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.

Im so sorry. It must have been awful. I hope things are better for you . That your safe and secure . 💐

The answer is to build many more council houses and flats.
Then things like downsizing would be far easier for older people to swap houses and there would be enough social housing for those who need it.
Selling off council houses under rtb to end up in hands of private landlords who then private rent them out and get £££ in housing benefit is what has screwed everyone apart from those private landlords .

Op can choose to go on social housing list same as her neighbour. But clearly it s only an option for the few in many locations because there are just not enough. That is the issue.

In any mixed block the council or HA flats or houses are lower level of fit out which is fine coz cheaper rent and it makes genuine choice if only there were enough of them ...

Yes - but at least the level of state subsidiary given to some families would be transparent.

There should have been life long covenant on any right to buy properties to say only sell to people to actually live in them and not to landlords. That s the life long bit that is needed.

Um what the hell else is she supposed to do if she wants kids though? They have to live somewhere.
She cant just choose to live in a council house when the waiting list is like five years even for someone in the highest band Ie a homeless shelter or ten years for a lower band.
And private renting is usually more expensive than a mortgage plus you can get evicted any time.

And yeah I live outside London too it's the same pretty much everywhere.

Also lol at the idea it's easy to just choose to date a rich man 😂 as if there is tons of them walking around waiting for any gold diggers to snap them up

I hope things are better for you now.

We are thank you.

A decade on and we are in secure housing, my older kids are doing well and contributing to society because we finally had a secure home and put down roots here and I'm a carer for my disabled daughter but managing to do a degree so I can also start contributing again as well.

Building more and more social housing absolutely should be a thing.

Our town had two HAs involved in some decent sized building projects over the last few years (house building on old massive factory and mine sites). The effect on the rental market has been excellent!

Less tenants looking, because of the movement offered by all the people getting the new build social housing, has meant that the really shitty landlords have been forced out and the ones who charge ridiculous rents have had to rein themselves in. LL's like myself that charge an average rent for decent properties weren't impacted (I'm in the middle of selling my childhood home to a social housing provider).

Secure housing is good for people and it's good for communities. We need more of it, not less.

I agree . But private renters can't always just go and private rent again. I private rented for years. Landlord wanted hiuse back. couldn't find a private rent. Had to be evicted. Went into temporary accommodation . Found a private rent. Got evicted a year ish later back onto temporary accommodation for 6 years. Then i got social housing. It would have been more than 6 years but my situation change which meant i became a heigher prority.

She should probably not be considering reproducing with a man who can't financially support their household for 12 months, that sounds like an absolutely terrible idea. She is not in her present situation because a minority of social housing tenants are higher earners and should be evicted - she's in her present situation because buying is unreasonably expensive (why is there no political will to address 5%+ yearly interest rates on loans secured against one of the surest assets? The whole system needs an overhaul and the government probably needs to step in and start providing common sense mortgages) and because social housing stock has been chipped away at until it's not available to all but those in the most dire situations. There are quite a few fixes to this before we start evicting social housing tenants that earn more than some as yet undefined amount.

My husband isn't rich, and wanting to stay at home and raise your own children isn't golddigging 😂

Yes looking on Rightmove for my town and so so many of the private rentals are ex council houses! But double the price to rent.

All of this. I see a lot of threads on here about HA properties being ‘unfairly’ allocated or whatever but it all boils down to the fact affordable rent HA properties are so few and far between. This shouldn’t be the case.

My entire estate is ex council. There are probably 80 houses and the only only ones which are council now is 2

Thats fantastic. Im glad you and your family are doing well. Don't worry what others think. You do right by you and your family. My daughter went through similar but didn't have to move 100s of miles like you did. That would have been hell for dd but thank God she did not. So I can imagine how hard it was for you. Dd and ger child. plus me and my children separate house. hold all had to be moved under life in danger. Although we didn't have to move 100s of miles like you did. Dd had to recently move again as some idiot told him where she lived.

Good luck with your degree I hope your enjoying it . Im sure you will smash it . Keep strong 💪

👏👏

Absolutely. People always like to punch down. Sit there in their valuable asset whilst picking on others. Of course tenancies should be for life. Imagine the ghettos created if everyone was only allowed to stay briefly. People need to put down roots and create communities. What we need is more social housing but of course NIMBY

I don't see where she says she's in her situation because a minority of social housing tenants are high earners? She's just mulling/venting about something. People accusing her of "hating" social housing tenants are hilarious like I said my own mother has lived in her council home her whole adult life and I love the woman but hearing her moan when her rent goes up a tiny amount (still less than half what it'd be on Rightmove) you can see why people paying full rent/mortgage get frustrated.

Most men can't afford to financially run the whole household these days, you seemed to be implying she should of found one who could as if that's easy, he'd have to be earning quite a lot and men like that can sniff out women who only see them as an ATM from a mile away.

Subsidise? What you mean is that social rents aren’t inflated as those of private rentals are. Or I suspect what you’re getting at is everyone in social housing is in receipt of benefits. More is paid in benefits to the working poor in private rentals. HTH

Agree OP, it should be for those who cannot afford market rent or a mortgage,. Once they can, then they should be made to do so and leave the subsidised housing for others in need. Lifetime tenancies are wrong, and there should have always been periodic reviews of tenancies. If I was given heavily subsidised housing at taxpayers' expense I would be OK with this. Right to buy is also wrong, particularly in that it also receives a large discount - that's bonkers, and funny how all those buyers could suddenly find the means to buy .... what hypocrites.

Your opinion is based on a deep misunderstanding about the housing issues in the UK.

We were all better off, our whole society was better off, when there were far more council houses with security of tenancy. None of us had to fear losing our homes so much and our communities were more solid. Those who owned homes were still privileged due to owning the asset.

Your approach is irrational really. The better approach would be far more lifetime tenancies with solid mortgages for those in a position to buy.

If you want to investigate properly there's loads of info. The thing that makes me most angry is the fleecing of private tenants, which drives house prices, thereby reducing available cash being spent in the rest of the economy.

What if she has to go into a care home?

It’s the private rental market that’s the problem. More people should have secure housing, not fewer!

I’m in a private rented ex council house. My landlady lives abroad but owns several ex council houses around the city I live in and rents them out for 2.5 times what a council tenant would pay.

Her tenants can’t save for a deposit! We’re stuck. Many private tenants are stuck in a poverty trap as part of their rent is paid by benefits & they then can’t afford to work full time.

Your anger is misdirected.

Passing on tenancies is done to ensure families with connections to an area can remain. Many areas are struggling to remain viable as second home owners move in and young people move out.

I agree, social housing should be for our most vulnerable people.

Once someone can afford private rent or a mortgage they should move on. Couples and single people who have outgrown a 3-4 bed home should be made to downsize.

Because there isn't enough social housing available, and whatever the reason, it's not changing the current situation.

As for people saying that a mortgaged home is an asset. It's only on paper as the owners will still need somewhere to live!

That doesn't make sense. If it's a HA/ council house it will not be turned into a 2 home unless it's sold. No need for passing on tendencies if the HA is able to give this home to another local family in need.