Hatred towards social housing tenants on here getting worse.

[JenniferBooth]

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.

Obsession? One post agreeing with/expanding on something another poster said and you've decided I'm obsessed?

And how have you concluded I have an inferiority complex? You know nothing about me. You don't know what my housing situation is.

@Maverickess personally i think that (God forbid) if there is ever another lockdown the people doing these jobs should lock down too. Its the only way the hard of thinking are going to learn

@gamerchick I am obviously not assuming everyone in SH receives housing benefit since I actually wrote that a proportion of people do? And whilst yes, houses built in the 60s will have been paid off (it normally takes around 30 years) there was still a cost to build them and a further cost in terms of maintenance and refurbishment etc. Remember the Decent Homes Programme in the 90s and early 2000s? That was hundreds of millions of pounds and rents didn’t cover that upfront, public borrowing did. And there will soon be a further massive programme to make older social housing stock more energy efficient. And yes, social housing is still being built now, as it should be and it is funded by public money, via Homes England. That is simply a fact.

@Maverickess

But people in low paid work will often also be in benefits? I didn't say anything about people moving out just because they have a job, it's about means testing.

I agree that people in low paid jobs will sometimes need social housing.

A problem neighbour will be a problem neighbour regardless of whether they are on a 5 year tenancy or a lifetime tenancy. I don't know what your rambling about.

@MidnightMeltdown oh i think you do

@TheLocust

It was a question, not a conclusion. It seems very weird to imply that private renters want to look down on social housing tenants.

The system is clearly unfair and not fit for purpose, and that is the real issue.

I said some people look down on SH tenants, which is fairly evident from various threads including this one.

I haven't read the whole thread, sorry. But I think that council tenants should have, say, five yearly reviews of affordability. Tenancies should not be for life, nor be bequeathed, and if you pass a certain salary you should be given notice to quit. I'm not talking about low earners, or those in receipt of other benefits, but people who are clearly well above a "need" threshold. Peoples circumstances do improve, and they should make way for those more in need.

No, I really don't. Care to explain how handing a lifetime tenancy to a problem neighbour turns them into a model tenant?

Ah the obfuscation tactic. If you only have short term tenancies a. do you really think ppl will spend money on decorating a place knowing they will be asked to leave. b. it fractures communities. You cant build a community with neighbours in and out like fiddlers elbows.

c. short term tenancies for those with problems IS turning housing estates into hostels. People with problems like my downstairs neighbour should be in proper supported housing. Im tired of fucking gaslighters saying SH should only be for those who are desperate and then moaning they have turned into ghettos or no go areas.

So you see im not saying my downstairs neighbour should have a tenancy here He should have one in SUPPORTED housing. That didnt occur to you though did it

As far as I can see, it's not the tenants people don't like, it's the system that allows very well off people to live in LA housing and pay very cheap rents.

On my road is an elderly woman who lives in a four bed, two bathroom council house with garden... obviously lived there when she had young DC. I also have a friend round the corner in sh which is overcrowded...three kids in a tiny two bed flat with no garden. I'm not necessarily placing blame on the tenant but this kind of system is so flawed and illogical and unfair. One elderly woman does not need such a big home and the children crammed into a flat with no garden would benefit immensely from living in a house with a garden.

I don't think SH need any sympathy, they are the ones getting cheap subsidised rents and laughing all the way to the bank. Mean while us homeowners and those renting privately are being shafted by high house prices.

@Comedycook i can understand that Is your friend a single parent Where is the father

Yes, but you'll get the it's her family home argument as if living there = ownership.

@Winterday1991 i dont think the Grenfell survivors have been doing much laughing since 2017 Ditto some of those who rent off Lambeth Council

I don't see what that's got to do with it at all.

Thats because you know that im going to ask why SH tenants owe them more than the childrens OWN FATHER does.

Exactly...and I don't buy that argument at all. Elderly people who own their own property downsize all the time or even sell up to pay care home fees. We have such a housing crisis I don't think we can allow people the luxury of staying in their family home forever.

@Comedycook that's what I did. When two of my sons moved out I downsized my four bed two bath house for a two bed house. I think it's the right thing to do. There aren't many four bed houses in my area. I had help when I needed it and now someone else is benefiting.

Well both her and her DH work but not in highly paid jobs...wha an odd attitude you have

In the area I live in a 3 bed house on the private rented market is about £2750 a month minimum rent. You'd have to be on about £100k minimum to be able to afford that as well as other bills etc.

I'm not passing judgement on her situation specifically. I'm saying the system that allows a single elderly person to remain in a four bed house forever is utterly ridiculous.

Oh i assumed she was a single parent because of the way you answered my question

Hating people or looking down on them is never ok but I'd say its a bit disingenuous to not understand why some people might feel the system is unfair.
Previous generations had cheaper house prices relative to wages and social housing at affordable rent was available to a far wider section of society without meeting any "qualifying criteria". The current generation have neither of those opportunities.
Someone struggling to afford their rent or living in temporary accomodation and on a years long waiting list might feel aggrieved when they see people with secure, lifetime tenancies and (often substantially) below market rent for decades and they were allocated the house in the same circumstances that the person is in now

Is the person living in the SH house doing anything wrong? No, they are perfectly entitled to live there the length of their tenancy agreement. Does it seem fair that someone with the same set of circumstances ...but 30 years later...would no longer have a hope of getting SH? Also no.
Not the tenants fault, the fault is not replacing properties that were lost to RTB but it won't stop people making comparisons.