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Original poster

Hatred towards social housing tenants on here getting worse.

192 replies

JenniferBooth · 17/12/2023 13:51

And really nasty and out of control Here is one example but there have been many

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4964096-to-still-feel-slightly-bitter-about-this-inheriting-social-housing?page=1

There have been a few threads in the last week alone. Its like this is a nice safe little prejudice that the social housing haters can enjoy with no comebacks.

To still feel slightly bitter about this? (Inheriting social housing) | Mumsnet

I grew up in a two bed council house with my mother (single parent) and my sister in what could now be considered a highly gentrified area within walk...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4964096-to-still-feel-slightly-bitter-about-this-inheriting-social-housing?page=1

OP posts:
VeronicaSawyer89 · 18/12/2023 21:35

Comedycook · 18/12/2023 21:20

Yes so privileged to lose my remaining parent in my early twenties...my other died when I was a child. Then I lost the only home I'd known....oh and the estate agent came round the morning after my dad died. Yeah so fucking privileged. But yay for the social housing tenant who gets to stay in their family home which none of them even own.

Show quote history

So because life has been shit for you everyone else must suffer too? Isn't this where the villains in superhero movies start?

Jf20 · 18/12/2023 21:35

I think it is jealousy from low income families who can’t afford or struggle with their private rent or can’t afford to buy and really want a council house. I’m not sure it’s jealousy from other quarters. I grew up in a council house, it anything folks were jealous of those who coulf afford to buy larger properties.

AllIsWellish · 18/12/2023 21:38

There's all kinds of bitter going on in this thread

Comedycook · 18/12/2023 21:39

VeronicaSawyer89 · 18/12/2023 21:35

So because life has been shit for you everyone else must suffer too? Isn't this where the villains in superhero movies start?

Show quote history

Im saying the rhetoric around it is fucked up. You called me privileged...what's privileged about losing your home and you parent in one swoop. I bet if a social housing tenant was made to leave a property after a bereavement, even if given a new one, you'd be overflowing with sympathy and saying how awful it is.

Samcro · 18/12/2023 21:41

roarrfeckingroar · 18/12/2023 18:36

@JenniferBooth you're in housing subsidised by the state (net contributing taxpayers). Of course people are annoyed / jealous.

I love the thought that people might be jealous of me.
we live in SH. Have an old tenancy. So are very secure.
all we had to do to get it was to have a severely disabled child. Who uses a wheelchair and will need 24/7 care for their life.
easy
🤣

Holiday224 · 18/12/2023 21:42

VeronicaSawyer89 · 18/12/2023 21:35

So because life has been shit for you everyone else must suffer too? Isn't this where the villains in superhero movies start?

Show quote history

Gosh if we are going down the I had a hard life route my post would be endless. I would probably still be non deserving of SH.

AllIsWellish · 18/12/2023 21:47

I'm pretty sure I'd have had to go into a hostel for a while if it wasn't for having a child with a disability . Neither are particularly great options imo

Original poster
JenniferBooth · 18/12/2023 21:47

How old were you when this happened @Comedycook

OP posts:
gamerchick · 18/12/2023 21:48

roarrfeckingroar · 18/12/2023 18:36

@JenniferBooth you're in housing subsidised by the state (net contributing taxpayers). Of course people are annoyed / jealous.

Are you aware how thick it makes a person sound to come out with that stuff?

SH is not subsidised. People like to trott out that line but can't say how it is exactly.

Comedycook · 18/12/2023 21:50

JenniferBooth · 18/12/2023 21:47

How old were you when this happened @Comedycook

Early twenties.. like most people still living at home just finished uni and had started working

MrsSlocombesCat · 18/12/2023 21:51

OllyBJolly · 17/12/2023 17:15

I don't think people understand how social housing works (and doesn't).

I grew up in a council flat. All my friends did until we moved to a new town where there were some people in what we called "bought houses."

When I left school, the process was you signed on at the housing. If you waited long enough (and were happy to remain in the town), you were allocated a council flat. If you didn't, you saved for a deposit and bought somewhere. No need to be unemployed, destitute, low paid. There was no stigma. Wait a year or so and you got your first home.

In my view, this is how it should work. The biggest mistake was the "right to buy" which just depleted housing stock, leading to the booming exploitative private rental market. If your situation isn't desperate enough to be eligible for social housing, you're too often at the mercy of greedy landlords with substandard properties. That's where the jealousy comes from. At least, social housing is secure, upgraded at intervals (not as frequently as many think) and rent is generally less than private renting. We need a properly run social housing sector.

I think right to buy was a good thing. The estate my grandparents lived on was really rough but after people started buying their homes they took better care of them and the estate improved significantly. The mistake was not using the money from the sale of the homes to build more houses. I think this was deliberate because it was a Tory government and we all know they hate the poor. The irony is the people are renting ex council houses to tenants who are claiming UC or HB so the government is paying rent on houses they used to own, which doesn’t sound economically efficient.

Begsthequestion · 18/12/2023 21:52

Leah5678 · 17/12/2023 14:54

Honestly. We are jealous. As waiting lists get longer and private rent gets more expensive you can expect the jealousy towards the lucky ones who do get a council home to increase. Not saying it's right btw just explaining the cause of the hatred

If you being jealous is the "cause of the hatred" why are you not writing similarly hateful posts about people born rich, the royals, or those living in massive houses mortgage free even though they only work as hard or less hard than others?

Holiday224 · 18/12/2023 21:58

I think its OK to be jealous I really do I was jealous of people in SH before I got one. But that does not mean. I would have hatred towards them. I would not make them feel shit. I would feel happy for them . That don't mean I can't be jealous though

Original poster
JenniferBooth · 18/12/2023 22:12

@Holiday224 thats closer to envy rather than jealousy You can envy someone without it being malicious

OP posts:
VeronicaSawyer89 · 18/12/2023 22:55

Comedycook · 18/12/2023 21:33

But when social housing tenants die and their tenancy is passed on, apparently that is great, afteral it's their family home and there's an emotional connection to it and how could they possibly be expected to live anywhere else. Meanwhile someone can own their own property and their family is turfed out so the government can take a share and they are apparently incredibly privileged. How fucked up is that?

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Most social housing is owned by housing associations now, not councils. There is no right to pass on a home when the tenant dies with housing associations and that right has ended with new council tenancies. How was all that money for you when you inherited it?

VeronicaSawyer89 · 18/12/2023 22:58

Comedycook · 18/12/2023 21:39

Im saying the rhetoric around it is fucked up. You called me privileged...what's privileged about losing your home and you parent in one swoop. I bet if a social housing tenant was made to leave a property after a bereavement, even if given a new one, you'd be overflowing with sympathy and saying how awful it is.

Show quote history

I'd be overflowing with sympathy for you if you weren't so bitter towards people who have something you don't. Are you also this bitter towards rich people? You must have absolute venom for the royal family!

tiggergoesbounce · 18/12/2023 22:59

How fucked up is that?

Yes but its not wrong that the people living in SH keep their home, youre anger or resentment is aimed in the wrong place. Who makes you sell your parents house?? Maybe it needs to be aimed there.

The privilege is that you met had enough money that met the inheritenve threshold to then move on with, some people dont have any money to do that when they loose their parents. Its not a bad thing, just something to acknowledge.

VeronicaSawyer89 · 18/12/2023 22:59

@roarrfeckingroar SH isn't subsidised. I'd be interested to see the evidence you have on it being subsidised.

TheLocust · 18/12/2023 23:34

@Comedycook presumably you own a house now, if the estate was big enough to be liable for IHT. Are you really that jealous of someone who manages to hang onto a social housing tenancy after a relative dies that you'd swap places with them? Thought not.

I don't know what's going on in this country. People are so resentful of anybody having something they don't have. Any perceived advantage at all. It's a sad state of affairs.

UtterlyButterly2048 · 19/12/2023 01:15

@VeronicaSawyer89 If it isn’t subsidised, who pays for it to be built? It is absolutely NOT all built under s106, Homes England invests vast sums of money into building social housing. Where, exactly, do you think that money comes from?
Of course it is subsidised, as it should be. I have absolutely no resentment towards those in SH and I don’t know anyone who does. Both my parents grew up in social housing. I am fortunate enough to have never needed it but I am grateful that we have it for those that do (albeit not enough) I do not like the shitty comments on here towards the poster who lost her family home to inheritance tax though. That’s also shit for her. A bit of empathy towards others goes a long way, irrespective of financial circumstances.

Boomboom22 · 19/12/2023 01:34

So comedycook house / estate was worth quite a lot more than 1 million that is tax free inheritance from both parents. In order to have to sell a house to pay 40% of over 1mill. Or whatever the allowance was then. Not really comparable here!

LorlieS · 19/12/2023 01:34

I have you admit I do struggle when I come across people in SH who have no intentions of working to support their families. I am certainly not saying that this is true of everybody in SH, of course it's not, but there are some who are in this situation.
My husband and I work incredibly hard in full-time jobs and still can't afford to buy. We are 43 and 48 and have been privately renting now for almost a decade.
Our rent is very expensive and I'm terrified of losing the property every time it comes up for renewal as suitable private rentals nearby and very rare. There is also the very real fear of rent going up so much we can no longer afford to live here. I don't feel secure in the slightest.

Timewentfast · 19/12/2023 03:46

I think people harbour ill feeling because

a. we all know some of them (not all) are lazy spongers

b. Anybody that has to private rent is hacked off because of the difference in price (plus the social tenants have security and better upgrades)

c. lots of the houses are an eyesore - not necessarily the actual house itself but the outside. We have newbuild estates nearby and the social housing bit is an eyesore already(rubbish lying in front garden, bags of shit, unkempt gardens etc) and the houses only got built in last couple of years. So they are pulling the area down for everyone else. The builder has put these houses on the front of the estate nearest the busy road so we all have to look at them as we walk our dogs/drive by. The rest of the area is nice and well kept so that pisses me off.

I think it feels like salt in the wound so to speak (ie they get cheaper and secure housing in a newbuild nice area and can't even be arsed to look after it. Just makes it seem like they don't appreciate their good fortune.

ALittleTeawithmilk · 19/12/2023 04:40

When times get tougher people become less tolerant. Unfortunately that’s been the case as long as I can remember and I’m now quite old.

But while we are fighting amongst ourselves the rich get richer. Wealth is being more and more concentrated into the hands of a very few.

Holiday224 · 19/12/2023 07:00

UtterlyButterly2048 · 19/12/2023 01:15

@VeronicaSawyer89 If it isn’t subsidised, who pays for it to be built? It is absolutely NOT all built under s106, Homes England invests vast sums of money into building social housing. Where, exactly, do you think that money comes from?
Of course it is subsidised, as it should be. I have absolutely no resentment towards those in SH and I don’t know anyone who does. Both my parents grew up in social housing. I am fortunate enough to have never needed it but I am grateful that we have it for those that do (albeit not enough) I do not like the shitty comments on here towards the poster who lost her family home to inheritance tax though. That’s also shit for her. A bit of empathy towards others goes a long way, irrespective of financial circumstances.

I think the older stock of housing has probably been paid for a long time a go. The houses round here were build in the 30s/40s
But of course there are new builds to which Likely have not been paid for yet. I'm not sure how it works to be honest . People are told the rent price and pay it.

I get about the other poster who lost her family. But she's very angry and bitter towards the wrong people . Yes she's been through a hard time. But so have many others I have been through hell. But im not having a go at anyone in SH.