Council Houses In Barnsley

To say more are needed and the council have let building them slip, is an understatement.

 

By council you mean successive Tory governments right?

 

Same all over the country. Selling them off with massive discounts under RtB, and no money available to replace them at anywhere near the same rate as they are losing them.

The changes announced in the budget will help.

 

They sold them off but weren't allowed to reinvest the money and build more - thank the government

 

Please tell me you’re just fishing and you are not really that thick

 

Exactly this

 

Building them with funding from where as you seem so critical of the council I assume you know the answer. I'm of the understanding that it's successive tory governments that for obvious reasons have no interest in social housing but it might be me that's as thick as mince.

 

Dreambot3000

 

I don't get why any council would sell them off to then build more?

Interesting to see how sales have slowed down massively but I guess that's because there's none left to sell off but the numbers over the years has been significant under whichever party is in government / local council.

 

Another Thatcher betrayal.

 

And privatisation which is why we have high bills and poor services.

 

Politically, its been a difficult thing to address. House price growth, for those who own their home, gives a feeling of wealth and progression and feelgood, although unless you downsize or move to a cheaper area it can be something of an illusion and you only have to think back to the noughties and the proliferation of property programmes on our screens to see how keen the nation were to add property value. So politically, to take away an option for someone to buy their home they've lived in would be incredibly unpopular, even with those already owning their own I'd suspect.

I think another issue are developers. They are generally mandated to include social housing in big developments, but often they pare back these numbers and councils have gone along reluctantly... Just because of the desperate need for funding given the swingeing tory cuts to council budgets and the hope they can gain more council tax receipts.

It's another mess. But there seem to be signs this government may do something, though probably not enough in the short term.

 

A bit of both I fear....

 

The original policy idea was to sell off old, outdated and expensive to maintain stock and use the funds raised to build new, modern and cheaper to maintain social houses. I can't remember who it came from originally, but it was a Labour politician.

The Thatcher government took the first part and dropped the second part to the horror of the originator.

 

We have the same problem in North Yorkshire made worse by creating a unitary authority bringing 8 separate councils issues together.

We have 70 odd void properties in Selby alone that are empty due to lack of maintenence and funding to bring them back to standard so people can live in them.

We are seeing some hope after the budget with investment coming in so money can be spent restoring properties but it's all to slow and the Tory council we have here not wanting to build housing in their back yard will not help either.

Of the housing we are expected to build here now which is over 4000 only 100 a year are set to be social housing and for me there lies the problem!

Lots of affordable housing around 30% of the rest but how do you define affordable? Its no good being able to afford the mortgage but not the utilities council tax and the rest of the bills that come with ownership its a false economy.

 

I think you are wrong in that statement..

 

How so?

 

Because the Tory Gov gave Councils the right to keep 100% of the money back in 2022 ( if memories serves me)
Hopefully the Labour govt carry this on RichK

 

Affordable/Social housing a big con...most go to Housing Associations.
On Birdwell, 114 houses being built. 11 will go " Affordable ".
4 sold to anyone, 7 goes to an housing association

 

That's because when the largest amount of the old council houses where being sold off the Tories prevented councils replacing them. So that in the future people would be forced down the private rental route, the rich then went round hoovering up as many old council houses being sold by their former tenants as they could and charge many times more rent than the council did / do. Which means more money for the Tories and their friends. Tory governments only ever bring in legislation that will benefit them or their friends.