Right to Buy.

[Differentforgirls]

Was “Right to Buy” a policy that has created the current housing crisis? I think it was.

I also completely agree that it is scandalous that some people pay more than twice the rent as me because someone has bought their flat and then bought somewhere else and let it out

I have a friend who lives near Milton Keynes and her husband works full time and they still get UC because of how much their rent is - and their landlord is awful.

I spent yesterday on another thread being told I should be grateful because I live in a council flat. I am - because I have security that other people don't have. And there was someone posting on that thread telling me - just work harder and buy a flat - I'm 57. I've worked hard all my life - it would have been impossible to buy a flat in my 20s on my wages

I've never understood why councils dont offer a sort of funded mortgage. I mean I was on housing benefit for probably 15 years - £800pcm to a landlords pocket... if i had a government funded mortgage it would have been half that amount at the time, and i could have owed the government or they would have bought a house in that time.
Im not on benefits anymore, cant afford to save for a mortgage because my rent is 1100 pcm and will probably never own my own home. Oh well.

Yeah - and in my mums case. If my dad had actually paid her a decent amount of child maintenance rather than the two quid he paid me till I was 16 - and she didn't chase him for that - the dss did. She might have been able to buy a property. My brothers dad was even worse - paid zero his entire life

They probably legally can't unfortunately. I lived in an area of high deprivation for 25 years and the only reason I could buy because I got a 70 per cent discount and my mum helped me (I gave her money back when it was sold). I actually could have got a mortgage and I did look into it years earlier but I was made redundant three times and that put me off buying at that point

@Blueshoey484

I hate the game, not the player.

I am assuming that you are just an average person who doesn’t treat homes as a commodity and doesn’t have a large portfolio of properties which you are leasing to renters or as Air BnBs.

I don’t resent people for getting on the property ladder for their own home.

I used to live in a very lovely housing association flat, converted from two Georgian townhouses, I had the top floor, it was fabulous, when I moved in RTB wasn't available to HA tenants, then it was brought in, but with restrictions.

I could buy another property on the open market and I would get a cash grant which would make a mortgage affordable for me.

It was a very complicated procedure, my dear solicitor said it gave him grey hair and sleepless nights but he later helped train other solicitors with the ins and outs. But it all eventually happened.

My former flat is still a HA property. It is how the system should have worked in the first place.

There are always going to be individual reasons/justifications why people who could took advantage of the policy. It’s not personal. It doesn’t change the fact that at a macro level it’s been a disaster for housing and the country with billions now being spent to support people in private rented.

From a political point of view one of the core beliefs of socialism is that assets should be commonly owned. Taking a commonly owned asset and privatising it is the very opposite of that. There were people who could have bought their council properties who refused to do so based on their principles and beliefs.

I don’t think it was the only thing that caused it, but it was certainly a contributing factor.

Agree with all of this.

No I don't. And my flat had to be sold 5 years ago because the housing scheme I lived in was being demolished. I was actually treated pretty poorly during the move. I was forced to move during lockdown and was told if I didn't sell they would take me to court

I was getting phone calls from housing officers ordering me to take the flat I'm in now before I had even viewed it - and the person who sat tight and refused to move got 16k more than his flat was worth and a flat in the new development.

It was a very tough housing scheme and I wouldn't have felt safe doing what he did as a single female

I had a council flat at one point. Aside from my political beliefs (I’ve always thought it was a bad idea) I wouldn’t want to buy the flat as it was top of a tower block in a rough area of North London which 30 years on shows no signs of improvement.

I’ve googled it recently. There was cladding put on while we were there which was ripped off post Grenfell. There’s been issues with the heating and damp and the council are now demolishing it. They’ve had an issue with the leaseholders who are out of a pocket as a result. Obviously I’ve never regretted my decision!!!

RTB has always been a terrible policy. It wouldn’t have been so bad if money raised was ploughed into building new stock but Thatcher specifically banned that.

I will never decry my mum for buying her home because she didn't want to pay rent in retirement - the people I blame are my dad and my brothers dad for leaving us poorer than we should have been

My mum is a socialist - buying her council home doesn't make her right wing.

And I'm a socialist too. I'm not going to be told I am not because I bought my flat on an estate that no one wanted to live in when I wanted to save money on paying rent

And that will be the hill I die on

Im not on here to be shamed just for telling mine and my mums story - and if you think we aren't left wing. That's on you - not me. I'm back renting as I have said multiple times during this thread

And there were no caveats on them selling on. So they could profit from the vastly reduced price and/or become buy to let landlords.

I actually feel like I'm being shamed on here for having the audacity to buy my flat to save me money in rent when I lived on an estate that no one wanted to live in. And once more - if my dad and my brothers dad had paid my mum decent maintenance or any maintenance she would have been in a better position to buy - without having to buy her council house

Anyway whatever. I don't care if people think I'm not a socialist - that's on you -not me.

I've campaigned all my life - as has my mum. She was out rattling tins during the miners strike in 84 - before she bought her house - but she's no longer a socialist - whatever

Done

I spent yesterday on another thread being told that all I needed to do was work harder and I could afford a mortgage. Today I'm being told I'm not a socialist because I bought my council flat to save me money on rent when I was struggling. Things surely don't always need to be so black and white

But you still had to live somewhere so you spent the profit on buying another house. We're talking about ordinary, working people, not Sheriff Fatman.

Right to buy in England ‘fuelled housing crisis and cost taxpayers £200bn’ | Housing | The Guardian

The problem with Right to Buy - Shelter England

I am out and about but wanted to add the links for research.

To add :

Insane High Rents
No Rent Control
Landlords owning a disgusting amount of properties, should be capped

RENTING should not be a dirty word but sadly in the UK it is!

@Blueshoey484 I'm sorry to hear this, it sounds like you have had a tough time.

I’d really hope that people could be proportionate about RTB and where the problem lies. I’m not sure that I was clear with my previous comment but for what it’s worth, I absolutely do not think that people like yourself who have bought what they intend to be their own home are the source of the problem. To say that people who have purchased their own home under RTB are the issue would be missing the entire elephant.

It goes back to what I was saying earlier about average people squabbling amongst themselves while we are all being totally hoodwinked by the financialisation of housing alongside populist politics.

Which is mainly what happened!

Great article.

Yesterday I was on a thread where I was told. I should not have bought my flat. I don't know what in work poverty is. I should give up my council flat to let someone who needs it more than me get it - and that all I had to do was work harder and then I would be able to get a mortgage and buy my own house

Ill be 58 next year. I sometimes think it's just a race to the bottom on here where people shout - you aren't good enough! You've not done enough! You've not worked hard enough!

As I said before - my brother bought a flat when he was 45 after a horrible relationship break up - if he hadn't spent 18 months living with my mum to save 20k for a deposit - he would not have managed it - and we live in an area where housing isn't the most expensive

I've worked hard all my life - I still wasn't in a position to buy a property that wasn't council

I'm really not going to apologise for the decision I made.

Thank you.

Yes it was crap all round. I had to move when I had ptsd as well. I cried for months before and after the move. It wouldn't have mattered to me at that point whether I owned or rented - it was my home - and five years on I still miss it

I don’t think people are saying that. I think we’re talking about the policy itself rather than individual people who used it.

Thanks for that link ✊