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.

Bedroom tax is only for those on benefits. And besides sometimes smaller places are more expensive

You don't know the first thing about SH. My mum and dad were allocated their council house in the 70s due to the slum clearance of the house some of us grew up in. They both worked.

Don't worry though because they are both dead now and the house went to another family.

In my LA, anyone can get on the housing list and how much you earn doesn't matter. If you are considered adequately housed though, you'll be at the bottom of the list.

To me the obvious answer is to increase ALL social housing to full market rate for the area. No exceptions. And put tenancies on a normal commercial rolling basis, with annual rent rises. Then those that need help can get it through housing benefit, and those that don’t will have far less incentive to stay put as they are no longer being subsidised. And yes, for the hard of understanding, any rent below full market rate is a subsidy by the taxpayer. Any profit made by housing associations can go to pay the increased housing benefit for those that receive it, and for those that don’t the excess can go to more social housing provision.

Cross post

Thanks. She did save, but my dad died last month so the household income has dropped by a lot so she is now having to dip into them.

Are you including SH taxpayers or does their tax not count as taxpayers money?

Yep, it depends where you live. My town has a huge shortage of SH hence why the rules are more strict.
I know single people living in hotels because there isn't even 1 bed places available.

I am wondering if the person in question has actually bought her council house. In my borough the council is (perhaps wrongly) very open to selling tenants their council homes, leasehold (at a price way less than market value, depending on how many years they have lived there as a tenant). I live in a cul de sac of council flats (owner, but my flat had belonged to the two different owners before me). Some of my neighbours own, many rent but during my time here at least two of the tenants (if not more) have managed to buy their flats and one has just sold theirs back to the council, as they had to move quickly in difficult circumstances.

Are you personally paying her rent? At 70 I'd assume she is now retired. What makes you think she's spent the last 40 years not paying her own rent?

Children don’t stop needing to come home the moment they move out. I’d want them to be able to come and stay at weekends / Christmas etc.

In my area, the rents are similar because private rentals aren't in demand as it isn't the best area.

But I'd be willing to pay more because the security of SH is priceless.

That would completely defeat the object of social housing and it would no longer exist. Which is exactly what a number of people posting on this thread seem to want.

And once again social housing rents aren’t subsidised.

HA aren't council-run. They're separate private companies that usually have a charity status. Taxpayers aren't subsidising them. Or am I subsidising my own rent because I live in SH and work FT? 🤔

Yes she can go on homeswapper, she has been on homeswapper and has found lots of properties she'd like to change to. But it's a case of "computer says no!" Rather than common sense.

Our Local authority only lets you swap
to a home suited to your needs. She can only swap to a one bedroom but the tenenets in the one bedroom must be a family of 8+ people to swap to her five bedroom house. There just isn't anyone in our area that is in this situation to swap to.

She was denied a swap to a perfect two bedroom flat just dow the street because of this rule

Nor are council owned properties. The account is completely separate from the general fund.

What year was that?

Can I just check - that you as someone who thinks it’s reasonable for a person to occupy a social housing property and leave 2/3rds of it unusable is also complaining about not enough being built?

Wow.

Not 80 percent near to me. More like paying £417 for a 3 bedroom house where private rental at market value would be £1375

You don't have to be on benefits to get a council or HA house.

Why isn’t the obvious answer capping private rents?

Such a good question.

People who live in council houses pay rent. It's not a free home.

The history of rent control will tell you why.

Why is it unusable? Do SH tenants not have families who visit? Grandchildren who stay over? Adult kids who might have to return home?