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.

They should leave, they don’t need a family house now. There is a chronic shortage of social housing in this country so let another family take it and move into a one bed flat.

Ive often thought if houses were built for a certain age only but im not sure legally how it would be policed. Say for instance homes that can be purchased and lived in by over 65's only. Or council homes.

Like small new build centre park style cul-de-sacs of 10 bungalow properties, with 1 good sized bedroom and literally a box room able to accomodate a single bed for occassional guests. I feel that age bracket and style of residential setting would hopefully foster neighbourly relations.

But I'm not sure how you could exclude people in certain age brackets legally whether its purchased homes or council.

But then the same design could also be applied to parents with kids, except with a tenancy on the understanding that those are strictly for people with kids under 18 and they are moved onto normal properties once they age out of them. But lets say the size of 3 bed centre park lodges.

I just think it'd be nice way of living for people with kids and older adults.

I dont think a home should be forever if you are getting it subsidised or free via benefits and they shiuld be moved on. Hard ro do now if people were given lifetime tenancy 40 years ago. For instance where i live its all 3 bed homes but were the only ones with kids and i think it'd be nice for my kids to live alongside other kids and we are all privately owned here. We dont have any neighnourly support network, like oh could you watch my two while i pop to shops to get some calpol - and vice versa.

I do think all new tenancies from council should be a 5 year review.

I agree with this, if they can afford it then they should be able to stay but if they are expecting the tax payer to pay for their rent then they should move to a more size appropriate property.

Its a difficult one as they dont own the house and its now bigger than there needs so in theory they should have to downsize but that may entail a move some distance, huge financial implications etc so is easier said than done. Also the fact a family of 4 maybe living ina. 1 bedroom whilst 1 person lives in a 3 bedroom seems really unfair. However someone being forced to move is also unfair.

Given so many properties are being handed to migrants anyway at this point I would rather see British people in them. Before anyone says i am racist its not racist to believe British people should be prioritised for housing in Britain by the British government particularly given there taxes paid to build and maintain these houses.

People move house all the time, and create new homes. Yes, it’s time to move house.

Lifetime tenancies should be abolished, we just don’t have enough housing stock.

We are a small country compared to most and there is not enough avaiable to support every one as it is, where would the extra money come from for all this social housing? It's not an easy answer especially in the current climate and it's becoming gradually worse. I

In some LAs this isn't for the person to decide. The council will downsize under occupying residents regardless of their wishes, which is arguably as it should be.
If the woman is in an authority that doesn't do this, then I think its unrealistic to expect her to put the greater good over her own benefit. I mean, in reality, how many people really do this? Anyone up for a pay cut so the cleaning staff can get a rise?
People are very fond of insisting what people who are not them should be sacrificing for the greater good, but I don't believe in diverting attention from poor policy decisions by shaming individuals who don't make personal sacrifices to offset them. Though I admire those who do.

Lifetime tenancies on one-bedroom properties would work, everyone deserves a roof over their head. But, I agree no-one deserves lifetime tenancy on larger council properties when there are desperate families out there.

I actually think some councils don't have lifetime tenancies anymore, I was a council tenant 25ish years, and our LA were doing away with them, my mum has had her council tenancy which is lifetime has moved with her for over 60 years,

Because social housing is subsidised by the government. However the homes should be in a decent state to live in, most council houses I’ve seen do not have carpet, no money spent on bathrooms or kitchens ect so the tenants have to spend money to make it decent , so its not fair to force a downsize.

Who should I be angry at? Not the selfish people who are stopping families using you know, family homes? I’ve had to move lots of times, for various reasons, them’s the breaks.

No, I am angry at the right people, but thanks for your condescension.

My great aunt is in a four bedroom house (technically five as there are two front rooms). She's lived there 50+ years. She has been on the waiting list to swap to a one bedroom bungalow or ground floor flat for 8 years. We telephone thecouncil so many times to see if we can hurry the process along but they don't give a crap about freeing up her house for someone more in need.

Good friends of ours moved into a 4 bed council house with their 5 children. Eldest 2 went to university and never moved back home, 4 got married, so they were left with just the youngest DS. Within 3 years 2 of the married DC split up and moved back home.

I agree. So it should be a forced move across the board.

I'd agree a compromise. They can stay - but rent has to be reviewed. I know a few people who are in this exact position and their rent is £300-400pcm... in an area where private renting a similar property is £1500. I would up the rent to something mid-way at £800.

I think the bedrooms tax was a good idea - but apparently it only applied to those receiving benefits - which many council tenants are not due to circumstances improving. So it didn't tax those who earned a good enough income to afford their oversized property without benefits.

Just to say - one of these couples I know are mid-50s and have a joint income of £110,000 so could easily purchase any local home after a few years - but they don't want to. But why should they get rent at £350 when other families are in 1 bed flats?

If they were old enough to move out and get married, they were old enough to sort out alternative accommodation should they needed to due to their huge family home now being occupied by a large family with dependents who need it.

If you really wanted you could help her make a facebook account and join a honeswappers group there’s millions in them looking for a bigger home. Idk about one beds but definitely two beds are looking for bigger homes

Absolutely this. This thread is disgusting.

Would you find a smaller place? None available where I live. Fifteen/twenty years ago yes, not anymore. I believe there's a reason why, experts with their high paid jobs keep telling us otherwise though. Don't start me on why younger people can't find work. Elephant. Room.

What the fuck has this got to do with anything? How bizarre.

This. It was given on public money (lower charges) and when the conditions under which it was given (kids) change then they should forfeit that home.

It’s no different to renting and painting and decorating your apartment/house. Council housing isn’t the same as owning a home.

I have a 2 bed HA flat and have been here for several years since DD was little.
It's just me now, I've tried to downsize by applying for housing through the local council but honestly it's a real battle resubmitting evidence and it taking forever. I was on it for 6 months and they apparently sent a review which was never sent or alerted of and bang I'm off the list.
I'm quite high up the list too as I'm downsizing but even trying to convince them that I fit the exact criteria which is on their own website took weeks to put me on the right band.
Currently my job is a pain and I can't get the evidence they want to reapply so I'm stuck.
The advisors are rude and unhelpful and it's not just me as I've heard similar stories from others in my area.
I'm also on homeswapper but no-one wants my place it seems unless I want a studio in a dodgy area.
Tbh I feel safe here as a single female and am reluctant to move, it would just help financially.

We have 10 older people bungalows where we live, my mums friend died on the list, her bed was downstairs she had to have a commode and bedbaths, but yes all these "old people " are selfish for not giving up their homes eh.

I hope your aunt gets a move.

Why on earth would someone pay for a new kitchen in a house they don’t own?

Presumably, because they wanted a better kitchen. Kitchens cost less than most house deposits.