And another thing...

Acrylic-bob · 31-01-2005, 16:52

We are told that the transfer of the council's housing stock, some 3600 properties, is being carried out because HBC cannot afford to borrow the vast amount of money it will cost to bring them up to nationally recognised standards of repair. So the council is going to give them away FREE to a private housing association which will have, at some stage to make a profit. Which means that at some stage the rents on these properties will start to increase year on year, with the benefits going to the housing associations backers.

I have a better idea. Why not convert all the rental agreements to mortgages. The council have offered mortgages before, so this is nothing new. Then not only will you create a whole new section of property owning citizens, it also gets rid of the idea of rent as "Dead Money". With their newly acquired equity, the new home owners can sort out the repairs themselves, as and when they see fit, and to a standard that they find acceptable as opposed to the usual one size fits all approach.

With property ownership comes a care about the sort of community in which you live. thus problem estates will improve somewhat.

And the nice thing is that the council still receives the income from mortgage payments, instead of suddenly having to give up £10 million per year.

The repairs on whatever properties are empty can be easily managed and they can be maintained for social housing needs.

A win-win situation all round. What do you think??

slinky · 31-01-2005, 17:02

What about people who are on benifits, they cant get a mortgage so where would they live??

Tinkerbelle · 31-01-2005, 17:03

It would cost too much money AB even if i owned the property to put right the years of neglect from previous tenants and HBC. At the moment i have alot of ridge tiles off on the side of the house from the severe gales a few week ago. HBC have been notified but no one has been out to see if theres any damage that might let rain in and cause even more damage to the property.

Acrylic-bob · 31-01-2005, 17:22

I don't see that there would be a problem with the mortgage since the provider would be the council. Homeowner loans are always available and I am sure that the council can also help out there too!

slinky · 31-01-2005, 17:24

Can't get a morgage if you are on benifits such as income support or housing benifit

Tinkerbelle · 31-01-2005, 17:25

HBC helping out AB now that is a novel idea!!!

simon · 31-01-2005, 17:34

Slinky..........by what ever means your rent is paid at the moment.. this will pay your mortgage..

Tinkerbelle · 31-01-2005, 17:38

This doesn't make sense to me Simon can u elaborate

Quote:

Originally Posted by simon

Slinky..........by what ever means your rent is paid at the moment.. this will pay your mortgage..

JohnW · 31-01-2005, 17:53

If they can give the houses away FREE to a housing association, why can they not give them away free to the current tennants and that will solve all the problems?

Tinkerbelle · 31-01-2005, 18:01

What about people that have already have bought theirs, maybe years ago, HBC going to reimburse all these people for their mortgage payments.

slinky · 31-01-2005, 18:06

some good ideas out there today

JohnW · 31-01-2005, 18:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinkerbelle

What about people that have already have bought theirs, maybe years ago, HBC going to reimburse all these people for their mortgage payments.

Giving them away free is hard to justify. However, IF they are going to give them away FREE, why shouldn't the people who have been paying rent on them get the benefit? Not some housing association who will, as A-B says, start upping the rents before long in order to make profit. I see even less justification in giving them to a housing association. Of course, maybe the people who are advocating giving them away have interests in the intended benefiting housing association. That must be worth an enquiry or two!

Tinkerbelle · 31-01-2005, 18:18

HBC give them away free to a Housing Association, HA get out a massive loan to upgrade the properties (which HBC can't do), HA collect rent to pay back the loan. It's just the way it works.

Tinkerbelle · 31-01-2005, 18:22

Also most Housing Associations are a non-profit organisation.

WillowTheWhisp · 31-01-2005, 18:32

I think Slinky is saying that no lender will offer a mortgage to someone on benefits. If I understand A-b correctly, he is suggesting that HBC be the lender and that in fact the tenants don't actually borrow any money but continue to pay the "rent" to HBC as now but that it is classed as a mortgage payment so that at the end of a fixed term the tenant becomes the owner. Should the tenant wish to move house they put it on the market like an ordinary owner and receive part of the money just as they would if they had an outstanding mortgage.

The problem with this idea, which initially seems excellent, is that the tenants would immediately become liable for all repairs to their property and for anyone on a limited income they wouldn't necessarily have the wherewithall to pay for it. The answer to that may seem logical to borrow against the equity they have suddenly aquired in their property but this is where the plan falls down because a person on benefit wouldn't be able to borrow (unless the council were willing and able to stand as lender) but more importantly if they are on a limited income how would they find the extra money to pay back such a loan?

I fear that the council unloading housing stock is simply going to lead to a lot more private landlords and I've recently come across some very unscrupulous ones.

I know someone whose back door won't open and the front door now won't close properly, someone else whose fires don't work and there is no central heating installed so she has had to borrow electric fires. A house not a million miles from me has a backyard wall which is in a dangerous condition and could seriously injure someone if it falls on them. A couple of years ago whilst helping someone to look for a rental property we came across one with mushrooms growing up the bathroom wall and a lovely indoor water feature in the room below! I could go on ....................