George Osborne considering freeze on benefits to save £4.4bn

tomterm8

No idea, my reason for the excemption was that council farms are rented out at commercial rates, and are essentially businesses rather than subsidised homes.

dharm999

The whole benefits culture frustrates the hell out of me. Why isnt more done to encourage people to get to work? My view is that they should reduce income tax to say 10%, and alongside that reduce all the tax credits, housing benefits, other benefits to nothing for those able to work, and only have benefits as a last resort safety net. Surely all the savings from getting rid of the bureacracy surrounding the processing, dealing with, checking, paying, prosecuting for fraud, etc.. would be huge and enough to balance out the cost of the tax cut. I would also restrict the amount of benefits people can get in their lifetime.

ILW

The last government wanted everybody to be claiming some sort of benefit. Itgave them more control.

ILW

I have never understood why council rents should be below private for a similar property, if someone can afford to pay a market rent, why should the lucky few be subsidised. in fact council rents should be higher due to the added value of secure tenure.

bristol_pilot

Housing benefit and child benefits are the real culprits that make it not worthwhile to work unless you are single/childless or earn a very handsome salary. We all know what the problem is, but how to solve it is another matter. Freezing benefits will not be enough -there needs to be massive cuts - some families are in receipt of the best part of £100k in benefits. But how can this be done without throwing families with kids out of their homes? THAT is the tricky question.

ankspon

Posted by amcluesentAbout time. Living well off CB/HB/IB etc. is a 'lifestyle choice' that needs to be removed.What a disgusting post,i worked all my life until i was struck down by a degenerative illness,even then i struggled on for 6 years at work till i could no longer do it.I now get DLA and ESA but if i physically could i would work,wheres the choice in that.

ILW

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Housing benefit and child benefits are the real culprits that make it not worthwhile to work unless you are single/childless or earn a very handsome salary. We all know what the problem is, but how to solve it is another matter. Freezing benefits will not be enough -there needs to be massive cuts - some families are in receipt of the best part of £100k in benefits. But how can this be done without throwing families with kids out of their homes? THAT is the tricky question.

The families getting 100k benefit are living in expensive areas and most of that is housing costs. They should be made to move to cheaper areas, just like private buyers and renters have to do when they cannot afford it. It is so simple I cannot see why it is not done already.

ILW

davidhwdn wrote: »

Posted by amcluesentAbout time. Living well off CB/HB/IB etc. is a 'lifestyle choice' that needs to be removed.What a disgusting post,i worked all my life until i was struck down by a degenerative illness,even then i struggled on for 6 years at work till i could no longer do it.I now get DLA and ESA but if i physically could i would work,wheres the choice in that.

That is the problem, you are in effect having your benefits cut due to the ones that chose not to work and cost the system.

ankspon

I haven't got a problem with the benefit freeze,if working people don't get a rise why should people on benefits get one,what i do object to is the narrow minded people who tar us all with the same brush

StevieJ

ILW wrote: »

I have never understood why council rents should be below private for a similar property, if someone can afford to pay a market rent, why should the lucky few be subsidised. in fact council rents should be higher due to the added value of secure tenure.

I wouldn't call them all lucky living in some of those hellholes :eek:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2003/nov/30/housing.uknews