Should kids live in tower blocks?

There’s a lack of suitable properties for older people to downsize to. Most 2-bedroom new builds, round here anyway, seem to be starter homes - tiny rooms, steep stairs, thin walls.

In our increasingly polarised society I think that home ownership is considered a mark of status, and those who choose or cannot afford to buy are treated as social inferiors. Personally I would rather live in a society where renting was the norm and there was more protection for tenants. The Government could improve the housing situation by building many more houses to rent with secure well managed tenancies, but there is no political will to do so. Our economy is dependant on home ownership with house prices increasing year on year, in turn fueling spending.

Sorry for my point of view. It is coloured by my upbringing.

My Mother raised me on her own and she taught me and my brother never to rely on the state for our housing. Consequently, I have no clue how to get a council house except that it requires you to "stay put" to get on a list.

We moved all around the UK (wherever work was to be found) as she secured jobs with tied accommodation and my brother and I paid her for food and lodging from what we earned all the way until we got married.

Never did we rely on the state for our housing. Such determination meant we had to study, work (some jobs came with housing) and save to buy homes for our families.

She is dead now but Mum was our hero because she taught us to be self-sufficient.

She had enough money to buy a two-bedroomed bungalow for cash when she happily retired from being a warden in an old folks' home.

I do not see flats as ideal accommodation for families.

Many children are happily brought up in flats in other countries - New Yorkers for example - and I think the issue is more one of financial means. If a child lives in a large, well-maintained flat, and the parents make a point of taking them out and about, and can afford to do so, then I guess it is not so bad.

The problem lies with cramped poor quality unmaintained flats (council or private) in run-down areas where opportunities to safely be out and about are limited.

Grampie we all live by rules we grew up with ,but it shouldn't mean you can only see one side of the story.There is or shouldn't be any shame attached to renting either private or local authority housing.Anyone who somehow feels superior because they bought needs a reality check .As I said already it has never been seen as "lower class" in Scotland where huge numbers lived in council schemes after the slum clearances .I've never understood why people are looked down on for renting .

I was brought up in a council flat and had a very happy childhood. There were three of us in one bedroom with mum and dad in the other. We had a small kitchen, living room and small bathroom. We all lived there until we got married or moved out. The flat was in South London and my mum was very proud of it.

That is a great idea, cath66, 5 year lease. Circumstances change , there are people on high incomes now that are still occupying a CH when they do not need to or worse sub letting.

Councils don't always make best use of what housing is available. Back in the 90s my parents were paid a sum of money to move out by the London borough where their 3 bedroom council house was. They then moved near to us in Cambs and my Dad became a first time buyer with a mortgage at the age of 83. But the council didn't put any of the applicants with 3 children in a two bedroom flat in the house but a young couple who had the wife's teenage sister living with them. Surely it would have been better to free up a 2 bedroom flat for them so the family from there could have the house. No that's too simple.

I am a home owner and was quite happy to move from a 4 Bedroom detached to a 2 bedroom flat in my retirement.
Unfortunately, Council homes are a privilege for the few and therefore should be as flexible. After all private renters would most certainly move to a smaller residence in retirement, to allow for a smaller rent.

Daisyboots since you dont know the circumstances of why the teenage sister was living with them,maybe you should accept that it was a good enough reason for the council to house them .Everything isn't always as it seems for the outside .Marianne1953 I think the key word in your post was HAPPY ,if people are happy to move then thats fine.they shouldn't be moved against their will simply because its a council house.

I’m sorry daisy boots, you don’t have the right to choose unless you own it. Not a nice situation to be in, but that’s the way it is. I didn’t choose to move out of London, when I was young, however, I couldn’t afford to buy and there was little hope of getting a Council house and therefore moved to the North East, leaving my whole family and a 8 month old baby in tow. Keeping in a job was our small families priority and therefore moved as we need a job. A lot of people won’t do this and think that the LA are there to look after them, because of this. As I said before Council housing is a privilege not a right. Only genuine needed should be provided with one. Unless of course you live in Denmark and they have a fantastic Council housing scheme for all.

Surely we could take a leaf out of Denmark's book?

In the seventies the London council that I worked for began to convert a proportion of their stock of large houses, as they became available, into two smaller properties. They were then offered only to people living alone in large houses and- hey presto - two large houses for one. It seemed a great scheme and I wonder if it is still happening. There is a lot of sentimentality of course attached to your home, but the horrible truth is that if it is social housing then it is supposed to be managed in the interests of all in need of it. There must be lots of older people living alone in larger properties who would love something smaller and easier . I have moved a lot and have almost always been lucky in liking the houses, but my home is the contents of the house and the people in it - and they have always come with me.

A friend of mine swapped her too big house for a little bungalow 'privately' even though they were both council owned.
But the idea that older folk can be moved away from where they've always lived, just when they need most support, is horrible.

My MiL lived in a 3 bedroom council house for most of her married life and even when she was on her own had no intention of moving out. No amount of reasoning would make her change her mind. As long as she paid her rent on time the council put no pressure on her to move even though there were smaller properties available. When she died the house went to a family with 4 boys who'd been living in a one bedroom property. My own father moved out of his 3 bed council house which we'd been brought up in and moved into a one bed flat in sheltered accommodation. He had a view of the river and could keep an eye on people in the street and was quite happy until his death.Where I grew up, people put their names on the council waiting list and usually started married life in a council house/flat before buying a house and moving out. As a teacher I was also eligible for a council flat!

I don't think anyone has suggested that older people should be moved away from where they have always lived and the same level of support would surely be available whether you lived in a three bedroom house or a bedsit.

I have lived in a council house but now I am lucky to live in a modern 3 bed house that we have bought but if I was on my own or one of use became unable to manage the stairs and the garden then I would sell up and move to a small retirement flat or whatever I could afford. It has nothing to do with whether you live in Council or your own place, nobody can make you move you would only do so if that is what you wanted. As for kids living in tower blocks, it nearly broke my heart to hear kids say all they wanted was a garden or safe outside space, this is a need for every child and should be their right.

No they should not be in tower blocks and yes if some people were to give up their homes for a family that would be ideal but it doesn’t work that way. Not enough social housing in this country anyway.

There are many areas where the size of house is very much a status symbol and you’re judged on what you have. Single elderly people and older couples refuse to budge because that’s what they’ve worked all their lives for. Until it becomes fashionable to downsize this situation won’t change.

Its also the tax on selling your house, its put us off selling though we are not down sizing as we are already in a rather small house.

The problem is there is not enough social housing being built in various sizes suitable for the needs of the population.

I live in the house that I was brought up in. A 3 bed semi detached. It is owned. As an older person dealing with a huge garden I would like to downsize to a 2 bed bungalow. I realise that I will have to buy a property and that is fine. With the long history of living in this house, 3 generations now, I find it very difficult to find a house which seriously attracts me. Probably it is the emotional tie. Sense dictates that I will have to move eventually, there are stairs in the house and although there has been a stair lift here in the past I really would prefer not to.
It really does not make much difference whether we are talking about owned or council we have to look for housing to suit our needs but there does not seem to be enough suitable houses either for rent or purchase

I live in a 3 bedroomed house and have no intention of moving, i have lived here for 34 years, and someone in the family is usually visiting or staying, also my eldest son lives in Spain and he and family stay here when visiting
If i could find a nice 2 bed bungalow i would consider moving, but this house is very private and secure, no one can access my back garden as surrounded by high fences and trees, and 2 lockable doors at each end of a passageway,from the front
The biggest problem is that there are not enough smaller properties to move into, and i wont move into a flat,i have a lovely garden and would miss that and my cats and dog need a garden
Why should the elderly be moved into flats highrise or otherwise,
I am just on the edge of an estate in a lovely area with no trouble and no rowdy children,or teenagers

Three bedrooms isn’t overly large especially if you have family regularly coming to stay, the big houses I was referring to have five or six bedrooms and enormous rooms.

IMHO no-one should have to live in high rise flats. Today I visited a friend in her lovely 1 bed flat, 3rd floor with a lovely view, I did venture onto her balcony, not a good idea as I suffer from vertigo!! Loneliness is a dreadful problem for the elderly so I don't see this as a solution. Look at most new developments 3/4/5 bed houses with high price tags to match, where is the "affordable housing" that is supposed to be build within each new development?