Re: Council house crackdown

It's hard not to see our present problems as starting with the sell off of council housing at knock down prices. If you can point to something else started it I'm sure we will all listen.

Re: Council house crackdown

But those houses are still home to someone they are not standing empty.

Re: Council house crackdown

But they aren't home to council tenants and haven't been replaced. That's the problem. Mrs t did that quite deliberately.

Re: Council house crackdown

All those pesky foreign johnny come latelies.

Re: Council house crackdown

But many are home to Ex council tenants whats wrong with that?

Re: Council house crackdown

Very few I'd suggest as most made a killing on the deal selling for massive amounts a few years later. Or took out second mortgages and lost their homes arriving back on the council housing list adding to the problems.

Re: Council house crackdown

No they didn't Julie I know several people who bought the house they lived in and continued to live in it .When they came to move they still had to buy another house at the market price - and council houses used to be sold at somewhat lower than the then market price.
What you are suggesting sound like the politics of envy.

Re: Council house crackdown

Well you obviously didn't live here in the big sell off the estate I grew up on certainly went the way I described. There's no envy in it my dad bought their house. Managed to get three mortgages before he ran out of luck and ended up back in a council flat. It was a fairly typical end round here. The estate is mostly owned by three landlords now rents are through the roof.

We are fairly lucky we got our flat and own a bit of it rest is council owned. Why would I be envious ?

Surrey is an expensive place dad bought his house for under £30000. It was sold recently for £185000
House next door is rented for £1400 a month I would guess that's what his old place will go for a after the renovations.

Only person I have ever been envious of was my sisters who had kids really easily while mine died, houses money all things I can live without.

Re: Council house crackdown

Your Dad may have had a discount - but when he bought it- I presume quite some years ago it would not have been worth £ 180k
Your dad was unlucky and didn't do so well but other people did a man I know still lives in his parents small house that they bought many years ago - in Surrey -they are gone now and he owns it . It is his home. as a single man who has never married he would have not had much chance to get on the council list today.

Re: Council house crackdown

The history of right to buy is an interesting read........HERE

My biased summary is that in fact before our Maggie bribed the electorate with the promise of a subsidised home, the right to buy was available..............and was being taken up at it's fastest rate since inception........Maggie's government only sped up the process and by knocking the prices down cost the country loadsa money.

The council owned, public resource was sold with the money generated from the sale banned from funding replacement of the housing pool by the governments own orders.

Over the generations council house availability has declined massively while the same housing stock has transferred into private landlords hands, this has resulted in house and rental prices rising due to market forces.

Housing prices have been forced up as a result of this ideological approach which has....................whether intentionally or not...........simply transferred council owned property into the hands of private landlords.

A brief introduction to housing issues

£9 Billion housing benefit goes to Private Landlords