Council Housing is of course an important thing. It enables people to have accommodation who would struggle otherwise to pay private rates of rent.
But CH does throw up some difficult problems. Firstly, as the demand for CH in a place like London grows, the qualification for it becomes more and more extreme, and so people have to exaggerate their medical, physical or psychological conditions to be able to qualify. We see this sort of exaggeration when trying to get a GP or hospital appointment too – it almost seems pointless to be too honest.
Secondly, CH can create a dependency relationship with the tenant. The tenant can appreciate having the lower rent than he/she would in the private sector, but often it’s then frustrating because they feel priced out of living in other areas, so they have to resign themselves to living in social housing where some of their neighbours might make a mess because not owning their homes makes them care less about its upkeep. I once lived in a building that combined private and council flats, and the police often came to the building to look for a guy who was presumably dealing drugs. He had his flat because he had a medical problem, but that right established with the council meant that when his door was kicked to bits by his drug dealer associates at night (and then the drug squad too trying to get in!) the council would quietly come back the next day and fix the door, repair all that was needed and he’d be back in his flat in no time.
