Should council houses have long term tenancies?

[Vague_Boy]

Or is this just scare mongering????

 

I dunno. There was talk before the election that people in council accommodation who earn good money ought to rent privately to free up stock, but I don't think it was an actual policy at that time.

 

But it sounds a lot like

 

Those who succeed in getting better-paid jobs should be encouraged into the private housing sector, he said.

 

 

Still, it's not much worse than

 

'Work or lose home' says minister [February 2008]

 

Unemployed council and housing association tenants should seek work or face losing their homes, housing minister Caroline Flint has suggested.

 

She said new applicants for social housing might sign "commitment contracts" pledging to seek employment.

 

In a speech, Ms Flint said: "Social housing should be based around the principle of something for something."

 

LINK

 

Caroline Flint trying to out Tory the Tories there, eh Titanic99? Just proves what I always say. NuLabour and the Tories are like a "spot the difference" puzzle that has been accidentally printed with no differences!

 

If they do introduce fixed term contracts for council accommodation, expect some kind of upswing in people buying their places (those that can afford to anyway).

[andyofborg]

new labour had 13 years which it could have used to build lots of affordable housing, its just a shame that they didn't

[hard2miss]

new labour had 13 years which it could have used to build lots of affordable housing, its just a shame that they didn't

Hey you can beat the past with a big stick...

 

Or you could say 'hey this lot could build loads of affordable housing with that Trident money' !

[Obelix]

Plans are a bit sketchy on this at the moment, but it seems that the new Government are looking to remove the rights to security of tenure for Council Tenants and their families.

 

So if I understand this correctly, you will spend up to ten years making your home into what you want it to be only for the Council to take it off you and to force you out into another home in the private sector.

 

Of course it will also mean that they can then sell the home you’ve spent your time and money on onto someone else and benefit from the vastly increased property prices.

 

Well at least we can rely on the Libdems standing up for the rights of long standing tenants, can’t we Nick?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10855996

 

I went and got myself a house for life. It's called earning money and buying one.

 

Also where's the forcing? There is encouragment by means of incentive but the report makes no mention of throwing people onto the streets....

[Bruno]

Not read all the posts on here, but here's my pennies worth.

 

If someone is paying full rent then they are paying into the system and they are more likely to have spent money on bettering thier home, rather than letting it get into a state because of thinking "it's not my house it's councils so why should I bother"

 

If people are forced to go to the private sector then in my opinion this should be set up by the council in agreement with the current tenant and of course the landlord of private accomodation ensuring that the landlord will be paid the appropriate rent requestion paid directly with any top up provided directly out of top up benefit to cover the increase in rent.

 

If on the other hand you have a tennant with no dissability in a under occupied house on full benefit, then they should be at the least offered to stay but have to pay the extra rent, if they can't afford to then they should be expected to be re-housed in a smaller property, however if such a person has spent thier money on bettering thier home saving the council from home improvements then they should have the option to be compensated full monies spent or equivelent to the cost saved by the council improving the home as well as compensation.

 

But in saying all the above, I would think that it is not possible to implement the new terms to existing tenants who are on a original contract agreement.

 

Which would mean applying to new potential tennants, to me all this would do is make most housing depriciate pretty quickly as less and less people will be reluctant to keep not only the inside of thier home in a decent manner, but also the outside such as garden, hedgerows etc.

 

Yes council housing is there for people who need it, but also remember there is a need for people to rent council housing paying full rent putting money back into the system which helps the funding of repairs to council housing.

[hard2miss]

Your post started off ok but then I think you lost both of us

[Dogs Of War]

Hey you can beat the past with a big stick...

 

Or you could say 'hey this lot could build loads of affordable housing with that Trident money' !

 

You only have to look at all the vast areas of waste land that have appeared in Sheffield over the Last Governments regime where council houses once stood to figure out Labours policy on social housing.

 

They resided over a vast demolition programme of council properties in Sheffield without any attempt to replace the demolished houses. We can all see the the result of Labours policy on social housing - just have a drive round Sheffield .

 

This problem is a result of 13 years of neglect and under funding by the Failed Labour Government which has resulted in the wasteland we now have which was once occupied by hundreds of council houses.

[ricgem2002]

new labour had 13 years which it could have used to build lots of affordable housing, its just a shame that they didn't

i think the tories were in power a lot longer than them when they were pulling houses down around my area so why didnt they then build more council houses .oh i forgot they in power again so why are they now trying to get people out of council housing and into private housing instead of building more council houses

[Ms Macbeth]

Council tenants aren't being forced out of their housing. However, I think we need to take a pragmatic view about this in future. If we are ever to be able to give low income families the start they need, then family sized accommodation needs to be freed up. Why are we prepared to pay excess housing benefits to a single person left living in a family sized council house, yet the same single person in private rented property is unlikely to have the full amount paid?

 

If benefits were paid as a single sum with a proportion for rent (as they used to be), then there would be an incentive to downsize - my in-laws did exactly that from a large council house to a two bedroomed flat. No garden to worry about, less rent to pay, and smaller heating bills.

 

Many owner occupiers and private renters can't afford to stay in the same home for life. For instance, owner occupiers who aren't eligible for benefits often downsize to reduce their outgoings - this is likely to happen more in the future, as more and more people are retiring who still have mortgages.

 

However, along with any rules about reducing security of tenure, the government needs to examine the effects of Right to Buy. I believe there is a case for removing it for new tenants of certain types of properties - such as family housing which is in particularly short supply.

[Ms Macbeth]

i think the tories were in power a lot longer than them when they were pulling houses down around my area so why didnt they then build more council houses .oh i forgot they in power again so why are they now trying to get people out of council housing and into private housing instead of building more council houses

 

If you learn some of the history of council housing you'll find that the demand across the north of England fell dramatically as people earned more and could afford to buy - private housing was cheap. When prices rose dramatically, so did the demand for council housing. Of course the really lucky people who were in the best council houses could buy at a discount! When I first worked in Sheffield in 2000, the council couldn't give some of their housing away, and decisions had been made to demolish. No-one had a crystal ball that told them house prices would soon become unaffordable and the demand would rise steeply for council housing. However, demolition was necessary and the outcomes have shown some success in areas like Norfolk Park.

 

'By the 1980s, the area was in severe decline. Mass unemployment, the poor condition of the non-traditional housing stock, drug abuse, high crime and unemployment rates meant demand for housing on Norfolk Park was low.'

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development/regeneration/housing-regeneration/south-sheffield-regeneration/norfolk-park#history