Right To Buy Eligibility Reduced To Three Years

[Frank Hovis]

Less social housing = more BTL = more upward pressure on prices from private landlords collecting housing benefit.

Yes. Scotland has very sensibly just abolished it.

Public money is spent building houses for social rent at £120k a pop.

These are then bought at massive discount by a selected section of people (it's not like private renters can do this).

The majority of these houses are then sold on to BTL landlords who charge higher rents and do less maintenance, bringing down the neighbourhood.

Winners are:

Those select few who can get a fee £70k, and to somebody on a low wage that is like winning the lottery.

BTL landlords who get a well-maintained ex-council house.

Losers are:

Taxpayers who fund the buidling of these social houses.

Taxpayers who now have to pay a higher level of housing benefit to pay the rent on the same house.

Everybody who doesn't get a free £70k.

Mad, unfair policy done in the hope of getting a few more grubby votes.

[council dweller]

Thanks Mattw.

I suppose I could pay my rent and lease a posh car and still have change. (not that I`d do any such thing)

[hemichromis]

I think that's probably the right attitude.

I was called for pointing out the people allocated the one on my street recently have two shiny new cars and have time to play golf.

There was a family who moved into a council house near me. they had 2 brand new cars and a van. the man went to work in a suit.

On talking to them i found out they had only moved in while their 4 bed detached council house was renovated.

when they left the dogs had destroyed the house they were in for only 2 months.

There are plenty of people in need of a council house but when they get them, they've got them for life!

Even if they win the lottery, get six figure salary etc.

This needs to be changed IMO.

[Starla]

Yes. Scotland has very sensibly just abolished it.

Public money is spent building houses for social rent at £120k a pop.

These are then bought at massive discount by a selected section of people (it's not like private renters can do this).

The majority of these houses are then sold on to BTL landlords who charge higher rents and do less maintenance, bringing down the neighbourhood.

Winners are:

Those select few who can get a fee £70k, and to somebody on a low wage that is like winning the lottery.

BTL landlords who get a well-maintained ex-council house.

Losers are:

Taxpayers who fund the buidling of these social houses.

Taxpayers who now have to pay a higher level of housing benefit to pay the rent on the same house.

Everybody who doesn't get a free £70k.

Mad, unfair policy done in the hope of getting a few more grubby votes.

Brilliant move by the Scottish;

A few more Losers:

The social rented sector that loses more homes

Future generations now denied access to social housing

People in genuine need of a long term secure tenancy

I cannot understand why we still allow RtB in this country, it was one of the most disastrous legacies of Thatcher. The model of council housing was an inspired socialist idea, which now seems to have turned into a capalist dream for the very people who extol it's virtues, who in turn seem happy to deny this benefit to future generations.

[fluffy666]

Brilliant move by the Scottish;

A few more Losers:

The social rented sector that loses more homes

Future generations now denied access to social housing

People in genuine need of a long term secure tenancy

I cannot understand why we still allow RtB in this country, it was one of the most disastrous legacies of Thatcher. The model of council housing was an inspired socialist idea, which now seems to have turned into a capalist dream for the very people who extol it's virtues, who in turn seem happy to deny this benefit to future generations.

RTB would have been OK - ish IF the proceeds had been used to build more houses. The social engineering aspect was the deliberate preventing of this.

Indeed.. A sane policy would be for governments to build lots of houses in recessions, when labour would be cheap and demand for social housing high, and sell them into booms to help keep a lid on prices. A counter-cyclical policy that has the overall social benefit of keeping rents and house prices down. But we don't do sane things, obviously.

[@contradevian]

.....by the way, council housing has never been means tested.

Does anyone know any different?

Or can we put this urban myth/hpc myth to bed?

Nope. I wasn't means tested at all.

[MattW]

Talking about new cars and council houses....

On the estate I used to live on some years ago I remember a few times walking past a mid terraced house that looked very plain. It could have been a council house or bought in the previous 30 years with mild updates (eg: same spec uPVC windows as the council houses).

In the front garden was a late-ish reg black BMW 7-series which at the time was perhaps £25-30k worth of teutonic engineering, maybe more. It just looked very odd parked there. I did wonder what the story was with the BMW and the household. Of course, it's none of my business is it?

[Frank Hovis]

Talking about new cars and council houses....

On the estate I used to live on some years ago I remember a few times walking past a mid terraced house that looked very plain. It could have been a council house or bought in the previous 30 years with mild updates (eg: same spec uPVC windows as the council houses).

In the front garden was a late-ish reg black BMW 7-series which at the time was perhaps £25-30k worth of teutonic engineering, maybe more. It just looked very odd parked there. I did wonder what the story was with the BMW and the household. Of course, it's none of my business is it?

My standard guess is drugs. I'm not aware of any multi-millionaire Mr Bigs but I do know of some people who make a steady and invisible income delivering to their friends that keeps them in a comfortable lifestyle given that their rent is paid and they get benefits through having no visible income.

If they were more ambitious they could do very nicely but with the risk of getting caught. In many ways they are the recipients of the citizens' income for which there is much support on here.

I'm not trying to derail the thread with a drugs debate but just to place it on record I don't approve of and don't take illegal drugs, but I have friends that do and I let them get on with it.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Frank Hovis

[MattW]

They'll launch a right-to-buy for BTL landlords to buy rented homes off the council next.

(I hope they don't read this and think what a wizzard idea! )

Norwich City Council have been flogging off council houses for the last few years at auction. To be fair, they are very old ones that are probably not economically viable to do up in preparation for an incoming tenant.

Like this one:

http://www.auctionhouse.uk.net/eastanglia/search-results.aspx?lotid=46743

This ex-Local Authority semi-detached house now requires full modernisation and redecoration and should interest the experienced builder or investor. The property has been tenanted for many years and is now to be sold with vacant possession.

Solicitor is based at Norfolk County Council so I assume this 70-80 year old house has always been Council.

[Frank Hovis]

Norwich City Council have been flogging off council houses for the last few years at auction. To be fair, they are very old ones that are probably not economically viable to do up in preparation for an incoming tenant.

Like this one:

http://www.auctionhouse.uk.net/eastanglia/search-results.aspx?lotid=46743

Solicitor is based at Norfolk County Council so I assume this 70-80 year old house has always been Council.

Which would absolutely be the case, you look at the rental stream and the required repairs and if it will actually lose you money (some do, especially anything listed) then you sell it and use the money to build more houses. All councils and HAs do this or should do this.

[MattW]

My standard guess is drugs.

It did cross my mind.

Re: the auction house, guide price £70-90k - I can see it being sold for £100k.

[interestrateripoff]

Just wait until they decide to included your wait on the housing list as part of the discount.

[@contradevian]

Yup social housing is all drug dealers and single mums.

Better not put yourselves on the list then!

[council dweller]

Btw, `my` local council is buying it`s housing stock from the central government. The average cost is £35,000 per unit.

Two years of payments leaving another 28 years to pay it all off.

Suppose rents will finally go to fill the pensions black hole

Apparently, more than 2/3rds of councils are paying off historic debt in this way.

If I do buy my 2 bed bungalow for £130,000 (after discount) the council will be able to build a couple of flats with the money.

What`s not to like?

[Frank Hovis]

Yup social housing is all drug dealers and single mums.

Better not put yourselves on the list then!

I very much didn't say this!

However people with no visible source of income, council house, and flash car does immediately suggest drugs. Because it is usually the case.

[council dweller]

Well, there are council estates and then there are council estates.

I`ve heard there`s a bloke up the other end of this estate who`ll sell you a mobility scooter and think nothing of it.

[bomberbrown]

.....by the way, council housing has never been means tested.

Does anyone know any different?

Or can we put this urban myth/hpc myth to bed?

Quite the opposite!! You had to prove you had a job and could afford the rent when it was first introduced. But no, AKAIK, it's not means tested at point of application or continuance of tenancy (the late Bob Crow case in point) and IMHO it shouldn't even need to be means tested if there was enough bloody council/social stock built. Not fancy, just basic adequate housing to stop lining the BTL housing benefit farmers and to make an incentive to aspire to buying your own place at some point.

[@contradevian]

Interesting article on how the rich in New York cash in on 'affordable housing.'

http://reason.com/archives/2014/07/03/new-york-citys-affordable-housing-bonanz

Fans of Woody Allen's film Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) may recall the 11-room apartment where Elliot and Hannah reside. That's actress Mia Farrow's actual rent-controlled apartment, passed down from her parents—and did I mention that it's on 73rd Street overlooking Central Park? Even free-market heavyweights Murray Rothbard and Robert Nozick partook in the spoils of a law that made housing artificially cheap through state coercion. (A disclosure: I grew up in a way below-market rent-controlled home on Manhattan's Upper West Side with four bedrooms and panoramic views of the Hudson River in a building filled with upper middle class professionals with similar deals.)

[zugzwang]

Interesting article on how the rich in New York cash in on 'affordable housing.'

http://reason.com/archives/2014/07/03/new-york-citys-affordable-housing-bonanz

Rothbard upbraiding Nozick for living in a rent-controlled home while trying to justify the same arrangement for himself is hilarious! The jut of your anti-statist jaw makes all the difference, apparently. Even von Mises loved a luxury or two courtesy of the state.

Edited July 4, 2014 by zugzwang

[SarahBell]

I know someone who is nearly 65 who is buying his council house.
He's got an inheritance in the wings that'll pay a good chunk of it off. Just as long as the old person doesn't hang on for too long.

Can you get a mortgage that old? And will they check if his wife is actually working rather than long term sick?

[@contradevian]

I know someone who is nearly 65 who is buying his council house.

He's got an inheritance in the wings that'll pay a good chunk of it off. Just as long as the old person doesn't hang on for too long.

Can you get a mortgage that old? And will they check if his wife is actually working rather than long term sick?

Life is just generally unfair Sarah. Just keep doing the lottery every Saturday like I do.

[council dweller]

Just a wild guess Sarah but is this a case of the (almost) 65 year old waiting for an aged parent to die....aged about 90?

If so a 90 year old will live about as long as a may fly, 80 and its a whole different ball game.

Good game, good game.

[SarahBell]

Just a wild guess Sarah but is this a case of the (almost) 65 year old waiting for an aged parent to die....aged about 90?

If so a 90 year old will live about as long as a may fly, 80 and its a whole different ball game.

Good game, good game.

An aunty I think. She needs help with food shopping, so it's easy enough to solve that problem.

[council dweller]

Are yes well..

So it`s an Aunt is it? My Mum was left a piece of land in the 50`s, we`re still waiting for the third generation tenant to die! Mum died 10 years ago.

Maybe the Aunt will see the light and leave it to the Cat Protection league!? I know I would!

[SarahBell]

Are yes well..

So it`s an Aunt is it? My Mum was left a piece of land in the 50`s, we`re still waiting for the third generation tenant to die! Mum died 10 years ago.

Maybe the Aunt will see the light and leave it to the Cat Protection league!? I know I would!

Yeah Do people just assume they're in the will? Maybe.