What does it say about our system that we don’t take the money needed to pay those high prices and use it to build new homes and actually tackle the housing shortage?
The difference in price is somewhat meaningful in criticising the original right to buy policy, but it seems meaningless in judging this policy.
Taking housing out of the private market and using it as a social housing is a zero sum action in terms of supply, how is this is supposed to help with anything?
Both London and the UK already have one of the highest rate of social housing in the developed world.
The local authorities need to build new homes. Just look at this massive decrease in building rates:
I am a private owner and I have never been and hopefully will never be in a position where I need benefits or council housing, and I am not happy about my taxes being transferred to private landlords through the benefits system – I would rather see the government building or buying more properties for the people in need and keeping control over them, it is much cheaper long-term.
If you’re a private renter this the council using your taxes to buy your flat, evict you, and hand it to a random council housing list lottery winner instead.
Tower Hamlets in particular is notably non-corrupt and I’m sure their social housing is allocated on an entirely even-handed and fair basis.
Pretty sure it’s for various regeneration schemes across the borough
If you buy a council home, you should have to offer to the council first when you sell. Housing should be just that – not an investment or pension.
Utter piss-take that they’re using this money to buy existing property instead of building new property. At least when councils build new council housing you get the vague public good of more supply keeping costs down. Using taxpayer money to bid up costs on existing property which will inevitably be used to house the cousin of some councillor is obscene.
It’s crazy that is cheaper for councils to do this than build new ones because of land banking, it taking ages and it costing £££ for temporary accommodation and new build apartments cost so much for councils that they can only ever part fund them.
So … You buy your council house.
You wait a few years.
Council buys it back.
Where are you supposed to live now?
Would selling it back make you homeless?
Although I applaud the scheme, it puts stock back into the right hands, it’s effectively shifting the deckchairs around on the Titanic.
Yeah, makes perfect sense…in a parallel universe. I mean really is anyone believe that the money will go for the public interest?
What’s the cost of owning housing stock and making repairs while charging council tenants a nominal rent which comes back to the council, compared to the state paying housing benefits to private landlord. Outwardly it would seem like a no brainer.
No one can get a mortgage on our ex-council flat so we can’t sell it (slightly more complicated than that in reality).
The council buying it back would be the ideal situation for all concerned, but looks like my council don’t offer it out-right
Right to buy should have ended decades ago, if it was allowed to start at all!
I’d be interested to see some figures behind this, I’m not sure it really makes financial sense, at least in the short to medium term.
The council’s will have to borrow money to purchase the homes, they will then provide them to people who meet the criteria. Would they then rent them back? The council would have to maintain the properties too.
How long would it take until there’s a financial benefit, 50 years?
Anyway, how will taking homes from the housing market and putting them into council ownership increase housing stock? The total number of properties remains the same.
These numbers and dates may be off but here’s my neighbour’s situation from a few years ago:
* Bought a 3 bed 1 bath terraced council house through RTB in the mid/late 90s for £150K ish?
* Added an attic bed room, 2 en suites and an extra loo in early 2010s
* Tried to sell in late 2010s, was offered £650K by council, declined. Put it on the market for £750K, no offers accepted.
Councils have been buying back homes for years.
Love to work my ass off, get taxed to shit and then get outbid by my local council on the cheapest housing I can afford to dare to try and buy
Maybe the council should build more on land they already own instead of extracting more from the working population instead
Does zip to address the lack of affordable housing options to those that work for a living. Tower Hamlets being a prime example here – more social housing for the benefits class, whist the middle class leaves London.
20 comments
What does it say about our system that we don’t take the money needed to pay those high prices and use it to build new homes and actually tackle the housing shortage?
The difference in price is somewhat meaningful in criticising the original right to buy policy, but it seems meaningless in judging this policy.
Taking housing out of the private market and using it as a social housing is a zero sum action in terms of supply, how is this is supposed to help with anything?
Both London and the UK already have one of the highest rate of social housing in the developed world.
The local authorities need to build new homes. Just look at this massive decrease in building rates:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/746101/completion-of-new-dwellings-uk/
Good.
I am a private owner and I have never been and hopefully will never be in a position where I need benefits or council housing, and I am not happy about my taxes being transferred to private landlords through the benefits system – I would rather see the government building or buying more properties for the people in need and keeping control over them, it is much cheaper long-term.
If you’re a private renter this the council using your taxes to buy your flat, evict you, and hand it to a random council housing list lottery winner instead.
Tower Hamlets in particular is notably non-corrupt and I’m sure their social housing is allocated on an entirely even-handed and fair basis.
Pretty sure it’s for various regeneration schemes across the borough
If you buy a council home, you should have to offer to the council first when you sell. Housing should be just that – not an investment or pension.
Utter piss-take that they’re using this money to buy existing property instead of building new property. At least when councils build new council housing you get the vague public good of more supply keeping costs down. Using taxpayer money to bid up costs on existing property which will inevitably be used to house the cousin of some councillor is obscene.
It’s crazy that is cheaper for councils to do this than build new ones because of land banking, it taking ages and it costing £££ for temporary accommodation and new build apartments cost so much for councils that they can only ever part fund them.
So … You buy your council house.
You wait a few years.
Council buys it back.
Where are you supposed to live now?
Would selling it back make you homeless?
Although I applaud the scheme, it puts stock back into the right hands, it’s effectively shifting the deckchairs around on the Titanic.
Yeah, makes perfect sense…in a parallel universe. I mean really is anyone believe that the money will go for the public interest?
What’s the cost of owning housing stock and making repairs while charging council tenants a nominal rent which comes back to the council, compared to the state paying housing benefits to private landlord. Outwardly it would seem like a no brainer.
No one can get a mortgage on our ex-council flat so we can’t sell it (slightly more complicated than that in reality).
The council buying it back would be the ideal situation for all concerned, but looks like my council don’t offer it out-right
Right to buy should have ended decades ago, if it was allowed to start at all!
I’d be interested to see some figures behind this, I’m not sure it really makes financial sense, at least in the short to medium term.
The council’s will have to borrow money to purchase the homes, they will then provide them to people who meet the criteria. Would they then rent them back? The council would have to maintain the properties too.
How long would it take until there’s a financial benefit, 50 years?
Anyway, how will taking homes from the housing market and putting them into council ownership increase housing stock? The total number of properties remains the same.
These numbers and dates may be off but here’s my neighbour’s situation from a few years ago:
* Bought a 3 bed 1 bath terraced council house through RTB in the mid/late 90s for £150K ish?
* Added an attic bed room, 2 en suites and an extra loo in early 2010s
* Tried to sell in late 2010s, was offered £650K by council, declined. Put it on the market for £750K, no offers accepted.
Councils have been buying back homes for years.
Love to work my ass off, get taxed to shit and then get outbid by my local council on the cheapest housing I can afford to dare to try and buy
Maybe the council should build more on land they already own instead of extracting more from the working population instead
Does zip to address the lack of affordable housing options to those that work for a living. Tower Hamlets being a prime example here – more social housing for the benefits class, whist the middle class leaves London.
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