Should a council house be a home for life?

[Harveysmum369]

I don't believe it should..it's social housing for those who are in need.

I do also agree with only having as many rooms as you need.It's no different to private renting and the landlord wanting to sell up..you are still renting.

Also I don't believe people should be allowed to buy their council house,for the same reason as above-it's for people in need.xx

 

[Kess]

I agree with you. My DH works for a social landlord, and there are managers there earning more than twice what he does who have social housing. It's ridiculous. At the same time, homeless people are sleeping on friends' couches (if they're lucky) or in some dive of a B&B (which the govt is paying extortionate rates for) desperate for a house. It's like if a particular benefit was paid to you for life if you once had need of it, even after you started doing really well for yourself. People would agree that would be daft, yet it's the same thing with social housing.

I can see why people should maybe be allowed to buy their council house, but I'd charge market rate plus 2% or something. That 2% would go towards funding more houses.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

No I don't think Council Houses should be for life, they should be there for people who need them and are unable or struggle to pay local rent prices. I don't see why 2 people in good earning jobs should be able to keep their Council place indefeintly while others are struggling and yet have years to wait for a place and I do know of a few in them kinds of situations.

I also agree that you should only be allowed to have as many rooms as you need, again I know a few older people like 60+ who still have a 3 bedroom place yet they are the only ones living there, some with their partners. Surely it would make more sense to have them in a 1 bed once one is available (alot more here then there are 3 beds) thus freeing the 3 bed for a family that needs it?

I don't belive that people should be able to buy their propertys in the same way that you wouldn't buy the property you was renting of your landlord, at least in most cases anyway. It was allowing people to buy propertys that has left such a shortage now.

I think that Kess made a good point that it would be the same as having a benefit for life even though circumstances change, I don't really see how Council Houses should differ.

 

[special_kala]

I don't believe it should..it's social housing for those who are in need.

I do also agree with only having as many rooms as you need.It's no different to private renting and the landlord wanting to sell up..you are still renting.

Also I don't believe people should be allowed to buy their council house,for the same reason as above-it's for people in need.xx

Agree with you completely.

 

[smelly07]

I dont agree entirely with that, Myself and my husband both work hard, both work TWO jobs... we dont claim benefits and we have no help from family, dont have a mummy and daddy to fling us money every month or when we ask for it HOWEVER
We are only able to get on to the property ladder by buying our house off the council, we cant afford to save a 10% deposit (you dont need a deposit at all when buying from the council) and can only get a mortgage to cover the cost of a crappy caravan let alone a house... believe me we have tried, even so it is still extreamly hard to get a mortgage via the council anyway and in my town we were told we were the first people to apply in a long time, if we didnt buy off the council we would still be living as council tenants as there is just no other way we would get on the property ladder at all.....the council has made a profit the money will go towards buliding new council houses PLUS they save money on all the FREE matainence/fixtures/fittings they have to do for us as council tenants which we no longer get as property owners.

I agree that council/social housing is for those in need, but most people i know who could buy wont as they get cheaper rent and free maintence, if there boiler goes it gets fixed free, plumbing problems fixed free, new fitted kitchens, fencing, doors all fixed free etc etc people think we are mad for buying and most people i know wont even when they can.
so i dont see the problem with getting on the property ladder the only way we can..... especially when the money made is going towards more new housing which they cant do unless that start selling their council homes to tenants.... and like i said it also saves the council a fortune maintaining our property as well so that money can go towards new housing x

 

[mum22ttc#3]

See I actually would agree with being able to buy Council Propertys if the money made did go to another build but in the most cases it doesn't. There used to be so many more propertys before they started selling them off.

I do think that Cameron is trying to bring in something though where they replace each house they sell? That seems to me a better idea as then it is allowing people to get on the property ladder without leaving a shortage for those that really do need them. Its how it is at the moment that I don't agree with.

 

[smelly07]

We were told in our meeting with the management in the right to buy department, that there is no money for new housing and that all money made selling houses to tenants is in fact going towards new builds, they are trying extreamly hard to make it easier for people to buy so they can have more funds to build new housing for those that need it but people are still not buying x

 

[Yammas]

I agree with the points made so far if they can afford to move then they should either pat private rent or stay where they are on the condition that they are saving for a deposit to buy a house and they should only have the rooms they need.

As for buying a council house it should be done on the pretence that another one is built or rstored so that there are always homes available. this also prevents areas forming where almost everyone is out of work as there are always people moving in and out of the area. Although I cant help but feel that this could potentially prevent people trying to better in life as they may be afraid of being forced to give up their council house.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

We were told in our meeting with the management in the right to buy department, that there is no money for new housing and that all money made selling houses to tenants is in fact going towards new builds, they are trying extreamly hard to make it easier for people to buy so they can have more funds to build new housing for those that need it but people are still not buying x

Perhaps it is an area thing. I know a few people here that have brought Council Houses recently (within the last couple of years) yet we haven't had any new builds that I can even remember. We are in a smallish area too though so that could be another reason why as with all new builds you would need land.

 

[smokey]

Depends what sort of area you live in, our area HA is the norm because every thing is so expensive here.
At least 80% of the houses in this area are now HA because it was getting out of hand and private renting for a 2 bed place was around £1500 a month so they steped in and bought up as many places as they could to stop the market crashing for renting in this area.
So because HA is now the norm then home for life is now the norm here.
Part of our contract actualy has a heading of home for life which states as long as we keep up payments and dont do anything anti social they cant ask us to leave a property.
They did do a scheme for right to buy but they found that the more properties that got sold they more it kept going back to expensive private rent again so they did away with the scheme.
This HA is rather differant from alot of council housing though as the rent isnt subsadised by anyone its just cheaper rent, they charge less then the surrounding private rents so its like renting from a mass company

When its in a area where private renting is alot more reasonable then it should be reflected on the HA

 

[Laura2919]

It should be for as long as you need it. If you meet the criteria.

It's when it is abused it annoys me. Like people who drive flashy expensive cars, earn lots of money and can afford to rent privately with spare change at the end of the month!

There should be some rules in place for housing.

 

[Harveysmum369]

Yeah that's what I mean Laura,If you need it fair enough..but people like Heather from Eastenders..she still lived in her council flat when she was earning all that money..that's not on.xx

 

[Laura2919]

I know a couple who can easily afford to rent privately, they both drive BMW's and their home is kitted out with absolutely everything they could want and need, their kids have everything they want and they go on holiday three times a year. It's not fair that I know people struggling to find somewhere to live and they have the choice on where to live.

 

[Harveysmum369]

they should review everyone every 2 years or so,and if you have the available funds to move to private renting,then you should-that's not on

 

[Laura2919]

It's a thin line. There should be a maximum amount on what you earn if you live in a council house.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

they should review everyone every 2 years or so,and if you have the available funds to move to private renting,then you should-that's not on

I think they should review it every few years too because I know in this area even when we went on the council list they never asked for an income amount which then means we could start earning what we wanted but still be entilted The only thing that was asked was if we had any savings, I think it was anything above 6,000 and you wasn't entilted.

Its O.k saying that in some areas that it should be for life but some peoples circumstances change and when once they may have struggled with only 500 it doesn't mean that after a few years they wouldn't be able to afford the 1,500, in these cases it shouldn't mean life no matter what area you live.

Personally I think it should be for when its needed and maybe should become more means tested like any other benefit.

 

[smelly07]

Our council want 6 months worth of statements from any bank accounts you have and 6 months worth of pay slips before excepting you on the council register, and they do random reviews/spot checks.
Any change of circumstance must be told.
Also if you want to go on the register to bid for bigger/better properties they ask for all the above every year, as you need to apply to bid yearly AND when you buy from the council they ask for the above again!!! x

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Our council want 6 months worth of statements from any bank accounts you have and 6 months worth of pay slips before excepting you on the council register, and they do random reviews/spot checks.
Any change of circumstance must be told.
Also if you want to go on the register to bid for bigger/better properties they ask for all the above every year, as you need to apply to bid yearly AND when you buy from the council they ask for the above again!!! x

Wow that shows how it differs so much between each area. Here you only ever have to produce wage slips when applying for benefits. We have joined the list twice and neither time have even had to tell them how much OH earns.
Were still on a points system though whereas I know most areas are on a band system so I'm not sure if that makes a difference as here anyone is allowed to join the list, obviously not everyone will get a place though, it just depends on your needs overall and how many points you are awarded.

 

[smelly07]

and i just assume its the same everywhere else LOL.....i am amazed by that!!!!
its a pain to keep doing the whole statements/wage slips and re-applying but at least i guess they know who is being honest and our banding system has been going awhile now BUT the banding system has recently changed again making it even harder.

All the stories i hear if true , it does seem our council are cracking down hard but i must admit in my town there is a lot of 'have a baby get a house' mentality

My neighbour (who actually works for the council in some department) has 3 children, 2 boys and a girl who is now nearly 3 and is in a two bed property has been told by the council that she isnt priority for a 3 bedroom house as she choose to have more children when housed in a two bedroom property therefore has made her own circumstance worse and is only in band C on the bidding list, people use to get bigger properties instantly if they had more children, not anymore. x

 

[mum22ttc#3]

We do get bigger propertys here for the more kids but only if you are just going on to the list and not already in a Council place. If you are already in a property that is to small it is very difficult to get rehoused into a bigger place if that makes sense.

The 'have a baby get a house' mentality also happens here and unfortuantly seems to work for the most part. When we joined the list a few years back after losing our place due to it being sold we was also told by the council that we would have got further if we had not been working even though the average rent is too high for what we earn.