Council housing query

[user13842]

When there is a council housing shortage, why do Council’s not manage those living in the homes they have better? For example, I know of someone who lives on their own in a 3-bed council house in my area as their children have now left home. I also know of a family of 4 (2 parents, 2 children) who are living in a small 2 bed council flat. I appreciate this won’t cater for everyone but why do Council’s not routinely check up on who they are housing in what and encourage swaps where appropriate so that everyone is housed according to their needs? Appreciate it isn’t as straightforward as all that but surely it would be relatively easy to create a system to flag suitable swaps when they came up based on regular checks on circumstances.

I also know of a couple who were in council housing for a couple of years despite suddenly earning a lot of money and was very surprised the Council didn’t do regular checks on this to identify those who could afford private renting and move them on for those in need.

A home is a home.
Council tenants live in homes

It's not just an interchangeable unit of accommodation

Perhaps the older couple value their relationships with their neighbours. Or adore their garden.

Everyone deserves a home they can rely on.

You don't lose your council tenancy if your wages go up.

Going into a private rental isn't a rational choice. I might wonder why someone didn't buy their own home if they could afford it, but there's no incentive to exchange security for the whims of a private landlord. I don't believe checking the income of existing tenants is part of the council's remit.
I did know an elderly lady living alone who waited years to be moved from her 3 bedroom council semi to a more suitable property. It was very puzzling.

Totally agree.

My PIL are still in the 3 bed council house they got when my BIL was born- 32 years ago, despite both of their children having moved out, 4 other houses on their street alone are in the same position. They want to downsize & have been asking the council about this for years now but haven’t really gotten anywhere with it. Meanwhile there’s stories every week of people locally who have been put in 1 bed flats with 3 kids because “it’s all that’s available”🙃

There is a house not far from me where the tenants were tragically found dead. (Natural causes ) about 18
Moths ago, the house hasn't been touched and is still sitting empty, it looks like a nice house.

@Nonametonight if it's a council property. It should be interchangeable, when the tenants needs change. No one should be sitting in a 3 bed house when the kids have flown the nest and they are alone. And families need them. It's not their property.

I think they should reassess people’s needs if their circumstances change, eg number of people living there or wages go up. Council houses should be for those that requirement not for people to sit on and hoard while the system crumbles

This is another issue I have to say. There is a street near us where there had been 3 council houses sat empty for 5+ years, 2 were 3 beds and the other a 4 bed, nobody in them and have just been left to rot. Last year people put it to the local MP and the council have finally in the last month or so been in clearing them but they’ve been left for so long they’re literally having to rip them out and re-do everything before they can be allocated again.

That feels crazy to me too! Not only have those houses been left vacant for so long when there are thousands of people on the list waiting but they’ve also been left for so long that the council are now having to spend a lot of money re-doing them all.

I work for my local council housing and we encourage downsizing where needed ie unaffordable etc but there are so many reasons people are put off moving. The support network / transportation links / no one wants a tiny 1 bed flat.
People In 3 beds living alone generally always want 2 beds.
Not to mention memories and the pure hassle of moving.

There are incentives such as moving costs paid / decorating vouchers and a bonus if the homes in good condition.

I do agree with the premise we desperately need solutions but for instance a good friends has had the same council home for 22 years since she was 17 with 2 kids. She now has grown up kids moved out and a well paid professional job. If she was told she had to leave private rents would cripple her living alone with no security of tenure

Different issue but it seems like Councils need to manage their ‘stock’ better all round. Yes more are needed but if they’re not making use of what they have the current issues are going to continue - the population and people in need aren’t getting any smaller!

So can you earn unlimited amounts of money and still keep you council house? Is there a limit to how much you are earning when you apply or inherit tenancy? No wonder there’s such a short supply if there’s no constraints on those who can seek it!

When my partner's mother died he was given a month to move out, he was 19 and her full-time carer for 5 years, didn't go to school. Fast forward 30 years we are in rented having to move every year or so and his sister lives alone in a four bed council house she had been in for 35 years. It would break her heart to leave, but I find it off she has so much space and security

My MIL also lives in. 3 bed council house. The 2 spare rooms are filled with junk and hoarding. There's families out there that need a 3 bed. These houses are not the property of the people living in them. They are given when in need and when that need has gone the not should be reassessed. Another family member was living in her 3 bed council house but sleeping downstairs as she couldn't make it upstairs any longer. The council ended up paying her to move to a 1 bed bungalow. Doesn't make sense.

Council housing wasn't originally intended for "poor" people, so they wouldn't be checking incomes had gone up.

There are probably loads of older people who would be happy to downsize and free their larger home for a family, but there aren't smaller places available.

But they check when you apply for the waiting list and you have to earn less than X amount and have less than X in savings so just seems strange they then are not able to check this again during the tenancy. If it’s a barrier to get it in the first place it should be a barrier to continue using it, same as other government benefits.

Who was it intended for? Why would the government give free housing unless it was to people who can’t afford to rent/buy?
Genuinely curious - I’ve just gone on a search through gov websites as I’m quite surprised. I would have assumed it was for the most vulnerable members of society - I appreciate your comment that people live in homes and shouldn’t have to much, but it does seem very unfair that it you get in it’s lifetime tenancy regardless and others can struggle so much to get in the door (literally speaking!).

I suppose like most things, it's not as simple as it looks. Do you want tenants to be afraid of earning too much, even temporarily, in case they lose their homes? Something that looks straightforward to administer is no doubt rife with complications and unintended consequences.
And it's not 'free' housing.

Interesting! I didn’t realise there were incentives to move although not sure if those incentives are used for downsizing where appropriate or just relating to affordability? I’m guessing there will be some overlap for those.

I do sympathise with your friend as I’m sure I would also find the situation very difficult if it was me. However there will be lots of people out there who have spent the last 22 years in private renting dealing with that because they could afford it, some only just. If she now can afford private renting she would be in the same position as all of them by moving into the private sector, leaving a vacant property for those who can’t afford the private sector or a property in the private sector suitable for their needs.

Council houses aren’t free. Obviously some tenants have their rent paid by housing benefit (as do many in private rents). I’m pretty sure they started out with council housing around the same time as the NHS to tackle inequality in society.

What does it cost? It seems highly prized so it seems like it should be significantly less than open market rent?

Depends on the area. Where I live it’s around £800 for council v £1800 private for a 3 bed.

I think massively subsidised housing should be allocated to people who need it while they need it and ONLY while they need it. If that makes me a bad person then I'm a bad person.

My DM still had her 4 bed council house for years between her last child being taken into care and her dying meanwhile her oldest kids came of age and were homeless directly due to her abuse and couldn't get anywhere. Meanwhile my DF who she'd thrown out was on the list for 15 years before he got anything. It's not a fair system.

I think there absolutely needs to be checks that people still meet the criteria and those houses should be passed on and people should be at the mercy of the same system as everyone else.

Having a bad time for a few years or failing to launch in life doesn't exempt you from living like everyone else for the rest of your life. We shouldn't live in a world where people just get given rent-controlled subsidised homes for life at the expense of many other people who are paying more into the system while simultaneously paying more rent while living on low incomes because they don't qualify to get to the top of a list for the handful of available homes.

But if the aim was to tackle inequality why were they not intended for people with smaller incomes? Seems really odd that it’s not designated for the most vulnerable in society. And if your council rent is paid for with housing benefit surely that is essentially free in that it doesn’t cost the renter anything?

Private rent is for profit
Council rent finances maintenance, upgrade of properties etc and this comes out of the money councils take in rent payments.
Right to buy should've never happened and if it hadn't we wouldn't have the housing crisis we have now.

It was intended for workers. My parents married in the late 60s and moved straight into a 3 bedroomed house. My dad was a bus driver and my mum a shop worker.

Other countries still have similar systems. We're in Sweden and when my DD graduated she applied for council housing in the town where she'd be teaching. 2 months later she was offered the choice of a 2 or 3 bed flat, and moved in before the start of term.

That's how it should be ,buy to let has been disastrous coupled with right to buy thus creating a lack of affordable housing and people needing to claim universal credit in order for somewhere to live.