[user104658]

I'm not saying that there aren't huge and varied issues with housing, just pointing out the ridiculousness of selling off housing stock only to then rent it back, which is effectively what councils have done. On the street I was living on up until a year ago, a council / ex-council street, I would say there were only about 25% of houses still council owned, maybe 10% living in a house that they owned themselves, and the rest all ex-council, private rent. We were paying £550pcm for EXACTLY the same house as the one directly across from us, which was still "council", and I think the council rent was less than £250. We pay our own rent, but, of course, there were others in private houses on the street on LHA with the council paying out £550pcm for houses that they used to own, and sold off for a pittance - probably less than three years worth of rent. So they sold them and have by now paid out enough to have bought them back 5 times over. Madness.

Where I live now, a well-off and sought after small village, there are only a handful of council houses at all. There weren't a huge number to begin with, but the ones that there were would have been snapped up almost instantly when right to buy was introduced. The location makes them far more valuable than their material worth (which is incidentally also what has so far priced us out of buying and stuck renting privately ).

The non payment of rent is also a complex issue. Gambling, drink and drugs are vices borne of people having miserable existences. All three offer a buzz and oblivion, and gambling, being honest, and really sadly, is partly people who really believe that they can make money and have better lives. They fool themselves on a daily basis into believing that they are in profit.

Anyway, it's a sad fact that some just can't control their spending or their habits, which is why (and shock horror, I'm agreeing with The Truth!) it's ridiculous that councils are so hesitant to pay direct to landlords. I do think people should be given a CHANCE to receive it as cash and pay the landlord themselves - but if a landlord approaches the council about non-payment and the tenant is getting LHA then it should be switched to the landlord immediately. Sometimes it's not even a vice. Some people just have an inability to manage money. Benefits being paid every 4 weeks and rent monthly doesn't help there, of course, if someone is struggling to buy food and there's a lump of LHA sitting for weeks waiting to be paid it must be tempting to "borrow" from it.

The issue of damage there's really no excuse for, though. I don't really understand why people wouldn't WANT to take care of a property they're in... They have to live there, after all.

Then again, that goes the other way too. Our current landlord is SUCH a cheapskate that it's not even funny. The guttering leaks, it's 30 to 40 years old, it needs replaced but he's just sent a couple of dodgy blokes to "clean it out" three times instead. It's not helping. Starting to have damp issues in the top corners upstairs - nothing that I can't cover cosmetically indoors and the rooms themselves aren't damp but it WILL be damaging the property long term. He doesn't seem to care. Also won't consider installing an extractor in the kitchen even though there are huge condensation issues when cooking, but again, his call. He also sent a guy to re-seal around the bath and he did such an abysmal job that I had to scrub it off and re-apply it myself.

We even replaced the living room flooring (ancient carpets replaced with good quality laminate) and we ripped out a horrendous 70's gas fire and fireplace and found a gorgeous open fireplace hidden beneath! At a cost of almost £1500 out of our own pockets, but we're in a 2 year tenancy and were getting so miserable with the state of it that we had to do it ourselves. We were embarrassed to have kids friends over. I suppose that's the benefit of him not caring though - he gave us written permission to basically do what we want in terms of changing and decorating the house. So we've upgraded his property for him. Which does sort of piss me off. Might put it all back before we move out .

Sorry... This turned into a bit of a rant!

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I'm not saying that there aren't huge and varied issues with housing, just pointing out the ridiculousness of selling off housing stock only to then rent it back, which is effectively what councils have done. On the street I was living on up until a year ago, a council / ex-council street, I would say there were only about 25% of houses still council owned, maybe 10% living in a house that they owned themselves, and the rest all ex-council, private rent. We were paying £550pcm for EXACTLY the same house as the one directly across from us, which was still "council", and I think the council rent was less than £250. We pay our own rent, but, of course, there were others in private houses on the street on LHA with the council paying out £550pcm for houses that they used to own, and sold off for a pittance - probably less than three years worth of rent. So they sold them and have by now paid out enough to have bought them back 5 times over. Madness.

Where I live now, a well-off and sought after small village, there are only a handful of council houses at all. There weren't a huge number to begin with, but the ones that there were would have been snapped up almost instantly when right to buy was introduced. The location makes them far more valuable than their material worth (which is incidentally also what has so far priced us out of buying and stuck renting privately ).

The non payment of rent is also a complex issue. Gambling, drink and drugs are vices borne of people having miserable existences. All three offer a buzz and oblivion, and gambling, being honest, and really sadly, is partly people who really believe that they can make money and have better lives. They fool themselves on a daily basis into believing that they are in profit.

Anyway, it's a sad fact that some just can't control their spending or their habits, which is why (and shock horror, I'm agreeing with The Truth!) it's ridiculous that councils are so hesitant to pay direct to landlords. I do think people should be given a CHANCE to receive it as cash and pay the landlord themselves - but if a landlord approaches the council about non-payment and the tenant is getting LHA then it should be switched to the landlord immediately. Sometimes it's not even a vice. Some people just have an inability to manage money. Benefits being paid every 4 weeks and rent monthly doesn't help there, of course, if someone is struggling to buy food and there's a lump of LHA sitting for weeks waiting to be paid it must be tempting to "borrow" from it.

The issue of damage there's really no excuse for, though. I don't really understand why people wouldn't WANT to take care of a property they're in... They have to live there, after all.

Then again, that goes the other way too. Our current landlord is SUCH a cheapskate that it's not even funny. The guttering leaks, it's 30 to 40 years old, it needs replaced but he's just sent a couple of dodgy blokes to "clean it out" three times instead. It's not helping. Starting to have damp issues in the top corners upstairs - nothing that I can't cover cosmetically indoors and the rooms themselves aren't damp but it WILL be damaging the property long term. He doesn't seem to care. Also won't consider installing an extractor in the kitchen even though there are huge condensation issues when cooking, but again, his call. He also sent a guy to re-seal around the bath and he did such an abysmal job that I had to scrub it off and re-apply it myself.

We even replaced the living room flooring (ancient carpets replaced with good quality laminate) and we ripped out a horrendous 70's gas fire and fireplace and found a gorgeous open fireplace hidden beneath! At a cost of almost £1500 out of our own pockets, but we're in a 2 year tenancy and were getting so miserable with the state of it that we had to do it ourselves. We were embarrassed to have kids friends over. I suppose that's the benefit of him not caring though - he gave us written permission to basically do what we want in terms of changing and decorating the house. So we've upgraded his property for him. Which does sort of piss me off. Might put it all back before we move out .

Sorry... This turned into a bit of a rant!

No T.S. - far from being a rant, it's a well written balanced post of which I totally agree. (sit down T.S and recover )

It is inexcusable that councils were ever forced to sell off housing stock at a loss, and equally as unforgivable that policies were ever made law which forbade the use of revenue from such sales to be utilised on the building of new homes to replace such lost stock.

There is also no excuse for any tolerance of 'rogue' landlords - private or corporation - and though there are now official schemes in place which seek to address this problem, they are too few and as yet fairly impotent.

I strongly believe in 'affordable' decent housing for all, and have always endeavored to provide just such. I have had good tenants and still have, but if only my efforts and the quality of my accommodation had been appreciated by all of those who I had let property to. If only.