Woman with 1 child being evicted from her 6 bedroom council house ....

[Disenchanted]

Im really torn over this.

It was in my local paper.

Obviously as someone who waited 3 years with 2 children for a 3 bedroomed council house, who had to sleep in a single bed with DH, DS1 and have DS2 in a cot next to us in my mums box room I think its right that this woman should be asked to leave her home in order to house a family that needs it.

There are currently 507 'large' families In South Manchester waiting for a 6 bedroomed home. All who actully need 6 bedrooms unlike this woman who on;ly has 1 child.

However that is her family home. It was her mothers home who had many children and was justified living there, the tenancy was passed onto this lady when her mother died and now there are only her and her son years later.

The reason Im divided is that my granny lives alone in a 3 bedroomed house, she has lived there for over 40 years and by ratios if a 2 bedroomed house is too big for two then on the same principle they could move my Gran out of her 3 bedroomed house.

But I dont think they should IYKWIM. Shes lived there years.

When I needed a house I complained constantly (to myself not the council obviously) about all the old widows/ widowers living in 'family homes' but they have every right to be there.

Or do they?

Should 1 person be allowed to stay in a 3 bed house?

Should this woman and son be allowed to stay in a 6 bedroomed house?

She has been offered a 3 bedroomed house BTW, but not in her 'area'.

To me it seems obvious the woman should be moved but then where does it end IYKWIM.

Expat my father got his first mortgage at 65!

We had always lived in Forces Quarters and tied cottages before that, admitedly he had two pensions, but they will give mortgages to 'older' people, By the way at 80 he has just paid his off

I got my first one at 42.

but Scooby - if he's in his late twenties what happens if he now get married and has children.........they'll have to rehouse him again - especially if he marries someone that's already got chidlren of her own, and they have more together!

i know hatrick, i dont want the girls to move schools, so it limits our housing choices a lot. but will also be going on the private exchange register.

Yes true FAQ but at that moment in time he did not need the space who knows what will happen but it's no good waiting in a 4 bedroom house just in case you meet someone with kids already or for when you start a family, he will have to move up the ladder again, it's only fair.

can't afford anything, anyway, shoshe. no pension, either.

not up here!

very few housing developments, anyway. most are flats.

and do you have a cut off age for age that they can force someone to move.

law says if the development is under 50 homes then they don't have to allocate any to social housing.

so what developer does is divide teh lot into two different estates.

hey, it gets approved - with a thick brown envelope on top, i'm sure.

god that must be expensive paying someone to move out of a larger council house to one that more suits their needs "at that time".

Surely the money would be better spent making habitable the 1000's of council properties that have been empty for YEARS (in some places).....

There are plenty of 3 bed council houses on my road, most are occupied by elderly couples with no children, or like with this lady OP mentions, a son who lived with his mum, and his grown up daughter. In fact, his family takes up two council houses, he and the grown up daugther in one 3 bed house, and his ex wife and their youngest in another 3 bed house.

I guess I will be flamed for saying this, but if you have benefitted from discounted (or minimal) rent an entire lifetime, not had to take up a mortgage, isnt it obvious to let somebody else have the same benefit as you did, when you needed it?

Expat, that doesn't happen here.
Firstly, the threshold for affordable housing is, I think, 14 units (houses or flats). And then the affordable housing policy kicks in. Which requires that 25% of dwellings be social rented and 10% key worker.
Artificial sub-division of sites specifically referred to in the policy. Not yet heard of that one being got around.
Brown envelopes - I wish!

i can promise you this happens in scotland, hatrick.

doesnt happen here either expat. there is a huge redelopment going on near me, a place now known as salisbury village near hatfield. i lived there breifly at the start of the development and its absolutly huge! it has a new eco-school on the site (the best in country apparently), and there ios still another 6years of development to go. i would love to move back over that way (25% or whtever it is affordable housing and HA places) but am torn over the schools issue as dd1+2 are very settled in school here.

I live in a council house and have done for last 22 years,like the op im in two minds about this, at one time I had 6dcs in 2 bedrooms now ive only 3 of them at home, but we have always worked and paid full rent,ive probably paid for my house twice over, I still have 2 young children at home so we wont face this for a few years,but we live a bit out of town and dont drive,so if I live to be old I probably would move if offered somewhere suitable,but I think we should be offered a choice,not forced,this house is where all my happy memories are.

Surely expat if more people exercise their right to buy council houses that will just make the situation worse . My 82 year old Mum lives in a 3 bedroom council house. She has lived there for over 40 years and has paid full rent for that time - more than enough to have bought and maintained the property. She is against the sale of council houses so chose not to buy it when it was offered to her at a hugely reduced price. It will be available for someone else to rent in due course, but for the moment it is her home.

Of course it will, chop, but just paying rent on a place doesn't make it yours.

Only title deeds do that.

I've paid a king's ransom in rent. It entitles me to stay in the abode until my tenancy agreement is up.

That's all.

That's what renting is about.

They should word the tenancies so they can move people to appropriate sized housing

Once you are in council housing do most people stay for life?

That was my point farther down teh thread as well, The Blonde.

Additionally, many new tenancies for socialised housing up here have no right to buy in them.

You can't buy HA properties up here, unless they're shared-ownership.

Don't see why they can't put in language that you can be moved as well.

So expat you think it would be ok to move an 82yr old woman who has lived there for over 40yrs...........despite the fact that it's very common for elderly people who are forced to move from their home to somewhere new not to live much longer as it all becomes too much..

Mind you I suppose it would cut the cost of caring for our aging population I suppose....

That may be what renting in the private sector is all about but council housing is different. The whole rental sector changed in the 80s. Council houses were sold and private landlords were able to rent out property for short periods - until then private tenants had a lot more rights. What I am opposed to is any more erosion of rights for tenants, whether in council or private rented housing. And, actually, under my Mums rental agreement, provided she continues to pay rent and obeys her tenancy agreement it is her house and she can't be thrown out.

i think it's about as fair as condeming children to grow up in damp-ridden, incredibly overcrowded homes in dire areas, FAQ.

so instead of dying they're more likely to spend their lives struggling in a poverty trap or become criminals or worse.