howard mcsweeney1 wrote:In my opinion "right to buy" was the worst thing ever for social housing with long term tenants able to pick them up for a song and when they passed on their kids rented them out privately for a lot more than a council would charge. When I was a child most people lived in council houses usually taking great pride in their gardens front and back but in some areas nowadays sink estates emerge because the people that took pride in their surroundings are not around anymore.
We bought our council house and spent a lot of money on improvements, we lived in it for years before moving, my daughter then moved in freeing up the council house she was in. A young couple eventually bought it and also lived there a long time and spent quite a lot of money improving it.
The houses where we were are still well kept just the same as when we lived in ours. Looking back some tenants took no pride in their homes or the area in general while some were really cared about their home, it is the same now.
The worst thing about right to buy was that housing stock in some areas dwindled.