ok, so i know im gonna get hounded for this one!!!

[benbon]

but AIBU to think that if you live in a council flat you shouldnt be able to afford a brand new land rover with personalised number plate and full leather interiour

its just so frustrating when we struggle to pay our rent and have a crappy car and a man living in the council flats opposite us can afford brand spanking new car

so aibu????????????????

you seem to know an awful lot about your neighbour.

Why don't you ask him how he funded his car purchase?

exactly twelve legs my friend was stuck with her 3 kids and very pregnant belly in a bed sit with one working hob for 1 year as there was no houses or flats available

YANBU - used to live opposite a council tenant (and yes he was a council tenant) who had a huge brand new flat screen TV, Wii, Playstation 3, brand new Astra

...then found out it was him that had broken into MY car and nicked our sat nav (we were private tenants)

So yes, he could have won lottery, saved all his life for his dream car blardy blardy blah but chances are very slim. YANBU

Private housing rent here is 3 x the price of Council housing. We pay our taxes, full rent and full Council tax. We could not do that in a privately rented house.
FYI I work part time self employed with less than one years accounts. We have a crap credit rating, There's no way we would get a mortgage.
Not everything is as it seems.

i think thats rather a govt policy problem than a man who has a landrover.

rather like blaming immigration on the immigrants!

[looks at new car in driveway]

[looks at council rent bill]

[shrugs, walks away]

benbon - that is not the fault of your neighbour that is the fault of the Thatcher government. She abolished the building of council houses around 1990. At the same time as allowing people to buy their house.

maybe he owns the council flat.

a lot of council housing has been bought and sold several times from the original owner over the years.

You're right Benbon. Social housing is subsidised. The 'rents' are a pittance. For people who actually need the help, that's great, but they were never supposed to be for everyone. There are people who desperately need a flat/house but can't get one. Having said that, while there are no rules about income, you can't blame someone for taking advantage. I think everyone who's renting would love to pay £500+ less per month in rent and get much greater security on their lease.

i think that people who buy their houses should give up a room for the homeless.

It's also v short sighted. If you want to build communities then you need a mix of tenants. If it's about meeting an immediate need then moving on, you will be left with something which will not be very nice to live in.

YABU

maybe he doesnt go out to the pub/smoke/go on holiday/gamble/spend on a new sofa every 3 years etc and instead scrimped and saved to get the car of his dreams. Maybe you are not as thrifty as him and if you were, you too could be the proud owner of such a vehicle if you really wanted to.

Just because someone lives in a council flat doesnt mean they shouldnt spend whatever extra they earn on whatever makes them happy

personally I'd rather have a smaller car and a bigger house given the choice but each to their own

custy for PM

Also, would you prefer it if only the unemployed lived in social housing?

building huge estates was a fantastic way of creating problems in the innercity. that would only be intensified if all the people who lived there where totally skint.

Benbon you said "my friend was stuck with her 3 kids and very pregnant belly in a bed sit with one working hob for 1 year as there was no houses or flats available"

If your friend was in a bedsit with 3 children, why did she get pregnant again?! Very irresponsible imo. It takes 9 months to cook a baby, and she'd been there over a year? Was she hoping the 4th baby would give her more points?

Anyway, back to the OP, yes YABU. It's none of your business what other people spend their money on.

maybe it's a mobility car.

a lot of my neighbours dont work

a lot of them have new cars.

darned OAP's cashing in their benefits to enable them to get around.

Whatever extra? £30,000 plus. That's a whole heap of extra, possibly a mortgage or rental payment!

Betty, it's none of your business who gets pregnant (sticks out tongue )

agree with benbon, we pay 1,600 rent privately a month. if he can afford a flash car then he can clearly afford to pay more than a council rent

and let someone who is genuinely hard up have his flat, non?

If your rent went down to say a quarter of what it was you'd immediately move out to let someone else have it?

Council housing is a form of goverment assistance. It shouldn't be for everyone.

I am a bit split on this one.

I do feel that if you can afford to buy or rent privately then you should give up your Council house for those that need them. My Sister lives in Council accommodation that she was given when PG with her DS1. Now she is married and has recently re-trained and so is earning more money. They are looking to move but housing is so expensive that it will still take them several years to save up. She can't wait, she loves the place but it is too small for a big family and she is aware that it could be a lovely home for a young couple just starting out.

However they are not just houses they are homes. My Great Aunt stayed in her 6 bedroomed house for many years after her DC left home and she was widowed because it was her "home". She decided to leave in the end (at about the age of 70) as she felt guity but never ever settled, she hated her new house and would spend half the year visiting other relatives for a few weeks at a time just to get away from the place. Perhaps we should have urged her to stay put a bit harder but I think some of her neighbours had made a few comments and the Council kept offerring her warden controlled housing. It was awful to see her spend her last few years unhappy.

So as I say - I am split. It would not be an issue at all if we had a decent social housing scheme.

I've no idea where you live but in leicester the weekly average rent for a 3bed semi is about £47.

social housing should be for people in need but council's cannot evict someone because they can now afford sky, massive flat screen tvs, new car(s), ridicuously expensive pushchairs etc (unfortunately)

but YANBU

errr no.

there is nothing which says " if at one point you need social housing , we expect you to move out when you can afford to move somewhere else"

this would be called temporary housing not council housing.

all it does is create ghettos and drive those professional people who live in social housing

like the policemen, soical workers and nurses that i know live in the HA housees that i work for.

them nurses shouldnt spend their wages on a new car - the feckers - with your hard work and extra income - if you still can't afford a house - go private rented - you fecker

BEHAVE yourselves!

there is a lack of social housing in this country becuase of government and policy decisions - i bet this has a lot to do with the building ratio - and flooding the market - bringing house proices down - i mean if demand outstrips supply then your house prices all remain sustained

its the GOVT this venom should be directed towards. write to your MP

no where does it state that if you work or have two incomes that you have to leave your council house. your home god dammit - the place near the schools for your children. where your friends are , where your community is - becuase you have worked hard to get a better job.

thats just bollocks.

the truth is this man has a landrover. you are jealous.

he could be a drug dealer
it could be a mobility car
it could be a company car
he could have an amazingly high APR from dodgy car sales company
He could have spent his inheritance on it when his mum died three months ago

he could
he could
he could

you dont know