Wage ceiling.

No idea, tricky as it depends on the cost of living in the area the council property is in to a great extent doesn't it?

We did have a discussion on here about whether the Union Leader Bob Crow (before his death in 2014) should be allowed to carry on living in his council house while earning a salary of around £145,000 p.a.

There were some who felt it was depriving a family with a lower income of a council house, and others who maintained that it was his family home and he shouldn't be forced to leave it.

It's a vexed question, which doesn't seem to have been addressed by councils for a long time. I suppose they'd have to set a figure appropriate for the local area, but there again if someone was told they had to vacate the property wouldn't they be likely to just exercise their Right to Buy?

Is the system still in place where council tenants are given money to vacate the property and go into private.
This happened to my sister. She was able to pay a mortgage but didn't have the deposit. This enabled her to buy her own property.

I have never heard of that. I can't decide if it is a wise use of council tax or not.

annsixty. I can only assume that Southend council were desperate for council property.

The government wants all council tenants earning more than £30,000 (£40,000 in London) to pay the local market rent for their property, although they would prefer them to move into the private rented sector.

In my neck of the woods (south Oxfordshire) the rent for a 3 bedroomed family home starts around £1,000 a month, plus another £600-700 a month in council tax. A family will need to pay a minimum of £1,500 a month from a gross take home pay of £2,500 a month, probably £2,000 after tax and NI, just for their housing. That leaves approx £500 for fuel, food, clothes, travel etc etc etc.

I can see good reason to have some upper limit, but £30,000 is far too low.

Monica are you really saying that the average amount of Council Tax payable is around £8,000 a year?

That doesn't sound right...

(in South Oxfordshire)

Sorry, I did get that wrong, it should be £200 a month. But it is still a lot of money and a family with a household income of £30,000 in this part of the UK is still going to be struggling if they have to pay a market rent. Half their income will be going on housing costs alone.

Yes, I agree that £30,000 is too low, especially as rents in some areas are so high. The limit needs to be sensible.

I also think £30,00/£40,000 is far too low.