Council house for life?

[Mummy Bean]

agree deff for only for a period of time with the exception of the elderly and disabiled - as they cant be expected to go find mortgages/private rent.

i live in surrey/outskirts of london, and it the families where the (able) adults dont work but yet to refuse to move out of town that get me.

if i cant afford to live there then i am forced to move else where to where it cheaper so why shouldnt they? I spose the only problem with that argument is then you end up with huge council estates with high crime rates, poverty and other issues which is obviously what they trying to avoid happening again.

the main problem at the moment is the shear housing shortage - in my borough they built over 6000 flats/house in the past few years so we seen a massive infulx of council tenants - but no new amenities like schools/hospitals/transport - so what we have is under such strain it failing.

sorry completly off on a tangent ...but some thing deff needs to be done to ease the housing crisis and make private more affordable to let the council housing be for people who are truley in need.

but hey banks have started offering 95%mortgages again and house prices are rising...so maybe will will have boom/bust repeat of the past 10 years!

 

[nugget80]

I live in a council house and have been a tenant for 15 yrs. I moved to my house 11 yrs ago now. I have been with dh 3 1/2 yrs now and he earns good money. We would struggle to rent private where we are and currently can't get mortgage. I am currently a sahm but due to disability can only manage part time work. Therefore i am glad that i have this house for life, though we plan to buy when dh can get a mortgage... I know alot of people will disagree with this but if i pay my rent why should i not keep my house even if circumstances change? If we lived on benefits the hb would pay rent and we could live somewhere nicer...

 

[Pearls18]

I live in a council house and have been a tenant for 15 yrs. I moved to my house 11 yrs ago now. I have been with dh 3 1/2 yrs now and he earns good money. We would struggle to rent private where we are and currently can't get mortgage. I am currently a sahm but due to disability can only manage part time work. Therefore i am glad that i have this house for life, though we plan to buy when dh can get a mortgage... I know alot of people will disagree with this but if i pay my rent why should i not keep my house even if circumstances change? If we lived on benefits the hb would pay rent and we could live somewhere nicer...

The thing that I find unfair about it is that you now have a DH with good wages so you are in a really strong position to save for a house because you have cheaper rent than most in your area, whereas most families that presumbly have your income and won't have access to a council home will struggle to save for a mortgage and pay private rent. So you are benefitting from having a cheap home you were given when your income was much lower, there are families on the waiting list that genuinely need your house whereas you don't need it as you did before, you wouldn't be in the highest priority band anymore. To make it fairer I think rent should be increased closer to private rates so families are encouraged to move out or so councils have more money to build new homes (ha right). I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong at all, it's the system, but I think nowadays the system is unfair, but I understand your predicament because rents are so high, who would leave a council house to spend double on rent?

I think the answer to the bit in bold is because your rent is so much cheaper, this is why it's unfair.

I'm not bitter at all I am grateful to not live in social housing and am in a jammy siutation myself living in military housing which means cheap rent (cheaper than council) but a good double income, but I can see how it's unfair to everyone else.

 

[nugget80]

I can also see how it is unfair and i know i am extremely lucky...! I also know with house prices here that the only way we can afford to buy is if we buy this house which we plan to do. Health issues mean i am unable to work fulltime so we rely on dh money and as a teacher it is a reasonable wage but not enough to buy round here on open market...

 

[Foogirl]

I can also see how it is unfair and i know i am extremely lucky...! I also know with house prices here that the only way we can afford to buy is if we buy this house which we plan to do. Health issues mean i am unable to work fulltime so we rely on dh money and as a teacher it is a reasonable wage but not enough to buy round here on open market...

This would be where I might relax my rules slightly. If your OH is a local teacher working in his locality I.e can pretty much walk to work then I think allowing subsidised housing is a good idea, Same for nurses, police etc. But if a teacher is living in a council house but commuting an hour to work then for me, it's still a no. The bottom line is a lot of people on a good wage who aren't in council accommodation can't afford to live where you do so why should it be that you get to live in those areas subsidised?