UK highest for homelessness in developed world.

Okay, that makes sense - I wonder what proportion of rentals are in each sector.

The statutory right to buy only applies to tenants of public sector social landlords, and as I said very few HA tenants would qualify.

I think one of the complications is that there are all sorts of social landlords. Housing associations are one type, then there are private social landlords with one, a few, or lots of properties, large and small. If the councils and housing associations all stopped right to buy it would definitely be a start though. Coupled with a building programme to make up the shortfall by councils and housing associations.

At present most housing association tenants don’t have a right to buy. There were proposals to extend it to HAs but they haven’t gone through. A HA tenant who has previously a council tenant before their home was transferred to a HA has their right to buy preserved but I doubt there are huge numbers of them. I wonder if Labour consider that the right to buy should be extended?

That’s interesting Germanshepherdsmum, could it apply to all registered social landlords in that case? My worry would be it would potentially be detrimental if private social landlords decided to sell rather than rent, which could further reduce the rental housing stock?

It could be imposed on existing developments as it’s a statutory, not a contractual right and statutes can be repealed.

zakouma66

*I have no sympathy*

And my son has had eye surgery from somebody who got out of Syria.

I don't recall hearing " benefits benefits"

Be realistic though, they are most definitely not all professional, surgeons etc. My sisters dentist is Syrian, in Germany, but like the "they'll give me a house" there will be be a good few of those too.

The first step in my opinion would be to stop the ridiculous discount system, which results in tenants being able to purchase their rented property for up to 70% below market value.
Then give a date in the future after which no more sales to tenants will be possible, which is what has already happened in Wales.
Both these points only apply to council property tenants though. Much social housing is now run by companies acting as landlords. The condition could be written into future contracts if they received government or Local Authority financial support to build, but couldn’t be imposed on existing developments.

We really do need to prevent social housing being sold, whether that’s unfair on tenants who are employed or not.

I’m not sure we can return to banning the sale of social housing -though I wish we could.
It would be unfair of social housing tenants on benefits were treated differently than those in employment

The tenancy can only be passed on once.
It will not just pass down successive family members, and council tenancies are now dependent on inspections and reviews, which are carried out by the council regularly.
Tenencncies are only granted for 2 or 3 years at a time.

I know three single people still living in 3 bedroom social housing

Not all in the same house, I think it means each individual person is still on their own but in a 3 bedroom place.

They could be living in a one bedroom place, and the 3 bedroom one go to a family who needs the extra bedrooms.

Fair enough if they are paying a full rent, but not if it’s been paid for them.

DrWatson

Well done Iam64 and Freya5 for pointing out the worst of the root causes, though they have been well known for years.

Thatcher's wreckage re Council Houses pervades to this day, and successive Govts (both badges) have not had the wit to apply any proper fixes.

Building a few 'sticking plaster' affordable (haha!) dwellings as part of commercial developments is NOT the answer.

I suspect our politicos are ultra-fearful that IF they actually got a council house/social housing building boom going, to get us back to the pre-Thatcher type system, that would cause a nasty crash in house prices and millions of voters would be seriously displeased.

I condemn Thatcher for selling Council Houses also Blair for not changing that policy.

What is Starmers policy is he going to stop the sale

I wouldn't mind one with a couple of bedrooms in the roof for when family come to stay. However, they are few and far between here.

Callistemon21 What is needed is more suitable homes for older people to be built, thus freeing up larger family homes for younger people, who would move on from their starter homes.

In our area, as soon as a bungalow comes onto the market, it is snapped up and converted into a Dormer. Many of them have huge gardens and are not suitable for us or others who want to live without all the work needed to keep a garden up together.

Many of the people we know are selling their rental properties because they just can’t take any more rules and regulations from government. Less rental stock available therefore and the cost of houses is very,very high. Who is buying these ex rentals I wouldn’t know but they don’t seem to be reappearing as rentals. Of course our stupid governments permit overseas buyers to purchase and leave them empty. A big problem here.

Well done Iam64 and Freya5 for pointing out the worst of the root causes, though they have been well known for years.

Thatcher's wreckage re Council Houses pervades to this day, and successive Govts (both badges) have not had the wit to apply any proper fixes.

Building a few 'sticking plaster' affordable (haha!) dwellings as part of commercial developments is NOT the answer.

I suspect our politicos are ultra-fearful that IF they actually got a council house/social housing building boom going, to get us back to the pre-Thatcher type system, that would cause a nasty crash in house prices and millions of voters would be seriously displeased.

The problem is that there is still a lot of empty housing, some of which may need renovation. Some Councils are selling off housing stock and other property because they are short of cash for public services.

DaisyL

The population growth in the UK is actually slowing down and may decline over the next few years as people have smaller families - we have a vast population of people over 80 many of whom could move to residential homes if there were enough suitable ones. My experience of letting property has been a nightmare. A very nice mobile home that my late husband bought to house an employee for a few months was completely trashed and had to be destroyed afterwards and a cottage that I let cost me over £5000 to put right after the last tenant left - carpet stained from dog who also scratched through a door and ripped up lino. House stank of cigarettes. Electrical fittings had been ripped out. Cooker broken. Garden shed destroyed. Never again!!!

we have a vast population of people over 80 many of whom could move to residential homes if there were enough suitable ones.

Why should they move to residential homes if they are able to continue living independently? Only a small percentage of older people move to care homes.

What is needed is more suitable homes for older people to be built, thus freeing up larger family homes for younger people, who would move on from their starter homes.

We’ve had over 3 million ppl arrive in our country in just over 2yrs we an island without an extended border. Government is skint after covid etc unfortunately our streets are not pathed in gold like a lot of ppl believe

Stephania1954

I hadn’t realised until giving up the council house my parents had lived in for 40 years was that you can keep it. It is a family home and can be passed down ( rather like if you had paid a mortgage all those years). This is probably a reason for older single people to keep living in the house with 3 or 4 bedrooms. I was shocked by this and have since noticed tenancies being passed down.

You can only do that once.
So, a joint tenancy can pass to the remaining partner.

If there are children under 18, they may stay, but a council tenancy is not then passed to them, as the council are under no obligation to house them.

I have no sympathy

And my son has had eye surgery from somebody who got out of Syria.

I don't recall hearing " benefits benefits"

Just for the record, the EPC changes for 2025 for new tenancies and 2028 for current tenancies has been scrapped. As somebody who rents, I am pleased. Not because I don't want the best for my tenants but because the EPC's we've had done, have highlighted where we could make changes and without putting in something like a ground source pump, we couldn't move up out of 'D'. The houses/flats have double glazing, new combi-boilers, all the insulation and yet they still come out low. We converted a house to 2 self-contained flats and put insulation between the floors but because the EPC checker couldn't lift all the floorboards to check, it doesn't count.

The housing crisis in my university city could be solved almost overnight were students to live at home (as I think many do in Europe) - or in purpose built student accommodation. My street and the one behind me are both traditional 3-bed semis, and more than 50% are homes of multiple occupancy (HMOs). The 51 terrace houses in the street opposite me has, I think, only one owner-occupier, the rest are rented almost wholly to students. These and the many terrace streets within a mile of my house are ideal starter homes but are occupied by students. The area also has a small council estate with many owned by landlords and let to students. Mrs Thatcher should have ensured councils replaced those bought in her sell-off. I might add that we permanent residents are not happy about the overwhelming number of student houses, it has had a negative effect on our community. So sad that so many houses are not available for families.

tattygran14

I remember a man on a beach near Calais, some years ago, quite well dressed, family with him, being interviewed on local tv, (Kent), why he was trying to get to England.
His answer? ‘They give me house.’

And he was likely to have professional qualifications, subject to learning to speak the language and taking whatever further exams were needed in order to be of any use to us? ‘They give me house’ says it all. I have seen immigrants in a police station chanting ‘benefits, benefits’. I have no sympathy.