'some Of These People Have Villas In Spain': Councils Set To Hike Rents For Tenants Earning Over £50,000-A-Year

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387036/Some-people-villa-Spain-Councils-set-hike-rents-wealthy-social-housing-tenants.html

Wealthy council tenants could face rent hikes after it emerged thousands earning over £50,000-a-year are living in subsidised social housing.

Conservative-led Westminster Council has asked Government for new powers to introduce a sliding scale which would link social housing rents to incomes.

The move comes after the council found it had 2,200 social housing tenants earning more than £50,000-a-year, and more than 200 on over £100,000.

What next Conservatives asking for the rich to pay more taxes?

For those living in council houses if this happens it might encourage them to buy......

[okaycuckoo]

If they were going to buy they'd have done it already, at significant discount to the market value.

[Blod]

It'd be nice if they could rope Bob Crow in to this. Be great if he had to pay a proper market rent on that place he rents.

[IDN]

how the hell are high earners (50k) in council housing? surely council housing should be temporary and for the poor?

i know of 1 person who is in a zone 2 flat in london pays £300 a month in rent and doesnt bother working!!! shocking!

[Number79]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387036/Some-people-villa-Spain-Councils-set-hike-rents-wealthy-social-housing-tenants.html

What next Conservatives asking for the rich to pay more taxes?

For those living in council houses if this happens it might encourage them to buy......

Why on earth should anyone on £50k a year be entitled to a council house let alone not be expected to pay the equivalent of the private rent for the area?

I agree with this whole heartedly.

[porca misèria]

how the hell are high earners (50k) in council housing?

Social engineering - such as that inherent in council housing - breeds corruption.

We pretend to have a market in housing, but that hasn't been a reality since (at least) before the 1939-45 war. It's a mix of market forces and patronage, with the latter now dominant even in the notionally private sector.

[lulu]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387036/Some-people-villa-Spain-Councils-set-hike-rents-wealthy-social-housing-tenants.html

What next Conservatives asking for the rich to pay more taxes?

For those living in council houses if this happens it might encourage them to buy......

They need to sort this out. End 'right to buy' yesterday and get on with the plan of making people reappy for their council home every 2/3 years - this is still a far better deal than anyone who needs to rent on the open market who can be moved on and 2 months notice (assuming an AST).

If someone is well off they should be offered the opportunity to pay a market rent to the council to stay or be made to move so someone in a more deserving position can make use of the home.

Quite how people like Bob Crow can live with themselves leaching off the rest of us and denying more vunerable people (on lower salaries) affordable homes is beyond me. Someone earning £150K a year should not be getting a subisidy for their accomodation.

[scrappycocco]

One question - how do I get a council house (earn less than 50k)?

[IDN]

One question - how do I get a council house (earn less than 50k)?

get on the queue

and tick yes to the following:

non-white

have kids

woman

disabled

forget it if your a single bloke!:

[LC1]

One question - how do I get a council house (earn less than 50k)?

Me too! Would like to know this.

[council dweller]

Me too! Would like to know this.

You can't get one because the Tories and Nu-lab sold them off and didn't replace them. Also, they 'transfered' hundreds of thousands of council houses off to HA's (read sold off for 6 to 8k a piece)

What's the real problem? Not enough houses....?

[200p]

Get on the waiting list. The rumour was that there was 10,000 people on the council list for one house in SO41.

[Goat]

get on the queue

and tick yes to the following:

non-white

have kids

woman

disabled

Know someone at the council.

[council dweller]

Know someone at the council.

We have 4 new tenants on this part off our estate. My guess is that 3 and possibly all 4 'knew' somebody.

[pie-eater]

Know someone at the council.

Getting sent down puts you at the top of the list on release, so I'm told.

[leicestersq]

They need to sort this out. End 'right to buy' yesterday and get on with the plan of making people reappy for their council home every 2/3 years - this is still a far better deal than anyone who needs to rent on the open market who can be moved on and 2 months notice (assuming an AST).

If someone is well off they should be offered the opportunity to pay a market rent to the council to stay or be made to move so someone in a more deserving position can make use of the home.

Quite how people like Bob Crow can live with themselves leaching off the rest of us and denying more vunerable people (on lower salaries) affordable homes is beyond me. Someone earning £150K a year should not be getting a subisidy for their accomodation.

They need to end all social housing for all but those incapable of looking after themselves. Just sell all of the social housing off to the highest bidder. Either that or let this corruption fester.

[Peter Hun]

If they were going to buy they'd have done it already, at significant discount to the market value.

significant??

Right to buy discount is capped at 18k, which is hmm.. 6% on a average one bed London flat like mine. Less than a discount you could haggle on the free market.

[bomberbrown]

<br />They need to sort this out.  End 'right to buy' yesterday and get on with the plan of making people reappy for their council home every 2/3 years - this is still a far better deal than anyone who needs to rent on the open market who can be moved on and 2 months notice (assuming an AST).<br /><br />If someone is  well off they should be offered the opportunity to pay a market rent to the council to stay or be made to move so someone in a more deserving position can  make use of the home. <br /><br />Quite how people like Bob Crow can live with themselves leaching off the rest of us and denying more vunerable people (on lower salaries) affordable homes is beyond me.  Someone earning £150K a year should not be getting a subisidy for their accomodation.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

So what do you think we should do? Change the current rental legislation for Assured Tenancy to match the farce of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy or vice versa?

[Darkman]

get on the queue

and tick yes to the following:

non-white

have kids

woman

disabled

forget it if your a single bloke!:

Actually that's not 100% correct. Single men can get council accommodation.

To qualify? You need to be fresh out of prison.

[bomberbrown]

<br />Actually that's not 100% correct. Single men <i>can</i> get council accommodation. <br /><br />To qualify? You need to be fresh out of prison.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Back in the mid 90's when I left the Army, I had no housing support. Perhaps I should have robbed a bank on my way out of the barracks?

[RufflesTheGuineaPig]

In case you don't know this, once you have a council house, you have it for life.

When you die, your partner or child living there can inherit the tennancy... but only once.

The natural conclusion of this, since people tend to earn more as they get older are progress through their carrears, is thatt most of the council houses will to occupied by people earning 2 well over the national average.

In our case it doesn't look as bad as this, solely because many of the older folks would have started their tennancies earlier and then taken advantage of the right to buy.

[happy_renting]

So people aren't happy that the unemployed get 'council houses', because they don't work and earn nothing

People aren't happy because some employed get 'council houses' because they work hard and earn a lot.

Perhaps no-one should get them. Perhaps we should all rent from BTLs or buy property at silly prices.

[allfiredup]

In case you don't know this, once you have a council house, you have it for life.

When you die, your partner or child living there can inherit the tennancy... but only once.

The natural conclusion of this, since people tend to earn more as they get older are progress through their carrears, is thatt most of the council houses will to occupied by people earning 2 well over the national average.

In our case it doesn't look as bad as this, solely because many of the older folks would have started their tennancies earlier and then taken advantage of the right to buy.

Not always. 2 mates of mine, on about average wage, have just secured the council house from their deceased parents, who took it on from their parents.

[SarahBell]

One question - how do I get a council house (earn less than 50k)?

Play the system. Have kids generally. Be in dire need of housing.

That means either sleep on friends floor, or be about to be homeless. If you have no kids be prepared to stay in a council hostel for some time.

If you ring shelter they can advise you of what to say to housing staff to put you up the list.

[Princeofpounds]

significant??

Right to buy discount is capped at 18k, which is hmm.. 6% on a average one bed London flat like mine. Less than a discount you could haggle on the free market.

RTB discounts vary from council to council. It is true that they aren't super generous any more in many areas, but originally the discounts were *much* greater and have become tighter over the years. For instance, I have met a taxi driver who owns one of the penthouse ex-council flats overlooking the river Thames in pimlico thanks to this scheme. Reckons it's worth a few million now. He quite literally won the lottery.

In some places they can still be quite generous.

Slightly different topic, but in Lambeth you can get given up to (iirc) 40k for surrounding your council tenancy and going private. Some people work for 2 decades to achieve savings like that. Nice 'work' if you can get it.