[echobeach2008]

[nicolawh09]

I think it is unfair to solely blame immigrants and such for the lack of housing available from the council. i am currently living in a tiny one bedroom council flat with my partner who has been made redundant and our 3 month old. we are not deluded and know that there are many people in worse situations than us and although we will need a larger property it is a case of dealing with what we have been given for the time being.
we also have a family member who works in the council and it has become alarming apparent to us that one of the biggest problem in providing appropriate housing is that the housing stock is taken up by single people still taking up three bedroom houses that they have kept once their children have left home or other circumstances have changed. there are countless larger properties that families who have been affected by the credit cruch ect are desperately in need of, that instead of being utilised fairly are being taken up by single or elderly that could be fairly rehomed in more apprpriate bungalows ect this would not only free up homes but could be better equipt for their needs.
years ago (many) there were cash incentives for people to down size their council homes, why is this not available now?? people would be more willing to downsize their properties if the coucil offered help with moving costs ect.
another thing which bothers me is the state of repair which many council occupants allow their homes to get into. there should be annual checks on properties and if people do not keep them at a good clean standard they should be made to make room for the people who need and actually want to live in a basic but decent home. people who do not respect the properties which they are given and are mainly funded out of the tax payers back pocket (myself and my partner included) should have their entitlement revoked to free up housing for those who deserve it.
i do apologise fo ranting, and i really feel for all of those people who cannot afford private renting and therefore need council homes especially when there are those who basically take the p*** by refusing to work, keeping their houses in disgusting states or allowing their homes to become 'under occupied'

[colin44]

nicolawh09 ... Good first post.


Free up Council Houses for the more needed .

DON'T GET ME STARTED .........

Maybe the first to go should be the 'Tenants' who then take in a lodger or two or three !!!!!

I know of a couple of places by me who do this, you should see the BMWs on their drives.

Colin

[echobeach2008]

[Bluey]

There are schemes to reward tenants to give up under occupied property - my aunty got a grant for decorating and help with removals to downsize from a 2 to 1 bed property when her children left home. The council proactively contacted her to arrange viewings of properties in areas she'd not considered before but that they thought she might like (and they were right).

There are schemes whereby if a relative gets a succession tenancy (for example, a son living with parents who are the tenants and their parents die), they may be asked to downsize.

I personally don't think under occupation is a great issue. Like yourself, they enjoy security of tenure - if you are happy to have a temporary tenancy, then maybe you won't under occupy in the future when you reach retirement age and your children move out. Many countries have temporary tenancies for social housing, rents tied to income and interviews for suitability before being awarded a tenancy, for example.

The reasons why there is a shortage of social housing include changes to the allocation policy, immigration, lack of new builds, old stock sold through right to buy, couples more likely to break up, people living longer, people holding on to their tenancies for longer because private rental and property buying is much more expensive and so forth.