Lifetime Social Housing Tenancies

[RowsOfFlowers]

Am I wrong or being unreasonable to think that this new policy that Labour are bringing in is very unfair?

I come from a poor-ish background (as in no one in my wider family has any money). However, my mum and Dad did fairly okay and managed to move up the property ladder (through sheer hard work and sacrifice). My dad died a few years ago and so now it’s just my mom. We never received any benefits - and now my DH and I live in a house and pay a high interest rate (thanks Truss) and I don’t know if we will ever pay off our house (if I am to have children and go part time), so we will need to downsize. We don’t qualify for any benefits either but we are in the squashed middle, so we really feel it when anything rises in cost and don’t get any help.

I feel really cross that someone can benefit from social housing for a lifetime, no matter how much they go on to earn, and then if they pass away, they can pass it down as an asset.

I have a friend who’s parents came to this country, got given social housing, their children paid it off (40% discount) and now they all get to keep a £650k house in London. It doesn’t seem fair to me at all. I feel really disillusioned living in the UK.

Here is the article

This is already a thing though? My mother has lived in her apartment for decades now.
Yes it is a little annoying when she moans about the rent going up (her rent is still less than half of a similar apartment on Rightmove)

You have the fortune of secure housing but want to deny others the same just because they're unable to save a deposit or secure a mortgage?

Nice.

Housing in the UK is wrong and unjust but you're attacking the wrong people. Try and think critically about what you read, and consider who has the real power and wealth.

She said she doesn't even know if she'll be able to afford her mortgage if she has kids. Hardly good fortune. And yeah it's unfair everyone else has to pay rent that's 2x or even 3x as much potentially getting evicted whenever landlord wants to sell. Just for someone else to be given somewhere and not have that problem and they still find something to moan about

This has always been the case, hasn’t it?

Bit yes, the policy is unfair. In a way I’m surprised this government aren’t bringing in periodic means-testing for social housing, but I suppose it would be a logical nightmare to administer and manage.

That.

Exactly.

Hard cases with lots of headlines both ways, none of them looking helpful to government.

The plan to limit them was another Tory plan that they must have known wouldn't survive contact with reality.

This isnt new and your parents were well within their rights being "poorish" to apply for social housing, where I live its rolling tenancy so it is reviewed the lifetime tenancy stopped in the 00s but my parents still have theirs. What do you think should happen people should be made to rent privately unsecurely, because you struggle with a mortgage ?

Agree, but how is this helping the housing crisis as such as well? Social housing should be for those who need it. If you’re then in a position to buy or rent, then that you should do.

Making them inheritable is just bonkers.

The tenants own lifetime thing gets trickier to have anything that gives a smooth transition - but running longer than that is an irresponsible use of public funds.

Purchasing needs to be market rate based.

Thank God for this. The housing situation is so unstable and society's poorest need protection. Social housing is so scarce that's its unlikely people on 100k will be living in it OP. It's given to the most vulnerable.

How about instead of tearing this down, we encourage more of it.

Build more council houses that are not able to be bought. Succession is only for the other people that live there once the main tenant dies and it can only be handed down once.

Means testing is a stupid idea, as is evicting people who go on to earn a good wage.

If i had to pick between safe and secure housing but a lifetime on nmw and top up benefits or a lifetime of private renting and the risk of being evicted at the landlords whim or coming across one of the many slumlords but a decent wage i know which one I would choose.

I private rented for 10 years. Not once did I ever have a decent landlord. If my housing association decide to means test their housing I'll give up my job and take nmw before I go back to private renting.

I think that social housing should be for those that need it, and that if you are then in a position where you wouldn’t qualify for it, you need to find somewhere else. This is my opinion, and I shouldn’t be berated for it.

Alot of families have ended up in social housing due to the landlord evicting them often in unsuitable temporary accommodation for years.

It's not housing for poor people it's a secure tenancy and I'm half against being able to pass it down if I'm honest but if the plan goes right I will be downsizing when my children leave so at the end I will be in a flat suitable for my needs and no use to my children however my son has sen and might never be independent which puts a bit of a spanner in the works because I would need to make sure he is in suitable supporting housing before I die

If I earned over a hundred thousand a year I would absolutely be buying my own home but I don't and it's unlikely I ever will private renting isnt an option it's not secure so the government would have to force private landlords to provide secure housing to make it fair OR introduce a mortgage that's the same price as your rent and transferable to family members upon your death

Everyone has the right to a home

And what about those of us who have the stress and insecurity of mortgages (and rent) with no protections, do you not think we deserve some stability as well?

I hate this misconception that you are somehow “stable” living in a mortgaged home. It’s not always the case.

I too have rented, and yes, it’s not nice either but this policy is not fair at all.

This.

We had a thread about this about a week ago. Apparently if you think anything other than people it is all fine for the rich to live in social housing you are jealous or it is just envy. Lifetime tenancies should never have been put in place but it is hardly a new thing. The provision of a council/charity house should be reviewed every few years to ensure that they are used by the people who need them.

Yes you should be berated your privileged squeezed middle or not you still have your own home

Where would you put the cut off? £100,000 a year? Fine in my area not in London how long would you give someone to save for a deposit for this mythical house they are going to buy/rent? A week? A month? How about a year? What happens if they don't get out will you evict them? It costs thousands where will they go then? Into emergency temporary accommodation which costs a fortune 🤔 what happens if they lose their job do you put them back into social housing?

What are your plans?

Yep, I know someone who earns about £95k pays £600 pcm rent for a large house, massive garden, lifetime tenancy that they will pass onto their DC, it’s 3 bedroom. Has an adult DC living there but that DC is on council waiting list and looking to be housed fairly soon.

It’s a great idea for tax payers who don’t want to subsidise people like you, but if it did happen, local authorities would be wise to people doing all sorts to avoid going into the private sector, similarly to how they deal with suspected cases of deliberately depriving yourself of assets to avoid paying for care.

Why are they not able to continue living at home?

It’s a reasonable policy and people deserve a secure home. Lifetime tenancy is fine, and they should do something about right to buy.

I get the idea it’s a privilege in today’s housing market, but bar serious criminal behaviour, people should be able to stay in social housing for life.