For all the benefit frothers out there

silvercar

I was also surprised by what family size you need to get the 4 bed rate, 3 kids with eldest 16 and younger two different sexes and middle one over 11 gets you a 4 bed.

This also surprised me. Why can't 16 and a 14 year old brothers share a room?

For renters a family entitled to LHA help would get £1600 a month.

For mortgaged owners, the max help is the interest on upto £200,000 of mortgage. At 5% that would be £833 a month, so nearly half the amount.

elaina79

silvercar wrote: »

This also surprised me. Why can't 16 and a 14 year old brothers share a room?

For renters a family entitled to LHA help would get £1600 a month.

For mortgaged owners, the max help is the interest on upto £200,000 of mortgage. At 5% that would be £833 a month, so nearly half the amount.

Under council rules they say that a child over a certain age should have their own room. 2 different sexed siblings can share until the oldest reaches 10.

Gorgeous_George

It is time to build lots of council houses - on green belt land if necessary. LHA is unaffordable. If not houses, mobile homes would suffice.

GG

Freddie_Snowbits

Entertainer wrote: »

I haven’t read all the thread but someone was asking about the definition of poverty.

My definition of poverty is seeing those who are dropped food from and aircraft, that you know cannot reach it, because they are too starved to get there. This is done, knowingly understanding that the fittest amongst those you have dropped it upon, the fittest will extort the others. I know from doing this in Ethiopia prioir to some crank from the BBC turning up there.

Those in the UK that have got legs, can form a queue to add something to society, prioir to getting fed in the soup kitchen.

silvercar

elaina79 wrote: »

Under council rules they say that a child over a certain age should have their own room. 2 different sexed siblings can share until the oldest reaches 10.

That is my point. Live on benefit and the minute your children reach certain age milestones you are eligible for a bigger property, your rent being increased under LHA rules. If you are paying your rent yourself or you own and have a mortgage to pay, you can't just decide that its time to move to somewhere bigger and better.

We know there has to be rules, but benefits are meant to help give a reasonable standard, not to provide over and above what it is reasonable to expect those funding themselves to afford.

Why can't same sex siblings of 14 and 16 share a room?

sjaypink

silvercar wrote: »

Why can't same sex siblings of 14 and 16 share a room?

Shhhhh! Stop mentioning that!

This is one 'rule' which seems to be relatively under (ab)used, don't publicise it

treliac

silvercar wrote: »

That is my point. Live on benefit and the minute your children reach certain age milestones you are eligible for a bigger property, your rent being increased under LHA rules. If you are paying your rent yourself or you own and have a mortgage to pay, you can't just decide that its time to move to somewhere bigger and better.

We know there has to be rules, but benefits are meant to help give a reasonable standard, not to provide over and above what it is reasonable to expect those funding themselves to afford.

Why can't same sex siblings of 14 and 16 share a room?

Absolutely, it irritates me beyond belief. Partly because my bro, who can't afford to move, has two different gender children and lives in a 2 bedroomed house. He's now been made redundant and although that won't get them a bigger house, I've told him they'll probably be better off (under existing rules anyway) while he's not working.

On another tack, DD is just finishing at uni. She tells me that the single mums on the course say they've never been so well off on their benefits since they've been doing a degree. In fact, one has actually said she's deliberately failed her final year in order to get a fourth year at uni.

Gorgeous_George

silvercar wrote: »

Why can't same sex siblings of 14 and 16 share a room?

The councils cannot afford the compensation when the abused sibling sues. Why the rules should be different for different sexes I do not know.

Benefits should not increase with having more kids. It's Darwin's Theory of Evolution in reverse. Only the unemployed/people on benefits can afford to have children - and more the better. Working couples have to consider the additional housing costs and childcare fees so have fewer children.

Future generations will be ambitionless morons with 100 inch TVs and an iphone.

GG

lostinrates

sjaypink wrote: »

Shhhhh! Stop mentioning that!

This is one 'rule' which seems to be relatively under (ab)used, don't publicise it

Once more....

I had one of those ''privileged'' private school childhoods. I boarded. I had to share with over half a dozen other girls. Many of them went home to shared bedrooms too. When single study rooms where made available for upper sixth then all of sixth form it sent shock waves through the rest of the school. Many girls thought then it would be there only chance to not share a room.

Still, loads of people at uni went into shared rooms too. You almost never here of that...all these (fewer than ten!) years later.

carolt

Went to view a house to rent today - in a v good location re the 2 schools (in catchment for new but not too far from old, nice decor, fantastic landloord (almost tempted to rent it just because I took to the landlord so much - about a million miles from my current landlord), nice decor, But is it too small?

Will all our stuff fit?

Came back and this place suddenly looked very large by comparison. :eek:

Aaargh. Can't decide.

But need to by first thing tomorrow or it will go; other couple viewing for second time, and it's on at a very good price.

Decisions, decisions.

Of course, if I were on benefits, it would be much easier; I could take the one I saw last week for £250/month more, which was similar location, lovely decor too, and bigger, because LHA would pick up the tab.

Harrumph.