dirtydog said:
You seem to assume that a person either rents from the council or owns their home. Neglecting to mention that many people rent in the private sector, and pay through the nose for the privilege. The fact is that council rents should be a lot higher than they are. Council tenants benefit threefold: very cheap rent; all repairs and maintenance done free; and the biggest one of all: very secure tenancy terms. I think council rents should be the same as in the private sector. Any low income or unemployed tenant will get housing benefit anyway so will not lose out.
Fair point about private accomodation..yes they pay rent, but not necessarily over the odds - I guess it depends on the situation of the individual as I know some people on VERY good private rents compared to the majority - and that's in Bournemouth, a very expensive area. I was thinking from my own point of view as a homeowner.
Should council rents be higher? Maybe - but it is up to the council and the rest of us just have to live with the decision. As someone already said, it's the price for living in a welfare state.
I think you might have missed the point I made about maintence though - it comes out of the rent the tenants pay. Effectively because the council owns the property outright, the tenant's rent is to cover ongoing costs only, there is no "capital" element to cover the council buying/building the property - all the council has to pay is maintence, hence that is what the tenant is paying for. If homeowners calculated what they spend on maintenance as a weekly amount, what would it come out at? Dunno, never done it myself though! The difference is council tenants pay for maintenace regularly (as do private tenants through maintenance contracts) but homeowners either save up a stash for when it's needed or have to find a lump sum as and when...
As for low or unemployed tenants getting housing benefit....not necessarily the case. My wife is disabled and can't work but isn't entitled to ANY benefits from the government except disability living allowance, which is less than unemployment benefit, because 1 - we're married and 2 - I work more than 28 hours a week. How much I take home each month is irrelevant as far as the benefits go.
We would not be entitled to any benefits if we were renting. I'm talking from experience as we did rent privately until last year.
Very secure tenancy terms - true, I'll give you that. But that doesn't mean private renting has to be worse. I know someone for example who has a guarantee as part of their rental agreement that they are guaranteed the property for a minumum of 5 years each renewal. That's fairly secure, and while it may not be the norm, it just depends. They get on well with their landlord, so brokered the deal. Anyone in the private sector could do that.