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.

Used to think it was wrong. But my sil has been in her house for 35 years building significant roots locally. One son with Sen is still at home and will take over the tenancy when she passes and they pay bedroom tax on the empty room. They both work full time she is a gardener and he is in retail both on minimum wage. I think so long as you pay your bills at the applicable rate you should be allowed to stay. Stinger powers needed for antisocial behaviour and non payers in my mind.

This is a completely different situation because the property is owned.

That is not the same as someone in social housing owned by the state or a housing association

I don't think it's acceptable. It's not 'their house'. They don't own it, they rent it and not even privately. It's a council property and they should leave when they don't need it anymore. Bedroom tax for people on benefits and maybe higher rent for people who have rooms they don't need. The councils should build more one bed places.

Why are you saying room? Noone is suggesting that they live in a squalid bedsit.

It should be a moral duty when it is funded by the taxpayer (see posts above on why all social housing is funded by the taxpayer). Our social security network is there to support people in need. Noone has a need to have that extra space when they have no requirement for it. I get that they may have an emotional attachment but that is entirely different to need. Personally, I think it is this sense of entitlement which is why we are where we are.

I'm in shared ownership over 55 housing. The other side is rented. People were given upto £16k to move into them, out of their housing association, houses/bigger flats. They aren't working and only have to pay a small amount towards the fees.
We have just had the same issue here. A couple got their two bedroom apartment based on the wife being a wheelchair user etc. She's died and the housing association is being called heartless because they want him to move into a one bedroom (with compensation). He won't budge. We gave too much of a housing shortage to not force people to downsize.

I know numerous people who’ve done this including my aunties. Yes it’s taking the piss. One recently moaned her rent went up to £600 a month, meanwhile the average rent for a house that size on rightmove is £1600+.

This has been debated on mn before and people will say “it’s not that great they’ll be renting till they die” as if it’s comparable to privately renting, not to mention the council fixing every thing for them which a home owning oap may not be able to afford and their house will fall into disrepair.

People in council houses are actually “privileged” but act like they have it harder than everyone else when it’s more like the other way round.

I think those advocating that people who live in social/council housing that it’s their home etc and shouldn’t have to move to a smaller property once their children move out forget who actually owns the house. They had the luxury of having a home suitable for their circumstances at the time and other families should be able to too.

It is part of their tenancy, it is their home. I mean you can can rant all you like but it doesn't change the fact it is their home.

We rent out a small flat we take rent in line with our local authority rent, it is our tenants home, they can stay there forever if they like.

Regardless of the upgrades you have done, the council generally rip everything out and put it back to council standard housing.
It's your home where you have brought up your children and made your life, what if they want to come back and stay with you? You have every right to remain there.

Build more social homes. Build fewer luxury homes. It should be councils building, not developers. It’s really not rocket science, but Thatcher’s Right To Buy and failures of subsequent governments to build sufficient social homes have led us to where we are today. Don’t blame the tenants.

They shouldn't be forced to move, but I do agree with the bedroom tax if they are receiving benefits

The state pension is a benefit, it says so on the website, so should people who own their homes pay a tax for unused bedrooms?

This kind of thing is just not sustainable and is going to become even more of a problem as we have more of an ageing population.

How on earth can we have families crammed into unsuitable accommodation, and people in private house shares in their late 20s and 30s unable to afford to buy and ineligible for any social housing, and single retired people in subsidised 3 bedroom properties?

I don’t get the ‘it’s their home’ argument. People move house according to their needs and make their new place their home.

It's not exactly provided by the council' , they are paying rent like other tenants.

Is there a middle way? Assured tenancies that are reviewed at intervals. Say 15 years. Time to make plans and decide how much to invest in the property but no lifetimes of under utilised properties when the need is so high.

I wish we could be more imaginative with housing planning. I love the developments that are designed to be mixed elderly/young.There was a BBC article on a London one recently and it looked great. Basically we need to build more places with social design so people in big empty places have something more positive to move towards.

Nope move it out! You were given that home at a lower cost rent because of children, they're gone you should give it up for those with children who are struggling as one point that was you

I have a 3 bedroom housing association home and I’ll be looking to downsize once the DC has left home. I work part time due to ill health and rely heavily on UC which will reduce when they turn 18 that combined with bedroom tax means I won’t be able to afford to live here anymore. I’m fortunate that our LA gives priority to people looking to downsize but I’ll still have a long wait to get a one bedroom in the same area. I wouldn’t leave the area because all my support network is here.

OP, in your case I would not move. We simply do not have enough social housing and the odd house here and there isn’t really going to help the problem.
Having said that, about 20 years ago my MIL volunteered for meals on wheels. Most of the people she delivered to were elderly single people who now lived completely in the downstairs of larger council houses as they couldn’t manage stairs.

Ah but the four bed is owned. So they are paying the mortgage or have paid for the 4 bedrooms?
id always thought the “bedroom tax” was “yeah I have 3 bedrooms but live alone so should only pay the 1 bed rate”?

i am not sure how to vote
my relative still lives in the family home, on his own, about 60 years later!

But they receive a benefit - that's the point.

I think the difficulty is that one bedroom properties are small all over. If it was one bedroom with a decent sized lounge and kitchen, plus another room such as a dining room, people may be willing to move. But many one bedroom places have a very small lounge, a tiny kitchen, no other space... Why would someone whose children had grown up but still young enough to enjoy life want to move?

We live in a council house. It is a secure tenancy. We have the right to live here until we die or go into care. Our children don't have the right to succeed the tenancy, so when we're gone it will return to stock.

I think this is why bedroom tax was a good idea

At a VERY discounted rate subsidised by the tax payers!
The tennant absolutely should downsize so that people with children get the opportunity to raise their children in that house just like the Tennant did.

From my perspective you are blocking a family who may well be living in cramped conditions or high rise blocks. Terrible for children. When renting in this situation despite the number of years you shouldn’t have an automatic right to stay. Ideally in your situation you could do a swap to a flat that has a couple of bedrooms.

Most social housing tenancies are lifetime tenancies.

the council cannot legally force them out without rewriting quite a lot of our legal system.

various councils have experimented with shorter tenancies - ten years or similar - but there are a lot of people who were offered and accepted lifetime tenancies.