Immigrants taking our council houses

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  • Scarlet FeverScarlet Fever Posts: 216
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    If people of Somalian origin got a house it is because they were higher up the list than others. By law a council cannot discriminate on grounds of ethnicity; nor is there any imaginable reason why they would want to discriminate positively in such a way. (I am sure we can all think of a reason why a housing department might want to discriminate negatively).

    I think you are getting confused here. Immigrants 'who haven't paid a penny into our system' (presumablyl asylum seekers, who may not, by law, work) do not get houses that people 'have been turfed out of'. They get home office properties which have been offloaded by a council as being impossible to let. People who get council housing do so by putting their names on a list; they must prove a work history that shows that they are 'customarily resident' in this country, which is likely to take some years. No one can just rock up and ask for a nice council house.

    Council houses are not free. If you want to know what benefits you will be entitled to in other countries you will have to ask on a country by country basis. many countries have no social housing at all so it will not apply.


    Roma gypsies have a higher mortality rate from all causes; they live on average 12-15 years less than non-gypsies; they have a child mortality rate 300% higher. Possibly someone has thought it compassionate to try and address these issues.

    Nice clear post!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,916
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    I am a council tenant.. I pay £110 a week for my home... this house cost about £700 to build in the 50's - I am sick of being labelled as being subsidised - and no I cannot buy it for personal and medical reasons.

    It's subsidised in that you are not experiencing the market rate of private renting or equivalent mortgage payments, so the council is getting less revenue than it could be getting - although it could be argued these are over inflated and you are paying the proper rates to begin with. It's certainly not my experience that most tenants are not paying anywhere near 90% of the rents that are commanded in the private sector, although that will depend on your geographical location I guess.

    When I lived in a HA property until a couple of years ago I was paying £112 a week for a 3 bedroom end terrace. I've now got a 4 bed detached property and my mortgage is getting on for double my old rent and that was with sticking down a 30% deposit.
  • ProgRockerProgRocker Posts: 1,325
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    nanscombe wrote: »
    If they hadn't bought their houses where would all the ex-council tenants be living?

    My parents bought their council house around 1982. Had RTB never came in, I think that we would have been living on one of the nearby private estates by the mid/late 1980s. :)

    My dad was a self employed bricklayer and getting a mortgage in the 1960s-70s was quite hard. Lenders wanted about a third down as a deposit.

    Although I may inherit part of this house one day, one of my siblings and I are renting privately. I'm on the register of a single bedroomed council flat but I'm a low priority.
  • LockesLockes Posts: 6,568
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    It's subsidised in that you are not experiencing the market rate of private renting or equivalent mortgage payments, so the council is getting less revenue than it could be getting - although it could be argued these are over inflated and you are paying the proper rates to begin with. It's certainly not my experience that most tenants are not paying anywhere near 90% of the rents that are commanded in the private sector, although that will depend on your geographical location I guess.

    When I lived in a HA property until a couple of years ago I was paying £112 a week for a 3 bedroom end terrace. I've now got a 4 bed detached property and my mortgage is getting on for double my old rent and that was with sticking down a 30% deposit.




    and?, you have a mortgage some day the house will be your own to sell, give away or rent out. Council houses are never the tenants home to do as they please
  • jesayajesaya Posts: 35,597
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    I seriously doubt it would have been painted as a triumph, if Labour had gone through with the idea.

    It was the worst idea in history and has lead to high rents and housing shortages.

    At least if Labour did it, they might have built more houses with the proceeds of the sales.

    I didn't have an issue to be honest with RTB itself - one factor that people tend not to take into account is that it relieved the councils of the cost to maintain property that was lived in by families who could afford to maintain it themselves, which I thought a good thing (having seen the cost of that when I worked for a local authority doing efficiency studies).

    What I had a huge problem with was the government stopping councils from using the proceeds to build more social housing to replace the stock sold off.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,916
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    [/B]and?, you have a mortgage some day the house will be your own to sell, give away or rent out. Council houses are never the tenants home to do as they please

    And what? I'm just pointing out that council rents are cheaper than private rents and mortgages, hence why some people consider them to be subsidised.

    As a tenant you can do what you please in general as long as you keep the rents up. A friend of mine lives in a privately rented flat and isn't even allowed to hang pictures or put shelving up if it puts holes in the wall. Conversely, I've been in some council properties that are complete shit tips and the tenant isn't taken to task on it, whereas a private landlord wouldn't hesitate, unless they were scum lords.
  • LockesLockes Posts: 6,568
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    And what? I'm just pointing out that council rents are cheaper than private rents and mortgages, hence why some people consider them to be subsidised.

    As a tenant you can do what you please in general as long as you keep the rents up. A friend of mine lives in a privately rented flat and isn't even allowed to hang pictures or put shelving up if it puts holes in the wall. Conversely, I've been in some council properties that are complete shit tips and the tenant isn't taken to task on it, whereas a private landlord wouldn't hesitate, unless they were scum lords.



    well obviously they are, if you have a mortgage the house will become yours and private rents are due to the fact that landlords can charge what they like because of a housing shortage. Its the private rental market that should be brought to task, not bringing council rents in line with them (another great tory policy).
  • Jane Doh!Jane Doh! Posts: 43,307
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    As a tenant you can do what you please in general as long as you keep the rents up. A friend of mine lives in a privately rented flat and isn't even allowed to hang pictures or put shelving up if it puts holes in the wall. .

    But that's not always the case. My landlord lets me do whatever I like, shelves, decorating, digging up the garden to create a wildlife area ...
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,916
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    well obviously they are, if you have a mortgage the house will become yours and private rents are due to the fact that landlords can charge what they like because of a housing shortage. Its the private rental market that should be brought to task, not bringing council rents in line with them (another great tory policy).

    So what's the problem then? I vacated my house to give it to someone more in need than myself when it got to the point that my income rise meant that I was no longer in need of it, whereas I could have quite easily have stayed there forever more and lived the life of Riley with the amount of disposable cash I would have had every month and the large chunk of savings I would still have in the bank.

    House ownership isn't exactly the pinnacle of measuring success as I have to pay for its upkeep and maintenance, only to risk running the gauntlet of the government forcing me to sell it to pay for my care when I am old. I bought it as I could choose where I wanted to live (some of my neighbours were awful) and get the house I wanted, not having to pay for rent until the day I die and hopefully leaving a legacy to my kids without the government getting their hands on it, either through funding my care in later life or paying inheritance tax on it when I pop my clogs.

    In my area, private rents are about the same as mortgages, if not less, so that's probably why some landlords charge what they do.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 68,508
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    Alan1981 wrote: »
    What an ignorant statement. The Tories did no such thing, they may have sold off council housing but these houses didn't just disappear. They housed people who otherwise could have

    It's not an ignorant statement at all; it seems to me indisputably true. They did not 'house people', they allowed those already comfortably housed to remove that house from the future public stock. In areas of high homelessness we now have the ridiculous situation of councils being forced to rent back, at high cost, houses that they used to own, in order to comply with their legal requirements. No one has a fundamental human right to own a home.
    Labour originally proposed the right to buy scheme back in the 50's. And if this scheme had been brought in by the left you can bet damn well it would be painted as a triumph for the working class man by the far left.
    No, ir really wouldn't. It was a terrible scheme imo. I have good friends who bought their council house at a big discount, immediately rented it out, and bought another house. They now let to the council that used to own their home under the guaranteed rent scheme. I don't blame them personally for making hay, but you can see that as a policy it was hardly advantageous to anyone except the lucky couple.

    (I have to say, however, speaking as a private landlord, that I am very fed up with being a whipping boy. A lot of areas don't have a guaranteed rent scheme; where I own properties both capital values and housing benefit rates have fallen; I barely make any money at all, can't sell the properties and often make a loss.)
    Jane Doh! wrote: »
    But that's not always the case. My landlord lets me do whatever I like, shelves, decorating, digging up the garden to create a wildlife area ...

    I would faint with joy if any of my tenants showed interest in a garden, other than as a place to pile up old sofas.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,510
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    Horrible horrible post OP... cant believe there are still people like this in the world
  • Jane Doh!Jane Doh! Posts: 43,307
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    I would faint with joy if any of my tenants showed interest in a garden, other than as a place to pile up old sofas.

    :D My landlord said that as I pay for the house and garden, I should do whatever I want that makes me happy as I live there. He drew the line at knocking walls down and digging up enough garden for a swimming pool, but that really wasn't in my wildest dreams!

    When I leave, I'll just repaint where necessary and tidy the wildlife area as it's all long grass, nettles and log piles.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,916
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    Jane Doh! wrote: »
    But that's not always the case. My landlord lets me do whatever I like, shelves, decorating, digging up the garden to create a wildlife area ...

    Well it sounds like you have a fair landlord who allows you to treat the property as you would your own given you are effectively paying his mortgage for him, whereas other landlord are only bothered about having to pay out to put things back to the way they were when someone moves out andthe new tenants complain about holes in the walls etc.

    The woman who lived over the road from me kept her HA property in such squalid conditions the workmen used to take photos of it to show their mates just how some people live. Her feral kids would just rip all the kitchen cupboard doors off their hinges and punch holes in the plasterboard walls and she would get it all repaired free of charge, whereas the reality is that she should have been presented with a bill for the works, just as me and you would. Again, that's a form of subsidising. I accept that evicting tenants isn't always the answer as the problem just gets moved around as they are obliged to house her, but there should be consequences for her actions and those of her family as without them, people can run amok and do whatever the hell they like, which oddly, seems to be de rigueur with a lot of people today.
  • Alien_SaxonAlien_Saxon Posts: 1,178
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    CBFreak wrote: »
    I blame parents. How dare they breed! When their child/children comes of age they will need a house of their own. So selfish

    In all seriousness though, the main cause of housing shortage is the vastly expanding population.

    http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/images/2010/Aug/uk-population-growth-forecast2010-2030.gif

    An expanding population where for every one British child born an Asian or Black family will have 4.

    There are many bleeding heart liberals out there crying about the lack of opportunities for the "yoof" today in 2013...how on earth will there be opportunities when we are passed the 80 million mark?
  • nanscombenanscombe Posts: 16,588
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    Jane Doh! wrote: »
    :D My landlord said that as I pay for the house and garden, I should do whatever I want that makes me happy as I live there. He drew the line at knocking walls down and digging up enough garden for a swimming pool, but that really wasn't in my wildest dreams!

    When I leave, I'll just repaint where necessary and tidy the wildlife area as it's all long grass, nettles and log piles.

    They are probably lucky that you don't expect them to pay for someone to come and do it for you. :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6,924
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    Just now in our area there has been a stream of young lads (17 years old) being given their own council flats. The mother of one family I know personally told the Council she was kicking her 3 kids out. These 3 youngsters 17,18 and 19 all have their own council flats. It seems to be the norm here for families to say they have had enough of their child, they are chucking them out and within a few short weeks these kids are being allocated houses. When I say flats I mean as in a 4 in a block, not a tower.
  • Jane Doh!Jane Doh! Posts: 43,307
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    nanscombe wrote: »
    They are probably lucky that you don't expect them to pay for someone to come and do it for you. :)

    Well, to be fair, I won't be doing the painting myself, I'll pay someone to do it for me. I'm not capable any more. Not only is it in my tenancy agreement that the house has to be left as it was let, but it's also a matter of pride and personal responsibility.

    I'm still on the HA list for a house and have been since 2006. My daughter will have left home by the time I get to the top so I had no choice but to go private.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6,924
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    £110 a week for your rent Bob up and down, good god. You pay more for your rent than we pay for our mortgage. :eek:
  • JusticarJusticar Posts: 1,620
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    Housing should be allocated according to the following priority:

    1) people who were born here and who need emergency housing
    2) people who were born here
    3) immigrants who've been here the longest

    Seems fair to me. Maybe implement a rule that says immigrants who've been here for over 10 years get priority over people in category 2) who are between the ages of 18-23, something like that. But that's it.
  • jarryhackjarryhack Posts: 5,076
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    Out of the hundred odd houses where I live, about half are let to eastern Europeans/Congolese and if I'm being completely honest, it's now a better place to live. We used to have anti social behaviour on an almost nightly basis but now it is a quiet, friendly place. So, in my area there are a lot of immigrants in council houses but from a completely selfish point of view, I hope they stay.

    Conversely in our street, which is council, it is very peaceful, but the only thing that spoils it is the selfish Polish tenants 2 doors down from us who disrupt the street at all hours with their parties, drunken behaviour and fighting in the street. The police have been on numerous occasions. That particular house is ex council now privately owned and rented out.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,075
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    avasgranny wrote: »
    £110 a week for your rent Bob up and down, good god. You pay more for your rent than we pay for our mortgage. :eek:

    I know.... :cry:
  • ~Twinkle~~Twinkle~ Posts: 8,165
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    I think it's disgraceful that British people are being turfed out of their council/housing association properties which they've lived in for years due to this ridiculous bedroom tax only to make room for a family of immigrants who haven't paid a penny into our system.
    ~Twinkle~ wrote: »
    How many British people have been turfed out of their council homes because they can't pay the bedroom tax?

    How many immigrant families have been given the accommodation that's become available because the British have been "turfed out"?

    I notice that my request for figures has been ignored, so far. ;)
  • cessnacessna Posts: 6,747
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    I am not sure its true that the bulk of immigrants are mostly being offered sub-standard housing. However one has to question the sheer stupidity and ignorance of a British Govt that has signed this nation into acceping ever lasting mass immigration into the UK with our history of decades of enduring inadequate houseing for its own people,

    Recently a TV prog portrayed a family from a foreign land being offered a newly built and newly decoraed 3 or 4 bedroom council flat, including luxury fully fitted kitchen and other extras . "The phone socket is also installed" said the agent - "In every room"? enquired the
    applicant, who at first turned down the property due to there being 'no car parking space included or provided' !.


    footnote:
    It is unwise to state the nationality or culture concerned whenever making statements of truth that criticise
    (Unless its against white British) otherwise there is the risk of being awarded the DSB and Bar - as has already occurred.
  • DaisyBumblerootDaisyBumbleroot Posts: 24,763
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    An expanding population where for every one British child born an Asian or Black family will have 4.

    There are many bleeding heart liberals out there crying about the lack of opportunities for the "yoof" today in 2013...how on earth will there be opportunities when we are passed the 80 million mark?

    So it's only minorities that have large families now is it?
  • BelligerenceBelligerence Posts: 40,613
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    Horrible horrible post OP... cant believe there are still people like this in the world
    How dare these immigrants take our houses and our jobs. ;) :mad:
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