Family wants me to give up my social house and I'm not - wwyd?

[spicy2001]

I currently rent a three bedroom social housing property and I live on my own. Most of the rent is paid for by universal credit and I have to pay 25% bedroom tax which is very affordable to me which is for two rooms and a shortfall of £30.55p.

I did speak to a housing officer and they said I am legally allowed to occupy it, and as long as I pay the rent on time, tax and shortfall, then everything is fine. I don't feel guilty for occupying this three bedroom house, it's been my home since I was born.

Recently, I noticed that my family were talking a lot about me downsizing. I asked why are they talking about me downsizing? They said because I don't need this property and have to downsize.

I explained I'm legally allowed to stay here, this is my property and not yours. I get that I don't need this property but I'm staying here because I'm allowed too. I found out that they actually joined a site called "home swapper" and a site called "glass bob" my sibling set up an account using her email address to advertise my property. If I'm correct, I've never joined these so I don't know 100% but they're platforms where you can do mutual exchange and advertise your property.

I phoned my housing association and explained the situation, they've started an investigation and they are speaking to various departments to see if they can do it from the end to see if they can do anything as they approved it but they don't know if they can disapprove it.

The other day a tenant from another part of my cul-de-sac came round and told me she knows I'm downsizing and she has a friend whose currently living in a one bedroom flat with his wife and they've got a one year old daughter and another baby on the way. I explained to this person my family have been trying to get me to downsize to a one bedroom flat and I'm not actually looking to downsize so I won't swap with them but told her I do sympathize with their situation.

She told all my neighbours about her friend and now all the neighbours are peed off at me because I'm not downsizing. My family are also peed of that I'm not downsizing. As far as I'm concerned I don't care as I have the legal right to stay here for as long as I like or want.

I just wanted to know though what would you do if you was in my situation?

I think COVID times demonstrated very well that there's a hell of a lot of people in this country that don't give a fuck about anyone else.

Bearing that in mind, I find it very hard to believe that so many people would give up a lovely 3-bed home in return for a flat just because it's morally the right thing to do. Sure you would.....

Most people look out for themselves, and would only downsize if it suited them too.

But let's say hypothetically the OP downsized and took the 1-bed that she's entitled to. She's very young, and let's say in a few years she's met someone and wanted to start a family. She'd then need to move back up into a bigger home - but there probably wouldn't be one available for a very long time. So she'd be stuck either not able to have children due to the size of the property, or she'd have to enter the private rental market - which is just a bloody minefield.

So OP is looking to her long-term interests, and I don't think anyone can blame her for that. If she manages to get a deposit and buy her own house eventually then even better, this property will be freed up for someone else.

I'm sorry but you aren't 'harder working' just because you earn enough not to need UC. People who are on minimum wage, who need their wages topped up with UC because employers aren't obliged to pay a living wage, don't work less hard because they earn less.

Social housing is people business because it's a reduced rent for people who need it

It's not a reduced rent, it's no buggers business and everyone needs somewhere to live.

In an ideal world the OP would easily switch to a one-bed property for the next few years, then equally easily switch to a three-bed property if she has kids. However this is not possible. Anyone telling her to downsize obviously has no experience of social housing.

It is common for young adults to live with their parents for years so they can save up for a deposit. The OP can't do that as her father has died. This is the equivalent for her.

Given that it's a 5-year wait for a family house, and the OP may well be having kids in 5 years, I think she is morally justified in staying. I understand the outrage when it's an older person living in a massive property for 25 years; that really is taking it away from a family that needs it.

OP, I agree with others that you would be mad to give up a HA tenancy for a private rent - whatever you do, don't do that.

It's no one else's business. It's between you and your landlord. You're paying your rent and sticking to the rules, you want to stay put so stay put.

Absolutely this.

If OP can save for a deposit while paying bedroom tax, she can save even faster in a 1 bed. There's absolutely no good reason for her to stay in a 3 bed social house just in case her circumstances might change in the future. People will be biting her hand off to swap, so she'd have her pick of flats.
I can understand why OP doesn't want to move but it shouldn't be allowed.

There is not a single person on this thread that would give up a £300 per month 3 bed house whilst they are studying or working for minimum wage. Anyone who says they would for their "morals" is a fucking liar.

It's not a reduced rent

It's well below the market rate which the landlord could ask.

Your family is out of order, but how does a single person manage to rent a 3 bedroom house with UC paying the rent? That's what jumped out for me here

If your income is low enough, UC pay the rent towards whatever you're renting whether that's private or HA. They pay a rate based on need, a single person being entitled to the 1 bed rate. What you actually to rent is your decision and is considered personal choice, even if it isn't and has been dictated by what's available. Eg if in private rental many people choose a better property without damp even if they stick with the number of bedrooms they actually need, in those cases UC won't cover the whole rent, the tenant will top it up from wages or other benefits.

Op says herself that universal credit pays for most of it...

There's not much difference in rent between a 1 bed and a 3 bed in social housing. UC are paying for the 1 bed rate, OP is topping up the extra needed.

haven't decided if I want to get married or have kids yet but by that time I would be in my 30s and I would probably have a family of my own if I chose to have kids and get married

Then you'd be foolish to downsize. Upsizing is extremely difficult and often impossible.

With all due respect OP, you don't struggle as like you said UC pays the majority of your rent.

Which is why the rules need to change.

Anyone who says they would [give up the house] for their "morals" is a fucking liar.

And in any event, those are their morals. No one else needs to live by them!

Because is social housing which is about housing people not about making profit.

No they couldn't ask. Council housing was never meant for the poor. It was meant for everyday people. Councils have stuck to the promise of affordable homes. It's private landlords who have distorted rents.

You know those boxes of free fruit supermarkets put out for kids? You could save lots of money by swiping the lot 😄. Sod everyone else, right?

One issue currently with house swaps is that if you're in one property with a secure/assured tenancy, you won't necessarily get that in the property you swap to. As many are now offering fixed term tenancies only. That may be what people want to see happening. But who is going to give up what is essentially a home for life, for a tenancy that could see them having to give up their home in a few years?

Also occupancy rules can be strict with swaps. OP couldn't go and get "a nice 2 bed" somewhere (as a pp suggested) as she wouldn't be eligible to move in. Even if it means she'd be freeing up an extra room. Likewise anyone moving to hers would need a minimum of 2 DC, depending on age/sex it could be 3 or 4 and they'd have to currently be living in a 1 bed. Temporary accommodation doesn't count as it's not "swappable".

Then there's rent. A lot of HA's are now setting higher rents for new tenants. Whereas with long term tenants the rent increases are limited. I've seen numerous smaller properties with much higher rents than mine. Who is going to want to move somewhere smaller that will cost them more?

Flats are a huge risk when it comes to potentially having problem neighbours and they are prone to more issues in terms of damp etc. This could be addressed by Councils and HA's doing prompt and decent repairs and really tacking ASB. But that doesn't happen currently, so who wants to take the risk?

It's not as simple as many people think it is.

Have I missed the part that says that the family are financially subsidising the op? Because that's the only scenario that I could see where they would have a say in any of this.
Oh and I don't mean subsidising by paying tax. Because that would just sound ridiculous,unless the ops family are also targeting other over or under occupied homes.
The ops family are using bullying tactics and are targeting an isolated case.
Christmas is going to be fun round at theirs this year .

@nervousneave You are fleeing domestic abuse and you said on here that OP is your worst person. I would have thought the worst person was your abuser.

But thankyou for proving just how hated social housing tenants are. So hated that we are worse than domestic abusers.

I agree. By charging them a reduced rent!

I can’t say that I disagree with their thought process but I wouldn’t be forcing you to move - it’s no one else’s business really.

Has the benefits system really changed this much?
Ten years ago, I was 23, working full time and earning 1,100 a month. I had to live in shared houses because I didn’t qualify for financial assistance.
You’re telling me I could have had a free, three bedroom house on top of my wages instead of paying £450 per month out of them?

Maybe Gov/Council policy going forward should be to convert blocks of larger flats to one beds everywhere they can as the need is obviously there. Seems to make sense to me notwithstanding the costs involved, good investment I think, since people are living longer now and might not need larger properties as they age.

If there is a shortage of smaller properties, address that first and the swaps will help those who need the larger places.

But I am sure there is some reason that this is not done. Money, land, objections, whatever. Sensible things seem to take longer to achieve than mad schemes.

It's owned by a housing association. And yes, they could charge a market rent. The rent they charge is (for the most part) up to them.

And private landlords have no more distorted the market price of rentals than private tenants!

Social rents aren't reduced. Private rents are inflated. BTL shold be banned or there should be a % profit limit.