I think the one major argument against the council house ownership scheme comes from that story about Christine Hamilton. She bought her council flat in Battersea for £4,500 in 1981 and immediately sold it for £45,000.
The first house we bought was a "former local authority" house in Wandsworth. The lady we bought it off had lived there since before the war, paying rent all the time, so if anyone deserved to get a deal then it was her. Trouble is, it was her middle-aged son that got her to buy it and immediately sell it for an enormous profit, same as Christine Hamilton. The lady was then packed off to a home while the son went off to spend his half of the cash.
It was sad because she was really sweet and was genuinely happy to see her house go to a young family (as we were in those distant days). But the son was a complete ****, hassling us all the way through the buying process even though there were no abnormal delays. I think I would pull out of the deal immediately if the same thing happened now, but it was the only house we stood a chance of buying for ourselves at the time.
The first house we bought was a "former local authority" house in Wandsworth. The lady we bought it off had lived there since before the war, paying rent all the time, so if anyone deserved to get a deal then it was her. Trouble is, it was her middle-aged son that got her to buy it and immediately sell it for an enormous profit, same as Christine Hamilton. The lady was then packed off to a home while the son went off to spend his half of the cash.
It was sad because she was really sweet and was genuinely happy to see her house go to a young family (as we were in those distant days). But the son was a complete ****, hassling us all the way through the buying process even though there were no abnormal delays. I think I would pull out of the deal immediately if the same thing happened now, but it was the only house we stood a chance of buying for ourselves at the time.
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