Crackdown on 'rich' council house tenants

George Osborne is set to charge full market rent to social housing tenants who earn over £40,000 in London and £30,000 everywhere else .This is a ridiculous idea ,all it will do is encourage people to stay on a lower wage so they keep the lower rent ,exactly what happens with tax credits.He says he wants to end the practice of higher earners benefiting from cheap subsidised rents,my council rent is neither cheap nor subsised it is exactly where the local market says it should be as I suspect most areas will be simply because that is how the LA's and associations set their rent levels ,London possibly being the exception

The other issue is why the hell should a working person receiving no benefits pay more rent that his next door neighbour who is on the dole

http://news.sky.com/story/1513430/cr...-house-tenants

[peanut]

The argument is that if you're on that kind of money you should be able to afford to get a mortgage and not be in social housing as it's for those that need it.

Originally Posted by peanut

The argument is that if you're on that kind of money you should be able to afford to get a mortgage and not be in social housing as it's for those that need it.

The people who need it most are those in the earning bracket that Osborne has targeted ,either way saying that social housing is only for those that need it is wrong.Social housing has always been intended for workers who could afford rent but not a mortgage because of lower incomes,it was never intended to house the unemployed .

[Gary L]

Does this affect you Marty?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by martyh

George Osborne is set to charge full market rent to social housing tenants who earn over £40,000 in London and £30,000 everywhere else .This is a ridiculous idea ,all it will do is encourage people to stay on a lower wage so they keep the lower rent ,exactly what happens with tax credits.He says he wants to end the practice of higher earners benefiting from cheap subsidised rents,my council rent is neither cheap nor subsised it is exactly where the local market says it should be as I suspect most areas will be simply because that is how the LA's and associations set their rent levels ,London possibly being the exception

The other issue is why the hell should a working person receiving no benefits pay more rent that his next door neighbour who is on the dole

http://news.sky.com/story/1513430/cr...-house-tenants

The problem (in London at least) is house prices. They are far too high, but no government will ever tackle them because it would cause voters to lose a *lot* of money, and would pretty much torpedo the ruling party's chances for several elections.

£40,000 a year is a lot of money, but on a 3 or 4 X salary mortgage (which is still, I believe, the standard) will give you between £120,000 and £160,000 to buy a house. This will (at best) buy you a flat in most of London. Not much use if you have a partner and a couple of kids. A friend of mine was in a bloody good job, earning nearly £50k, yet when it came to buying a house, she could only afford one of the rougher parts of Lewisham (which is already rough), and she could barely afford that if she went to the max her bank would lend her (3X salary). This was several years ago.

Now, you can argue that you can move. You can, but what if you need to get to work? It may not be practical to travel too far. For instance, some of my colleagues are on call in case any of our servers fail. The company may not be able to wait for two hours with a major failure while the techs travel in from some far flung part of the country because they could not afford to live in London. There is also the problems of schooling for the kids. It can be difficult to get school places. Particularly where the Government has cut funding in the local area..

Originally Posted by Gary L

Does this affect you Marty?

I already pay full rent so no,in fact it won't affect anyone already paying full rent .It will affect every working tenant if it is decided to simply raise rents to include the profit component of private landlords which I think is intended ,that will intern affect private tenants as their rents rise

[Gary L]

Well at least we can't say it's just the non workers that are taking all the cuts for a change.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Stuart

The problem (in London at least) is house prices. They are far too high, but no government will ever tackle them because it would cause voters to lose a *lot* of money, and would pretty much torpedo the ruling party's chances for several elections.

£40,000 a year is a lot of money, but on a 3 or 4 X salary mortgage (which is still, I believe, the standard) will give you between £120,000 and £160,000 to buy a house. This will (at best) buy you a flat in most of London. Not much use if you have a partner and a couple of kids. A friend of mine was in a bloody good job, earning nearly £50k, yet when it came to buying a house, she could only afford one of the rougher parts of Lewisham (which is already rough), and she could barely afford that if she went to the max her bank would lend her (3X salary). This was several years ago.

Now, you can argue that you can move. You can, but what if you need to get to work? It may not be practical to travel too far. For instance, some of my colleagues are on call in case any of our servers fail. The company may not be able to wait for two hours with a major failure while the techs travel in from some far flung part of the country because they could not afford to live in London. There is also the problems of schooling for the kids. It can be difficult to get school places. Particularly where the Government has cut funding in the local area..

What have house prices got to do with it? Many, if not all, councils wouldn't allow you to apply for council housing and the regular reviews, rather than lifetime entitlement, could exclude you in the future.
Eg My local council.

3.5.20 The Council considers £30,000 per annum for a single person household and £40,000 per annum for family household income to be sufficient financial resource to buy a home or pay market rent in Northampton. Except for a customer to whom Northampton Borough Council decide a reasonable preference is to be given under s166A(3) Housing Act 1996, single applicants who earn £30,000, and joint applicants with a joint income of £50,000 a year, or who have assets or savings of £16,000 for a single applicant £32,000 for joint applicants or more are not qualified to join the housing register for an allocation.

It would be just lowering the existing income level.

The expected change - which will cost tenants on average up to £70 extra a week - will build on measures introduced under the coalition government that enabled housing associations and local authorities to charge market rents to those on incomes of more than £60,000.

Originally Posted by Gary L

Well at least we can't say it's just the non workers that are taking all the cuts for a change.

This isn't a cut ,it is an increase in social rents targeting those workers who live in social housing ,possibly saving for a mortgage ,the increase in rents will mean less saving towards a mortgage defeating the purpose of the policy.

I bet Osborne tries to include this in his 12 billion benefits cuts

[Gary L]

Originally Posted by martyh

This isn't a cut ,it is an increase in social rents targeting those workers who live in social housing ,possibly saving for a mortgage ,the increase in rents will mean less saving towards a mortgage defeating the purpose of the policy.

A bit like the bedroom tax then.

I bet Osborne tries to include this in his 12 billion benefits cuts

He should do. it's a benefit cut.

[papa smurf]

there are too many council house tenants with Mercedes/ BMW's /caravans/boats on the drive they aren't poor and should not be in council housing .

Originally Posted by Gary L

A bit like the bedroom tax then.
.

No nothing like the 'bedroom tax'

He should do. it's a benefit cut

how is it a benefits cut ?

[Gary L]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

there are too many council house tenants with Mercedes/ BMW's /caravans/boats on the drive they aren't poor and should not be in council housing .

Agreed. if they've got the money use it.
benefits are not there as a subsidy so you can save your own money.

---------- Post added at 11:22 ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 ----------

Originally Posted by martyh

how is it a benefits cut ?

The benefit of cheap subsidised rents.

Originally Posted by nomadking

What have house prices got to do with it? Many, if not all, councils wouldn't allow you to apply for council housing and the regular reviews, rather than lifetime entitlement, could exclude you in the future.
Eg My local council.
It would be just lowering the existing income level.

Exactly the opposite to the housing strategy of my LA (Newcastle city council)

<H3 abp="305">Tenancy Strategy

This document outlines our pledge to tenants to defend social housing as a choice for single people and families. It sets out our opposition on the use and issue of flexible fixed term tenancies for general needs social housing by registered housing providers operating in the City. Newcastle City Council takes the view that lifetime tenancies in general needs social housing is the preferred tenancy type and not flexible short fixed term tenancies as outlined by the Coalition Government. We believe life time tenancies support both the tenant and the delivery of successful sustainable communities.

</H3>

[Bulky]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

there are too many council house tenants with Mercedes/ BMW's /caravans/boats on the drive they aren't poor and should not be in council housing .

This, it annoys the hell out of me , the council estate at the back of us have recently all had new roofs with solar panels installed (my roof needs doing and I wouldn't be against having solar panels but can't afford it at present). The amount of the property's with really nice and new BMWs and Mercedes, 2 cars on the drive , obviously earning some serious money. I always thought council houses were there to help people struggling to afford their own property , surely as soon as they have a decent job and earn enough they should go private rental or get themselves on the property ladder ?