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Housing

Houses are homes and that should be there only function!

Supported Housing (by the Local Council or others/organisation)
putting the tenant first!

All existing council houses will be converted to supported housing, with agreement of the tenant or to a New Minimum Size Council House below. Helping people onto the housing ladder, a home is purchased or part purchased by the organisation and divided into £1000 shares (example say for £246,500) rounded up to nearest £1000 and £3000 added (to cover costs). 

The Potential Owner(PO) will purchase two shares. His/her friends and family will be encouraged to buy shares. The organisation will look into purchasing any shares not raised by friends and family. The PO will pay .3% of the total amount of all the shares per month + £10 (to cover costs i.e. £250,000 = £760 a month). This amount will be distributed among the shareholders and be exempt from any tax, annually (including the PO).  Thereby the return to investors would be 3.6% APR. The PO will sign a full repairing rental agreement. The Potential Owner(PO) and friends and family can at any time purchase more shares at a £1000 each from the Organisation plus £3 for every complete month since annual pay-out. (.3% of the £1000 of the rent per month). The recipient(s) of these rents will not pay any tax on the money received.

The PO will nominate a Home manager (which must be approved by the local council) who will invest in 5 shares in the property and be a mentor and liason person between the PO and the shareholders.  The Home Manger’s shares will be the last to be sold to the PO. Every Council will have an employee who will available as a Home Manager for  any supported housing in their area.

If the PO leaves the property one of the following will occur.

1. The property will be transferred to a new PO under the same terms. (Old PO sells at least two shares to the new PO) with agreement of all shareholders.

2. The property will be sold on the open market with a majority of the shareholders’ agreement and the funds distributed to the shareholders including the PO. This is the default option.

The rent will never be increased, nor the property sold unless the PO no longer lives in the property, at which point the property will be sold or the tenancy sold onto another the leaving PO will sell at least 2 shares (£2000) to the new PO.

If the tenant acquires all the shares the property will be transferred into his/her name.

The PO will be responsible for the property. If extra funds are required for any major repairs and the PO cannot afford it the Shareholders can issue more shares, unanimously, thereby the rent will increase. This is the only time the shareholding/rent will increase.

The PO’s annual share out will be put aside and used to purchase shares from the organisation. If the council have no shares left the PO can decide whose shares he/she wishes to purchase. The PO cannot use this money for anything else. It will eventually lead to the PO owning the property.

Shareholders must sell shares to the PO for a £1000 each when he/she requests them from their funds not including “rental” income. Shareholders can sell their shares to whom they like as long as the recipient knows that the PO can purchase them for £1000.

Any interest accrued during the year will belong to the organisation along with any money left over after costs. (This interest will not incur any tax, making it a fair rate for the investors/councils)

This will insure a fixed return for the shareholders and a fixed rent for the PO until he/she purchases the property and gives control over their home to the tenant, with no interference from the shareholders as long as the rent keeps being paid.

The PO can be evicted if no rent is paid for two months, (where by default his/her shares will be used to pay the outstanding rent) unless arrangements have been made with the Shareholders. The PO will then go into Council Minimum sized housing see above or controlled housing see Law and Order

Replace Council tax with a tax based on its size (square metres).

Every Property will be registered with the Land Registry including square metre of the property. The standard rate per square metre will be 10p per annum. The first 30 square metres per adult free, (under 12’s 15 square metres) if the property has more than 200 square metres above the basic amount, the extra square metres will be charged at 20p per square metre per year.  This allows the poor who in need property to have reduced costs while also penalising the ones who have more resources and then they pay for the privilege. The collection and spending of these taxes will be by the Local Government. Overall this will encourage the optimum use of housing.

Implementation, register all property with the land registry including what type (residential, business or agricultural) The land registry will be brought under local government control, thereby bringing together planning and land registry. All amendments to either will be advertised on the local government website as well as at the location. (This will also possibly bring a stop to people illegally claiming unclaimed land.)

Second properties and foreign owners should pay the maximum per square meter.

Planning

All houses will either be for “Family Occupancy” or for “Rental/business”. No house designated for Family Occupancy can be let out short term for under 6 months and can only be let to a Residential Unit as their main property. (The exception being rooms in the house where the owner, residential unit, is also in the house) see planning here

Private Rental
The owner, who must be a UK citizen and resident, will also be the landlord and will be legally responsible for the property even if he/she delegates another to undertake the day to day management. If the owner is a company, its directors will be personally responsible for the property, and is not protected by any limited liability regulations. All properties must be owned outright by the owner.

The owner is responsible for:-
a. payment of the housing tax to the local authority.
b. keeping a register of the renter’s identity and ages. This will ensure everyone will be registered see residency here
c. keeping the property in a state complying with the local government regulations, (minimum standards* set by the central government)
d. responsible for the building. (i.e. rebuilding in the case of flood/fire)
e. charge a fair rent as defined by the local authority.
f. The Landlord can change the tenancy into the supported housing model, see above. (A valuation of the property, by both the tenant and the LandLord based on the mortgageable value) The costs paid by the tenant and is they cannot agree a value the council’s valuation of the property will be used) The Landlord will hold all the shares except for 7, two purchased from the Landlord by the tenant and 5 by Home manager. (the Home Manager can be the landlord, friend of the tenant or the Council Home Manager.)

Council Housing (minimum size property)
All council houses will be constructed or converted to minimum size (Council’s need to produce new housing units designed to provide a minimum size for one person based on a square footage, two people and family accommodation.) see Accommodation Tax

Property will be constructed to use as little energy as possible.
Sewage systems put into Gobal gas units to provide some power/heat to the properties where possible. Wind and solar generators should be considered to provide a minimum usage of the grid, all three should be done on an estate basis under control of the residents’ association. It is possible that these properties are Off Grid and should aim to be so. The power storage system will be owned and maintained by the Local Council.

Once a council property is allocated to a tenant they will be charged the minimum rent until their income, reaches £150 per week after rent. The rent then will increase by 25% of any monies earnt above £200. The excess will be saved by the council as a deposit on a property when they leave the council house. If they die before they leave the property the monies collected will pass to his/her dependents.
If this leads to a property being under occupied the council has the right to move the tenant to another property in the same neighbourhood. If the property is under occupied the existing tenant will pay the extra as required, by discretion of the Local Council.

All tenants will be encouraged to enter into Supported Housing, see above.

Housing Estates will be encouraged to set up residents associations, draft constitution here. These associations will have the responsibility and authority to maintain common areas (allotments, play areas, local energy creation schemes, etc.) They will have a per capita annual grant from the local council depending facilities provided. The committee members will not receive any monetary reward for their services. The committee members must be elected by the residents over 18.

New housing estates (and included in redevelopment projects) will contain homes, a mixture of private houses and council houses, these will owned by the council (minimum size see above) as well children’s outdoor play areas, allotments, retail and business units. Solar panels on 50% of the rooves, and a Gobal Gas plant near the allotments so the fertilisers can be used by the allotment holders.

Other waste water will be used for watering the allotments, via a local decontamination plant.

At the planning stage the Council and the developer will confirm the number, size and cost of council minimum houses along with the area set aside for private housing along with a market area, allotments and play area, if appropriate.

All property will be sold freehold with no ground rent etc. The council will own the common areas and responsible for providing play equipment, allotment facilities and market facilities if appropriate.

The developer will provide the land for these facilities and the council will purchase the council properties built in advance so the developer will have seed capital. The developer will build sewage containers and Gobal gas facilities, along with the allotments, solar and or wind energy and common areas, which will become the responsibility of the residents.

See also planning proposals Here