Re: Affordable Housing

I've no idea if it was, but it was a time when they were in press for various illegal activities, I think the child abuse took precedence and the misappropriation of tax payers money on various trips around the world and cars for the mayor. That was all in the press.

Re: Affordable Housing

[QUOTE=Tpin;1190660]What you suggest(council's approach to "Right To Buy")is totally illegal.

I cannot believe they acted in such a heavy handed way......it would have been reported in the national press.[/QUOTE]


It was at the time, but the scumbag 'nasty party' press very quickly buried it again.

Re: Affordable Housing

[QUOTE=Uncle Joe;1190672] Ah thanks Uj I couldn't remember if it was in national press or not it certainly was in local press.

Re: Affordable Housing

[QUOTE=Uncle Joe;1190672] Any links?

Julie is wrong on this one.....you only have to look at her posts to realise that one.....I think she's getting confused with fact and idle gossip.

Re: Affordable Housing

Anyone who could bought their council houses .
People who had lived in them over 10 years got something like - 60% discount
It was madness not to buy .

Re: Affordable Housing

[QUOTE=Tpin;1190681] I was helping my grandfather with his correspondence with then hardly gossip. They wanted him in an oap home, despite he was next door to his daughter and had his granddaughter going in daily to get him up and cook etc.

My father was another matter he was behind with his rent they wrote that off if he would buy the house.

Re: Affordable Housing

Not twisting, over stating for effect.....maybe.


They bought houses at discount but could then borrow up to the market value, buying patio doors windows new bathrooms etc.etc.Then came the hard times, interest went up, work prospects down.

The Capitalist system caught a cold basically.

Among the major fatalities were the new home owners, middle wage earners, and low paid.
Those least able to weather the capitalist storm.
The houses were snapped up as repossessions rose, or the home owners struggled and sold them on........whatever happened is beyond me......but the fact is there are more private landlords renting homes privately and less council homes for rent than ever.......in my lifetime.
The Great Own Your Own Home ideological bribe had gone wrong.................with banks crashing all over the world Not at all.
My parents mutually exchanged their council house 60 odd years ago, I personally exchanged my London Council house for a Kent council house, people did it and still do it today

It is impossible to go back to the former USSR, now it is you twisting things .........for effect.
I don't want full on socialism, but given the choice, I want a more humane society where the bottom line is not profit profit profit.
I know business need to make profit, I know that is the whole point of getting out of bed.
But when it comes to such things as Utility supply, public transport, NHS, Education and even a National investment Bank possibly........lets try a shade of Socialism.
Housing regeneration would be top of my list for the incoming change of government, there are plenty of empty properties worth doing up for minimal cost.

Re: Affordable Housing

Hi

One thing that needs addressing straight away is the abuse of Social Housing.

Firstly it is there for people who need it, not for those who don't.

It should be means tested.

Secondly, it needs to be protected from those who abuse the system.

Better checks on those who apply for it, including compulsory document verification.

A new law was introduced in 2013, with good reason.

Latest estimates suggest that there are around 98,000 unlawfully occupied social homes in England. This
prevents social landlords from allocating them to those people in genuine need. There is currently a lack of
adequate deterrent to tenants to abuse their tenancy, and social landlords have inadequate powers of
investigation, often finding it hard to detect and prosecute social housing fraudsters.
Government intervention is needed to increase both the penalties for social housing fraud and social
landlords' investigatory powers.

Nearly 100,000 Social Houses illegally occupied is a lot, much better used for those who are entitled to them.

It would also save millions in housing benefit.

The penalties are rubbish, maximum of 2 years, should be doubled and the persons involved banned from any form of Social Housing for life.

Thirdly, illegal subletting.

Houses are designed for a certain number of people and subletting bedrooms etc is not only dangerous, with alterations to internal layouts often interfering with fire precautions, but renting rooms or beds for cash without permission and declaring the income is fraud.

This needs sorting, those abusing the system need to be prosecuted and evicted.

Re: Affordable Housing

Most were sold off by Estate Agents even before they are finished to Chinese investors. Money talks once again.

Re: Affordable Housing

Abuse of social housing certainly needs addressing and means testing may be one way forward. I don't understand how people can have two council homes either, just don't understand how that happens ?

Subletting if the tenant isn't living there needs stopping but I'd allow lodgers as that's helping house people that aren't that well off too.


Not so sure about over crowding, I can't imagine chucking anyone out here even though technically we are over crowded. And changing internal walls etc you can do that in a private house so I'd say it should be allowed in a council home too.