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"Right to buy"
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Those ads on TV at the moment "Have you got the right to buy your council house?"....hmmm I don't think thats really fair.
I remember when I was 18 and pregnant and had to leave home, I was on the coucil housing list for a year, in which time I'd had the baby and moved into a private rented property.
Surely council housing is there for people who can't afford to buy houses, and people buying them up is leaving less available for these people.
Just a thought...
I remember when I was 18 and pregnant and had to leave home, I was on the coucil housing list for a year, in which time I'd had the baby and moved into a private rented property.
Surely council housing is there for people who can't afford to buy houses, and people buying them up is leaving less available for these people.
Just a thought...
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Comments
The reason, in theory why it was created was to give some people in a council housing area a stake in it. If the people actually own the flat/house then, the theory goes they will look after it better and care more for the community around them. Also because they own the place if they do get a job etc then they are slightly less likely to move out.
However a lot of people see it as a way for councils to make money, selling off flats that have gone up massively in value since they were first built. There is also the issue that they are normaly sold under the market value and then some people just sell them straight on and make money, somewhat ruining the point of the scheme.
Personally I think flats should only be sold off if there are new ones to replace them. But I do think that selling off some flats in an area could help it gain a better mix of incomes.
So what a problem?
So probably calling the state a thief for claiming taxes... And the rest I am sure you can figure out.
however thing about the lack fo council housing available now, ACTUALLY when it was set up im sure the councils within a certain area, had to replace each one sold with one brought, but i think that law got changed in early 90's, not sure can someone clarify
What a woman eh :rolleyes:
I purchased the house for £13,000 then a few years later I beleive sold it for £32,000 which left me a big deposit to buy a bigger, nicer house.
so im not complaining
Id hate to think I was a 1st time buyer having to buy a house which wasnt a council house. Poor buggers will have massive mortgages and probably have to scrimp and save just to pay the mortgage alone.
This house only cost me £41,500 (I think) and now valued approx £70,000 ish or sommat. But I couldnt afford to move now, good job i like it here eh
No, but the councils were allowed to set up Housing Associations in order to build new affordable housing. Which they did.
Ergo your point is meaningless.
So why is there such a shortage of social housing?
The fact is, they DIDNT build nearly as many houses as they sold off, and not nearly as much as they needed.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/housing/comment/0,7894,769435,00.html
In the South-East there is a shortage of affordable housing, of that there is no doubt, but in many parts of the north there is a surplus of it.
Bradford's housing stock, for instance, is running at about 85% capacity, or it was last time I checked. The trouble is that the empty houses are on estates that no-one wants to live on, but thats not really the councils fault is it?
In Glasgow the largest landlord is still the City Council.
The trouble is not the sell-off, it is council finances. Councils do not have the resources to maintain the housing stock, and councils do not have the finances to renovate decrepid housing stock. And that is not anything to do with Thatcher, that is everything to do with Blair (and to a lesser extent Major) who has set the system up so that 75% of all local council funding comes from central government. The properties are there, its just that theyre not always of the best quality and in the most desirable areas, but to rectify that would cost money. Money no-one is able to spend, and money no-one is willing to provide, yet when PFI is touted as a solution everyone recoils in terror.