tenants have paid it themselves.

I totally disagree. You don't own the house. It is provided by the council for your use. When you longer need the space, it should then be allocated to another family who do need it, and you should be moved to a more suitable (smaller) flat.

I think it is very entitled to think otherwise.

My stepdad now lives alone in a 3 bed housing association house since my mum died... There's no way I'd expect him to know where to start trying to swap for a smaller place. He's not computer literate and not in great health so makes no sense to make him leave

I’m in a two bed HA place. I pay full rent, of £900 per month, get no means tested benefits, or other help, it’s a life tendency, and I’m going nowhere. 🤷‍♀️

The house should absolutely be used for the right size of family. People move house all the time, it's not a great trauma.

My uncle was a labour councillor. He lived in a four bedroom council house his entire life as a single man (once grandmother died). He also had about £800k in the bank. I never could square the contradiction.

I don’t think they should be allowed to stay in it, I’m sorry. I think entitlement to council housing stock should be reassessed when the occupants turn 18.

They will do so if they can't afford to maintain the property. Their new roof won't be paid for by the Council, and neither will the fencing around their garden or any maintenance on their property. They will have to pay for it themselves!

The distinction is that one person is paying their own way through life (often through work) and the other person is reliant on being subsidised (or totally supported) by the tax payer.

I would like to think they would move out and let a family who need it move in just like when their family was at home and they needed it!

Councils should have in the tenancy that it is their home for as long as it meets their requirements and children moving out and spare bedrooms means they don't require it.

Some council offer incentives like paying carpets and moving costs.

I am one of these people who has been in 2 bed social housing 28 years and my adult daughter my move out in a few years! I would likely look at exchanging so I get some choice over it! Like the idea of as flat but have a cat. I would also consider fostering.

I do understand. We had 9 rentals and only two good landlords. One stalked me and was arrested. Others were mouldy and frequently the heating didn't work.
I cried when we left our last rental as he thanked us for our rent!
I just don't agree with unoccupied SH.

I think this argument could be made for both private and social housing. Under occupied properties push up prices in the private sector and scarcity in the social sector. In both, there is no legal obligation to downsize, but a moral argument could be made for both.

Im in a privately owned family home with 2 children and won’t relish downsizing from my home in 20 years, so I genuinely can see from both sides. But there is two sides!

If he isn't in great health, some councils have retirement properties around where they are geared up to help with older age or disabilities and often the housing team looks after them better, faster response times to things needed fixing. It may actually help him out to move once get past the initial mental milestone.

I think they need to be reassessed once their kids are adults and a reasonable time has passed to allow them to move out.

I know a woman who has now hit retirement age. She had a council house when she was a single mother with three children, and I’m glad that was an opportunity for her. However, her children grew up and moved out and she was on her own in this huge house paying an extremely low rent when at that point she had a well-paying job. That same person couldn’t understand why I couldn’t afford to save for a deposit to buy a house when I was paying market rent (six times the amount of her rent!) on the same salary. She was able to fund a better lifestyle than I was. How on earth is that right?

Council houses should be for those in need. Once the need has passed the house should be passed on too.

First reply is where I fall - if there is no possibility to downsize in the area they shouldn't be forced to move. It's not about bricks and mortar - if someone has raised their family there then it's their home and just as importantly, their community. Nobody should be forced out of their community. Insecure housing takes a heavy, heavy toll.

If there is the potential to downsize in the area then it should be explored and encouraged.

It is communal property and shouldn't be able to be more or less owned by the tenant as a house for life.

Agreed, my mil eventually moved into a more suitable property for her needs, the social housing team were great. Sadly she passed after a few months, it was a huge shame she resisted moving for years as she was much happier in the house that was adapted for her.

It isn't their home. They rent it. People have to move out of rental properties all the time.

@Itchthescratch Sold their SH? and make ppl homeless? moreso than ever buying a home is out of reach for many, private rents are inflated as most are aware.
Selling housing stock is why there is a housing crisis, London has millions waiting on homes, right to buy should be stopped in England, Scotland stopped it 10 years ago.
The UK is obsessed with home owning, The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark have +30% of the population in SH.

My granny has lived in her council house for 60 years, it's a two bed and she raised four children in it. It's just her now but she should never be expected to move away from her community and family at her age. Plus, crucially, the adaptations that were made for my grandpa now serve her.

Added to this - they didn't buy the house out of principle when they could have. The least she should be able to expect is secure housing through her final years, as the house will revert back to the council and not someone else's pockets.

It is their home.