Evicted - BBC One

tobedifferent

I'll admit it to, I work for a council and used to be a housing officer. The shame.

A bigger problem than HB is the Rent Officer, I don't have a clue what planet they live on. You see what the rent officer does is look at your home and decide whether the rent is reasonable. It states that it takes into account the type of property and the number of rooms you need to meet 'your basic housing needs'. For example a single person needs only 1 bedroom and a living room. So if you are renting a 2 bed terrace house they would base their answer on a 1 bed terrace. Supposedly its to stop unscrupulous landlords taking advantage of tenants receiving benefit by increasing rent for these tenants.

However if any tenant is paying more than a couple of pounds over a very low Housing Association/Council rent then they decide that the rent is more than the landlord could expect to get from a tenant who is not getting benefit and therefore won't pay the full amount.

Its laughable. I hunted for ages for my place and got a great price on a nice 1 bed flat with a fantastic landlord, its ground floor in a converted terrace house. However I saw a Rent Officer determination for a lovely 3 bed terrace on my street, they said that whole house was worth £25 less than I pay for my flat, even though the woman there has two children, her husband walked out on her for a newer model.

This lady is now stuck (shes' appealing and our MP is involved), there is no cheaper property around, she has to make up £75 per month out of a subsistence living to pay the shortfall in her housing benefit. She can't afford this. Shes not entitled to a HA or council property as she has a home at the moment and if she loses her house due to rent arrears she is not entitled to council/HA accomodation as she is intentionally homeless!

Yes if you want to throw your money away on such frivolous things as feeding your children and buying nappies then you clearly deserve to be on the street.

On a more personal and yes very bitter note its like kids straight out of education with no intention of working and they get Jobseekers allowance straight away. I had to leave my job and my home after being stalked and threatened by my ex-partner for months, despite having paid my taxes and NI consistently for 10 years I was not entitled to a penny as the jobcentre said my reasons for leaving my job were not good enough. They told me that I should have got signed off by my doctor so I would get Incapacity Benefit rather than try to get a job! But then again they probably get threatened at knifepoint outside work all the time so its just water off a ducks back to them.

I thought that the purpose of the benefit system was to help people who had fallen on hard times. Actually its there to support people that have no intention of ever working or contributing to society. And they make doubly sure to give those that do need and deserve it an extra hard kick when they're down.

Great Britain - The Welfare Country - Where only suckers work.

Morglin

Having watched this programme, and given that the shortage of houses won't really reduce, because more and more people need housing, and the shortage, in part because of councils not being allowed to rebuild after Right To Buy was introduced, this problem has surely to be looked at from a different angle.

One of the problems shown last night was that many private landlords won't take "DSS" - that is discrimination, and should be outlawed - they wouldn't be able to say they don't take "blacks, gays or disabled" - why can they say they won't take those on Housing Benefit?

My old council refused to use B&B, and they negotiated with private landlords to take homeless, and in return they guaranteed the rent within a week and guaranteed that any damage to the property would be put right by them. Cheaper than B&B for the council, and better for families.

The council I live under now, however, use B&B frequently.

The couple evicted because of the HB department foul up should have had someone representing them in court - this is all too common, and although I won't name the company, (those that have dealt with them will know who they are.....:mad: ), many councils have hived off assessements of HB to this company - and they are the most inept, ignorant and inefficient company I have ever had the misfortune to have to deal with. I do a lot of welfare stuff, and the misery they cause just in this county has to be seen to be believed. :eek:

It doesn't matter how many complaints are made, they just do it again, and the council refuse to take resposibility for it.:mad:

A pound to a penny, the council, that this couple were under, use this firm.:rolleyes:

The Minehead couple should have had more help over claiming what they were entitled to and thereby saving their home. I felt sorry for him (but had to admit to wanting to give her a swift kick up the bum, with her endless smoking, whining and moaning, instead of doing what she should have been doing - supporting her hubbie and putting her kid's needs before her own misery - she must have the longest case of PND known to womanhood......:rolleyes: ).

Councils really need to supply more Welfare Rights Officers (hopefully in conjunction with the very excellent Shelter), so that people have someone to represent them and look after their interests. Cases where HB is in dispute should be adjourned until the issue is resolved

Sadly, unless you are au fait with what your rights are, officialdom in this country works on the principle that it can do as it pleases - for anyone to think it acceptable to leave a family with young children outdoors all night defies belief. The only winners in this country are those with Social Workers.
(As they appeared to have extended families though, I wonder where they were? Not many grandparents could let their grandkids be without a roof).:mad:

There really needs to be a shake up with housing in this country (and perhaps some border controls might be a starting point), and programmes like this should bring forward a change (much like "Cathy, Come Home" did years ago when, on the back of it, Shelter was evolved.:T ).

It cannot be good for the kids - and for councils to threaten to take them into care is ridiculous - it costs a bomb and there is a massive shortage of foster carers anyway.:rolleyes:

To anyone in this position, I would advise that they contact Shelter early on to help them, - before it gets out of control as it did with these couples.

Glad they both got housed in the end, though.

JGWT8M

I can understand the Council's position on the rent with private landlords, but it should result in the Landlord being forced to reduce the rent to a reasonable level rather than chucking the person on the street.

Our Council rent is approx. £365 a month for our 2 bed flat.
Previously we rented privately, paying £775 a month for identical property just down the road.
My Sister-in-Law now pays £900 a month, for an ex-council "right to buy" property 35% smaller than our 2 bedroom flat - she has 3 bedrooms, one filled with the landlords property, and the other two barely larger than an average childs bedroom, the council won't help her because she is "housed".