No hot water or heating- IT'S SNOWING!!!

clutton_2

escortg3 - i assume you are a youngish person - i suspect you dont own a house of your own.. if you did i am sure you would not intend to be as callous as your posts sound.... I expect your comments come from naieviety as to how much it actually costs to run a house.

£250 would barely cover the extra cold-fuel bills from Oct-Feb-March in a house which is not insulated up to modern standards because the owner has not had funds for maintainance.

Bricks and mortar do not pay bills, and if the house wont sell, it rapidly become a millstone around the neck - as it need heating to keep it from deteriorating further.

Those pensioners who sit in their lounge and sleep in a chair (and there are many many many of them) often do so because they do not have funds to heat more than one room. It is not a choice out of preference - but out of necessity.

watsinaname

I would just like to add to this discussion.
I am a tenant of a property. I am living in \ property with very poor heating.... 1 very old storage heater in living room that is very difficult to regulate the heat as the switch has had it. There is an open fire but unable to use this as the smoke and fumes come back into the room. I find it difficult to use the room because of the cold, infact sat in a quilt at the moment. The front door is next to useless...can see daylight through the gaps and also rains in. I have the letterbox stuffed with newspaper to stop the draft. The internal door has a curtain in front of it but also have newspaper pushed into the gaps...... yes also have fitted draft excluder but as inside door is all glass cold still gets through.

The rest of the house is fitted with convector heaters ....only small ones that would be suitable for a small bedroom so putting them on is totally ineffective as i found out last winter. The property also has damp patches in a couple of rooms. There is no heating what so ever in the bathroom ...... try having a shower in near freezing room :eek:... its gets that cold overnight the toothpaste won't come out of the tube. Things in the kitchen units are covered in black mould and bedroom carpet and curtians are also mouldy ....now have to keep my clothes ect in the cupboard under the stairs as its the only place that isn't damp.

This is reality of the way some people have to live...... no i cant afford to move...on benefits.... no i can't do anything about it re poor living conditions as it would mean eviction..... no i can not apply for any social housing as i am single..... would also like to add i have a disability but makes no difference .

Ulfar

watsinaname wrote: »

I would just like to add to this discussion.
I am a tenant of a property. I am living in \ property with very poor heating.... 1 very old storage heater in living room that is very difficult to regulate the heat as the switch has had it. There is an open fire but unable to use this as the smoke and fumes come back into the room. I find it difficult to use the room because of the cold, infact sat in a quilt at the moment. The front door is next to useless...can see daylight through the gaps and also rains in. I have the letterbox stuffed with newspaper to stop the draft. The internal door has a curtain in front of it but also have newspaper pushed into the gaps...... yes also have fitted draft excluder but as inside door is all glass cold still gets through.

The rest of the house is fitted with convector heaters ....only small ones that would be suitable for a small bedroom so putting them on is totally ineffective as i found out last winter. The property also has damp patches in a couple of rooms. There is no heating what so ever in the bathroom ...... try having a shower in near freezing room :eek:... its gets that cold overnight the toothpaste won't come out of the tube. Things in the kitchen units are covered in black mould and bedroom carpet and curtians are also mouldy ....now have to keep my clothes ect in the cupboard under the stairs as its the only place that isn't damp.

This is reality of the way some people have to live...... no i cant afford to move...on benefits.... no i can't do anything about it re poor living conditions as it would mean eviction..... no i can not apply for any social housing as i am single..... would also like to add i have a disability but makes no difference .

You can apply for social housing and if you advise of the problems with the property the council will send someone around to inspect. Depending upon the state of the property they will give you an increased points score.

Most councils also advertise properties in the local paper that are empty for those on the council waiting list to bid on, you just have to be on the list they then allocate depending on the points score of the bidders. They may not be in the best area but you cannot have everything.


Due to the way housing allocation works there is an oddity that 1 bedroom council places tend to be in greater supply as they aren't suitable for families (only one bedroom) or old people (due to stairs).

I have in the past applied for a council place when I lived in a rented flat that was 2nd floor with no fire escape, due to this I was allocated a place quick smart. Some of the items you have mentioned give a similar level of priority when it comes to housing.

If you are staying where you are there are some simple things you can do to help.

These include :

Get the chimney swept so you can use the open fire, sounds like it is blocked from your description.

Buy an electric radiator that is filled with oil which is thermostatically controlled

Draft excluders on all the doors and then put up a heavy curtain inside the door, also heavy curtains on the windows.

There is a bubble wrap stuff you can get from some shops such as Wilkinsons that is designed to be put on single pain windows to help with insulation, this could be used on your internal door. You didn't say if you had double glazing.

escortg3

clutton wrote: »

escortg3 - i assume you are a youngish person - i suspect you dont own a house of your own.. if you did i am sure you would not intend to be as callous as your posts sound.... I expect your comments come from naieviety as to how much it actually costs to run a house.

£250 would barely cover the extra cold-fuel bills from Oct-Feb-March in a house which is not insulated up to modern standards because the owner has not had funds for maintainance.

Bricks and mortar do not pay bills, and if the house wont sell, it rapidly become a millstone around the neck - as it need heating to keep it from deteriorating further.

Those pensioners who sit in their lounge and sleep in a chair (and there are many many many of them) often do so because they do not have funds to heat more than one room. It is not a choice out of preference - but out of necessity.

Yes i am a home owner and yes i know how much bills cost.

I am not a young person either. i also have a mother who is claiming her pension.

i was going on this previous post by hellsgranny which actually states that money has been invested.


HellsGranny
22-04-2010, 10:52 PM MoneySaving Stalwart


Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 255
Thanked 194 Times in 107 Posts



I investigated Equity Release a short while ago, and one of the stipulations is that you use a part of any equity released to pay off any mortgage on the property, so it probably isn't really feasible in your situation.

Cheers, HG


This clearly states that money has been invested. which is probably why Hellsgranny cannot get pension credit as she has to much money.

I am not being disrespectful either. Its just my mum manages. Yes it can be hard, she pays £50 a month for gas and £50 a month for electricity and with the help of the winter fuel allowance this sees her keeping her home warm enough.

Her home is very old also.

Some elderly are very unlucky as they dont have a computer or know what they can claim thus they suffer because they dont claim what is entitled to them.

When i asked about my mum getting pension credits i was told she could claim as she had savings under £10.000.

So why cant Hellsgranny get it.

i did not mean my post to come over harsh, i just dont understand.

clutton_2

she is in the position of trying to run 2 houses on one pension..... i guess that will up her monthly expenses somewhat...

escortg3

clutton wrote: »

she is in the position of trying to run 2 houses on one pension..... i guess that will up her monthly expenses somewhat...

Yes but that shouldnt affect her income. surely she can claim pension credit if she has not got enough money to live on. That is the part i dont understand.

Owning houses does not effect you getting pension credit only savings does.

real1314

escortg3 wrote: »

Yes but that shouldnt affect her income. surely she can claim pension credit if she has not got enough money to live on. That is the part i dont understand.

Owning houses does not effect you getting pension credit only savings does.

Owning a second house would see it treated as a form of savings (a capital asset). I'm not sure I've much time for someone who claims to be unable to pay bills yet owns 2 houses. You can sell a house very quickly (with appropriate pricing).

escortg3

real1314 wrote: »

Owning a second house would see it treated as a form of savings (a capital asset). I'm not sure I've much time for someone who claims to be unable to pay bills yet owns 2 houses. You can sell a house very quickly (with appropriate pricing).

yes it could be sold quickly at the right price. I wouldnt pay bills on any second home if it ment me being unable to live a comfortable life style. also there are lots of people that would rent a property that needed work doing to it.. one of the houses i see from a previous post has new double glazing, so not to bad state of repair.

tbs624

watsinaname wrote: »

I would just like to add to this discussion.
I am a tenant of a property. I am living in \ property with very poor heating.... 1 very old storage heater in living room that is very difficult to regulate the heat as the switch has had it. There is an open fire but unable to use this as the smoke and fumes come back into the room. I find it difficult to use the room because of the cold, infact sat in a quilt at the moment. The front door is next to useless...can see daylight through the gaps and also rains in. I have the letterbox stuffed with newspaper to stop the draft. The internal door has a curtain in front of it but also have newspaper pushed into the gaps...... yes also have fitted draft excluder but as inside door is all glass cold still gets through.

The rest of the house is fitted with convector heaters ....only small ones that would be suitable for a small bedroom so putting them on is totally ineffective as i found out last winter. The property also has damp patches in a couple of rooms. There is no heating what so ever in the bathroom ...... try having a shower in near freezing room :eek:... its gets that cold overnight the toothpaste won't come out of the tube. Things in the kitchen units are covered in black mould and bedroom carpet and curtians are also mouldy ....now have to keep my clothes ect in the cupboard under the stairs as its the only place that isn't damp.

This is reality of the way some people have to live...... no i cant afford to move...on benefits.... no i can't do anything about it re poor living conditions as it would mean eviction..... no i can not apply for any social housing as i am single..... would also like to add i have a disability but makes no difference .

Have a look at the Evict a Rogue Landlord thread - particularly post 184 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=38212196&postcount=184

If you are on benefits there are certain grants which the LL can tap into to improve insulation etc.

It's high time that the "retaliatory eviction" issue was dealt with and Ts ( plus decent LLs and anyone else with a social conscience) should continue to highlight the problems via their MPs and the Housing Ministers, plus the campaigns officers at Shelter, Crisis, CAB etc

Ask the local Council to assess that property under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and, as another poster has said, make sure that you register for social housing

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

she is in the position of trying to run 2 houses on one pension..... i guess that will up her monthly expenses somewhat...

Someone who "owns" two houses has different choices from a T who is hanging around waiting for their LL to comply with their stat obligations on boiler repairs. If the second property is "upping her monthly expenses" rather than the second property being self funding/ bringing in an income then she should sell up.