Addie Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 There has been talk in UK of 1. Bringing an end to the right of council property tenants to have their property for life 2. Bringing an end to them being able to pass their property onto their children, grandchildren etc. I have to say that I wasn’t aware of any of the above ‘rights’ anyway. Maybe unspoken rules? During a phone-in I have just heard the chairman of a council tenants residents group saying that ‘some of us have better things to do than spend our weekends doing DIY in the house’. Mathew Wright (how cute is he? ) mentioned that he knew of a family with an income of over £100K per year in a council house. A woman on the TV last night said that she’d ‘had’ her house for over 20 years and her parents had ‘had’ it before her. Therefore she was ‘entitled’ to stay in the place for as long as she wanted and her children wanted it after she’d died. Then we have had the ‘right to buy’ scenario. If someone could buy, why buy the very housing stock designed to help those who couldn’t ever afford to buy or rent in the private sector? Surely all this isn’t what the council house system was designed for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Kerr Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 During a phone-in I have just heard the chairman of a council tenants residents group saying that ‘some of us have better things to do than spend our weekends doing DIY in the house’. Like drug dealing or kicking the sh*t out of the neighbours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 If my dad wanted to pass the house down to me then I would have to re-apply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbones Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 If my dad wanted to pass the house down to me then I would have to re-apply Better put a big chest freezer in then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 If my dad wanted to pass the house down to me then I would have to re-apply Better put a big chest freezer in then. Good idea. Plus his pension would pay your rent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddy Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I think each case is and should be judged on its own merits, although some local authorities do seem to have different views to others. With regard to parent's dying and the children 'inheriting' the property, there have been two different examples of this in recent months on the Island (or two that I know of). Both cases had very different outcomes. In the first the children were evicted, in the second, they stayed. Neither of the parents had signed the tenancy over. This could be down to the different local authorities and/or the predicted public outcry had children (albeit adult) been evicted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I don't get it, are you complaining, jealous, stupid, a snob, a nimby, homeless, or what. Or possibly all of the aforementioned? Please say what your particular interest (to declare) is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 On second thoughts, you seem to be asking out of genuine care and interest. It's the rest that aren't clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmrbike Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I have no problem with council property being used by those who can't afford private housing. What DOES annoy me, is when a well known local counciller sells her private house, and moves into corporation housing. Would I be able to do that ?. Don't think so....... As an aside, I saw Little Mill has been sold. 1.6M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted February 23, 2007 Author Share Posted February 23, 2007 There's a phone-in on this topic on Manx Radio at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doodlebug Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I know of someone who has a very successful business who sold their home and moved into a Commissioner's house. It's amazing how many of the people in these houses have good cars, go on annual holidays (sometimes even more than one), wear decent clothes. Why on earth would they want to spend a whole load of money on buying a property when they can have a dirt cheap one and enjoy the good life? I don't know if it's the same here, but on the Jeremy Vine show the other day on Radio 2 they were talking about Council houses, and people being able to pass theirs on to their (adult) children (if they live with them) - presumably even if the children had good jobs and didn't actually need to save money on rent. If the parent dies then their offspring should have to apply on their own, and if there are other people who have more need then the offspring should move out. Also there shouldn't be the entitlement to a commissioners house for life. Every few years tenants should be means-tested and if they no longer qualify, then let someone who does qualify have the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 So, somebody doesn't want to move and they earn above some limit, you evict them. Somebody wants to live in the same community they grew up in after their parents/carers die, tough, evict them. Somebody has some spare cash becuse they earn a bit after working hard and they buy a decent car for themselves, evict them. The councillor, a bare description of the situation. Let's try another; A woman works hard for years doing good deeds and saving up to buy her first house with her partner. Excellent in Daily Mail land. She is asked to stand for council and gets elected. Meetings nearly every night, her work suffers. Relationship problems occer and her marriage breaks down leaving her unable to afford the mortgage on her modest 3 bedroom house. She borrows heavily until the only way out is to sell up. She will be homeless and because she is eligable she is offered a council house. She is vilified by some oxygen thief because of her circumstances and poor judgement. I have seen this many times in both sexes and all relationship types. The above is not an actual case, but could be. That sounds about right doesn't it? Can't you moaners pack it in and retreat to your Dandara shed, read the sun and practice voodoo or something. When you are on your 6x6 'patio area' next summer enjoying your aperatif 'al fresco', just think how lucky you are you haven't got 1/8 of an acre of council house back garden to mow, guaranteed tenancy for life and subsidised rents. You wouldn't be able to sleep because of the roar of the Mail readers on mass at your front porch. Get a fucking life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doodlebug Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 So, somebody doesn't want to move and they earn above some limit, you evict them.Somebody wants to live in the same community they grew up in after their parents/carers die, tough, evict them. Somebody has some spare cash becuse they earn a bit after working hard and they buy a decent car for themselves, evict them. The councillor, a bare description of the situation. Let's try another; A woman works hard for years doing good deeds and saving up to buy her first house with her partner. Excellent in Daily Mail land. She is asked to stand for council and gets elected. Meetings nearly every night, her work suffers. Relationship problems occer and her marriage breaks down leaving her unable to afford the mortgage on her modest 3 bedroom house. She borrows heavily until the only way out is to sell up. She will be homeless and because she is eligable she is offered a council house. She is vilified by some oxygen thief because of her circumstances and poor judgement. I have seen this many times in both sexes and all relationship types. The above is not an actual case, but could be. That sounds about right doesn't it? Can't you moaners pack it in and retreat to your Dandara shed, read the sun and practice voodoo or something. When you are on your 6x6 'patio area' next summer enjoying your aperatif 'al fresco', just think how lucky you are you haven't got 1/8 of an acre of council house back garden to mow, guaranteed tenancy for life and subsidised rents. You wouldn't be able to sleep because of the roar of the Mail readers on mass at your front porch. Get a fucking life. You are making very big assumptions here. What Dandara shed? I don't have a 6x6 patio area. In fact I am paying extortionate rent to a private landlord because I can't afford my own place. Unfortunately, yet again, we are having to move, though god knows where to - there are loads of landlords who rent out family sized homes but say "no children". And anyway there isn't anything available for us. Have you any idea of the stress this causes? What happens to us when the landlord tells us he has sold up and we have to move out? Where do we go? I'm sick of having to move on a regular basis because someone has decided they are fed-up of being a landlord, so we have the huge expense (and hassle) of moving house. Yet I know of people who are well off business people who are in a commissioners house who could easily afford to get a mortgage, but they don't want the expense - why pay hundreds a month when you could pay peanuts and live a very nice life thank you very much? There's no need to swear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 So, somebody doesn't want to move and they earn above some limit, you evict them.Somebody wants to live in the same community they grew up in after their parents/carers die, tough, evict them. Somebody has some spare cash becuse they earn a bit after working hard and they buy a decent car for themselves, evict them. This subject will always attract polarised views. I don't think that 'eviction' is necessarily what the vast majority of non-subsidised home owners / renters would like to see. However, some form of means testing, which is reflected in the amount of rent paid would be a start. The people benefitting from subsidised housing must embrace the very concept of such schemes, so I am sure they would agree to such measures in order for the service to be available to as many people in need as possible. I await the rush of council / corporation tenants calling for this scheme to be introduced, in the interest and benefit of all mankind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Surely they went through a 'means test' of some kind when they were allocated a house? If your circumstances change it's your good fortune and if you don't want to move so what? I know businesses registered at council houses, they have to live somewhere and it shows that 'social class' is no barrier to entrepreneurship, good on them. I have had to move due to my rented flat being sold from under me, because the owner did not want a sitting tenant, it remains unsold to this day, a year later. Really what you are advocating in akin to telling people to move if they only need one bedroom and have three. It aint right and it won't work. I don't live in a dandara shed or a house, I rent a boxroom at a friends place, it's all I need and I am not a burden on society in any way. The use of the invective reflects my frustration at the view written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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