Britons ‘to be priority on council house lists’

Allsorts

Do think people who serve in our forces should be looked after better, surely they deserve a home.
Social housing should not be sold, if the tenants want to buy, find another property to buy.
People born and working here should have priority.

They are prioritised.
www.gov.uk/government/news/social-housing-to-be-prioritised-for-veterans

Do think people who serve in our forces should be looked after better, surely they deserve a home.
Social housing should not be sold, if the tenants want to buy, find another property to buy.
People born and working here should have priority.

Whether it is workable or not depends a little on what you expect this plan to do.

Anyone, in any country, who is on a waiting list for accomodation and who is a citizen of the particular country, is very likely to feel ill-done-to if newly arrived immigrants or refugees are given priority over them.

In the same way, people who have chosen not to have children, or been unable to have the family they wanted may feel unfairly treated if couples with children go to the top of the list - which is the usual practice I believe in any country.

Whether they are morally or ethically entitled to feel that immigrants, refugees and parents with dependent children should not be entitled to special considereration depends entirely on each individual's sense of right and wrong, and I certainly have no desire to try to influence anybody's views.

If by workable, OP you meant will it discourage migrants?

No, I don't believe it will, because as far as I can see most migrants have no realistic views of the countries they are seeking entry to and no amount of telling them that we have housing shortages, high prices for basic commodities and unemployment will make any impression upon them, as all these things are far lesser evils than whatever they are fleeing from.

Exactly on what level would that be precisely.

Are you claiming that all forces families are the same? That would be racist on so many levels.

Totally agree ....but doubtless even if councils built more housing there would be NIMBY's objecting .... There should be a way to stop illegal immigration ......and illegals should NOT be given priority over British nationals ....can you imagine what would happen to Brits if we decided to land on someone else's shores illegally .........would we be given : healthcare (before the nationals !) housing (likewise) money, free education, more than the nationals of that country ? what do you think !!! as for social housing being sold ...dont start me off ! My ex husband (and his new family ) having been a compulsive gambler all his life, and renting from the Council, who turned a two bed into a four bed by knocking into the house next door, on a village green in Suffolk......bought the house from the council when his next wife inherited money from her father ....bought the house for £58,000......now worth over £500,000 ...how can that be right !!! for a time they were homeless and living in a hostel .......why should the Council ever have allowed him to buy it ! I did consider buying a house to rent out ...but Landlord's have NO rights ...and if you have a difficult tenant there is little you can do ...have to pay for all kinds of energy tests, have a gas certificate, Landlord insurance, and all the expenses of having to evict a tenant if necessary ! so I decided against it sadly .............no idea what a quick solution would be ...houses or flats take an age to build (BUT where I live there is now a huge commercial estate of office buildngs, hotels, etc EMPTY following COVID ...could easily be turned into living accommodation ...the two big hotels have en suites, a large communal room, resturants, AND Brits would not be complaining about the FOOD not being to their liking ! grrr

There are very few one bedroom flats. It’s one of the reasons the bedroom tax was wicked. Many separated fathers were allocated 2 bed flats. It meant they could have staying visits from children.
In came the bedroom tax so these men’s rent went up. Wages and benefits didn’t. In the areas I worked, there simply weren’t one bed flats

Still standing, what a cold, critical, cynical view of people you’re expressing here

Do people really want to force people like me to sell our property?
Has anyone said anything of the kind? Unless I've missed something, in which case I apologise, people are talking about the folly of letting council tenants buy, not saying that anyone should be 'forced to sell'.

AGAA4

The two bedroom flat next door to me has been rented for £1000 per month. Renting is not cheap now.

My daughter is renting a two bedroom flat for her and her children in St Albans. The rent is £1400 a month!

GrannyGravy13

Stillstanding your posts come across as very bitter.

There are plenty of good landlords, they are not all bad.

If all the private landlords were to disappear do you think that would really help the housing situation.

Thanks for this GrannyGravy.
I'm a landlord, we bought a very small flat as a second property when we retired and downsized, thinking one of could use it when we are very old. We haven't put the rent up since we started letting it in 2012 and all our tenants have been happy.
Our current tenant is an elderly widowed man who doesn't want the bother of owning a property, though I think he and his wife used to own one. The property is well-maintained and we use a responsible letting agent who looks after our tenants well.
Do people really want to force people like me to sell our property?

There should be more social housing.Yes I was one that bought mine, otherwise I would never have been a home owner
That money should have been allowed to be used to build more social/council housing, ethelwasherel.

Social housing here seems to be built in and amongst new private estates. That, however, means that not so much is being provided.

Callistemon21

Casdon

paddyann54

a 3 bed private rental here is still around £550, there really aren't many aggreived young families.There will be the odd one on FB complaining about WHO gets the newbuilds but thats human nature Theres always somebody who wont be happy
There are 3 one bed flats on rightmove for under 60K 2 bedroom flats at @70K so housing is ,in the main,still affordable for young folk in this area ,my 20 year old GS has just agreed a mortgage and has a flat in mind

It depends where you live though, I don’t think what you describe is typical. I just checked online, there’s actually only one property advertised for private rent reasonably close to me and it’s £825pcm. You wouldn’t find anywhere here to buy under £150k, in the worst part of a town - and I live in rural Wales, which is not an expensive part of the country. What we are finding is that lots of people want to move here for the lifestyle, particularly since lockdown, and the demand for the local rental market is phenomenal. The council are still building homes, but the waiting lists are long, so people private rent whilst they wait for council housing to become available.

A one-bedroom flat here which is the cheapest on the market at the moment is on the market for 'offers over £170,000'. The cheapest house (2 bedrooms but very small) is £225,000.

Rents are very high too, £825 pcm for a flat, £1,500 pcm for a 3 bedroomed house but very few available.

I'm sure people in London, the South-East and bigger cities would find that cheap, that's why they are relocating.

In our commuter belt village flat rentals start over £900 per month for a one bed flat.

New build two bed flats start from £350,000, you might be lucky and get a doer upper for between £275,00-£300,000.

The two bedroom flat next door to me has been rented for £1000 per month. Renting is not cheap now.

Casdon

paddyann54

a 3 bed private rental here is still around £550, there really aren't many aggreived young families.There will be the odd one on FB complaining about WHO gets the newbuilds but thats human nature Theres always somebody who wont be happy
There are 3 one bed flats on rightmove for under 60K 2 bedroom flats at @70K so housing is ,in the main,still affordable for young folk in this area ,my 20 year old GS has just agreed a mortgage and has a flat in mind

It depends where you live though, I don’t think what you describe is typical. I just checked online, there’s actually only one property advertised for private rent reasonably close to me and it’s £825pcm. You wouldn’t find anywhere here to buy under £150k, in the worst part of a town - and I live in rural Wales, which is not an expensive part of the country. What we are finding is that lots of people want to move here for the lifestyle, particularly since lockdown, and the demand for the local rental market is phenomenal. The council are still building homes, but the waiting lists are long, so people private rent whilst they wait for council housing to become available.

A one-bedroom flat here which is the cheapest on the market at the moment is on the market for 'offers over £170,000'. The cheapest house (2 bedrooms but very small) is £225,000.

Rents are very high too, £825 pcm for a flat, £1,500 pcm for a 3 bedroomed house but very few available.

I'm sure people in London, the South-East and bigger cities would find that cheap, that's why they are relocating.

Council tenants don't have life long security any more. I think it's every 5 years they have to resign for their tenancy. If they haven't kept to their Tenancy Agreement they risk eviction. In general there aren't enough houses or even flats for people who can't afford to buy. A lot of Housing associations stock are poorly maintained. Where I live at the moment quite a lot of new HA and some Council flats have been built. Some of these are still being bought under the Right to Buy.

Stillstanding I find your posts racist on many levels.

Oh and we are a Forces Family

There should be more social housing.Yes I was one that bought mine, otherwise I would never have been a home owner.
Back in 1931 when my granny moved into her council house it was a thing of pride, gardens were kept neat, windows cleaned etc. Nowadays it’s just the opposite, the estates are run down, gardens full of rubbish, I really don’t think it matters if the tenant is of any particular nationality. Would prioritising British people not be seen as racist.
I have no problems with whoever is my neighbour, I try not to bother anyone but I think the councils need to keep a close eye on whoever they give the houses to. They should have references from prospective tenants and keep a strict eye on anti social behaviour . Also, the most well cared for homes are the ones privately owned. Does that not speak for itself

If all people who rent privately went on a rent strike many landlords would have to sell and the market would crash. That is dreamland for me. What a laugh!! The courts could not cope. with all the evictions. Young families could afford houses. There are enough houses for everyone already without pouring concrete onto the earth for more and more "estates". All the problems are known about. Blame anyone and everyone except greedy people and their "portfolios".

Yes I am bitter. Thats because after all those moves as a service mans wife we were not allowed a mortgage because. they said, we were not reliable mortgage payers. The truth was that in 1969 and 1970 servicemen were refusing to reengage because they did not sign up to be armed police in N.I. No one cared. No one listened. It took us 4 years to get a permanent home only for attitudes to change yet again and now council tenants are expected to move according to the L.A needs. And if council tenants ever point the finger to a house across the road or down the way and say that is an illegal let to immigrants we got called racist. I worked voluntarily on my estate regarding housing problems and I was always amazed at what people got up to. The biggest laugh was that at the same time I worked for the DSS! I never reported anyone because I would have been called a racist and could have been evicted with my children. The illegal immigrant tenants were always rehoused when they were finally found out; not so for locals, white or non-white.

sundowngirl

Witzend

On a similar theme, Calendargirl, there was a trade union leader - can’t remember his name, he died some years ago - who was earning £150k a year, but was still occupying a council house ‘on principle’.

I think the trade union leader you are thinking of is Bob Crowe who lived in a council house just because he could, despite earning in excess of £100k. He died in 2014

Why shouldn't he though?

If council estates are not to become ghettos of poverty, shouldn't their tenants' earnings be irrelevant?

paddyann54

a 3 bed private rental here is still around £550, there really aren't many aggreived young families.There will be the odd one on FB complaining about WHO gets the newbuilds but thats human nature Theres always somebody who wont be happy
There are 3 one bed flats on rightmove for under 60K 2 bedroom flats at @70K so housing is ,in the main,still affordable for young folk in this area ,my 20 year old GS has just agreed a mortgage and has a flat in mind

It depends where you live though, I don’t think what you describe is typical. I just checked online, there’s actually only one property advertised for private rent reasonably close to me and it’s £825pcm. You wouldn’t find anywhere here to buy under £150k, in the worst part of a town - and I live in rural Wales, which is not an expensive part of the country. What we are finding is that lots of people want to move here for the lifestyle, particularly since lockdown, and the demand for the local rental market is phenomenal. The council are still building homes, but the waiting lists are long, so people private rent whilst they wait for council housing to become available.

a 3 bed private rental here is still around £550, there really aren't many aggreived young families.There will be the odd one on FB complaining about WHO gets the newbuilds but thats human nature Theres always somebody who wont be happy
There are 3 one bed flats on rightmove for under 60K 2 bedroom flats at @70K so housing is ,in the main,still affordable for young folk in this area ,my 20 year old GS has just agreed a mortgage and has a flat in mind

Witzend

On a similar theme, Calendargirl, there was a trade union leader - can’t remember his name, he died some years ago - who was earning £150k a year, but was still occupying a council house ‘on principle’.

I think the trade union leader you are thinking of is Bob Crowe who lived in a council house just because he could, despite earning in excess of £100k. He died in 2014

Other than being a refugee I doubt if there are many countries that offer social housing to anyone moving to a country. Moving to Canada I had to find my own accommodation and when returning, again had to find somewhere to live myself.

paddyann54

stillstanding I dont know if its the case south of the border but once you have a council house you are able to stay in it for life.When we got married in 1975 we were allocated a brand new 3 bed semi with its own garage/lockup across the street ,we moved out after 8 years to a flat near to our business and the school we wanted our daughter to attend.
Many of the people who moved in at the same time as we did as young marrieds are still in those houses and as far as I'm concerned there,s no reason why they shouldn't be ..its their HOME .Council houses are not subsidised ...they should be economicaly viable just not at the inflated rents we see in some private lets . They are also used as collateral for financing council projects...or should be

I agree with you in principle paddyann54, but I can understand why young families with children feel aggrieved if they are paying out over £1000 a month for a private rental whilst a single pensioner is paying £500 for a council house with three bedrooms which they don’t fully utilise.
The shame is that there don’t seem to be good quality homes for single people with a garden, particularly in rural areas and it must be heartbreaking for older people to have no option but to leave their home, their village and their garden to live in a soulless one bedroom flat in the nearest town.

Mrs Nemo if tenants want to buy their council home then it shoukd be at tge full value, none of the discount, up to 40%, that was implemented in the 80s right to buy. However , how long would it take and where would another council house be built using the funds from the sale.

Stillstanding your posts come across as very bitter.

There are plenty of good landlords, they are not all bad.

If all the private landlords were to disappear do you think that would really help the housing situation.