The Margaret Thatcher is Dead Thread

[London Irish]

That's where housing associations came into their own.

They now build the renting houses and better than the council houses that were available.

The unfortunate flaw in that argument is that housing association rents are higher than council stock rents.

And while HA rents are lower than in the private rented sector, there is simply not enough HA lettings to meet the demand.

Selling off council houses was not wrong in principle and it's a good thing that people who've lived in their homes for a long time have the opportunity to own them.

The problem arose with the profiteering from a quick sell-on - this was nothing more than the taxpayer - you and I - getting ripped off by the Tories. It is fine for people to buy at a subsidised price, but they should have had to pay back that subsidy if they were just going to sell on the house quickly.

Also, no council house should ever be sold off without another one being built in its place somewhere within the locality. This is about ensuring choice for the younger generation of newer families.

The Tory sell-off was, of course, nothing to do with helping people lead better lives but was driven by their blind ideological hatred for public provision, which was the same reason why the NHS and state schools were run down in order to push people into private health care and private education, both of course run by Tories and their mates.