priority housing

badgerhead

What does everyone make of this priority housing for services ?

herewegoagain2010

I presume you're talking about social housing when you leave the service? I think it's a great idea in principle, but in reality they can't magic a house for someone if it's not there.

I know everyone's circumstances are different, but it does annoy me when people have been leaving toegther as man and wife for numerous years, enjoying overseas postings etc, new cars holidays and the high life and have managed to blow the lot and still expect a house at the end of it. You are serving queen and country but the higher ranks are paid more than average in wages, so why not save a little for your future housing needs. I've got a feeling I may have just prodded a hornet's nest, but that's just my opinion!

badgerhead

good point i think it should be geared more towards the bottom rung of the army. its not just council housing though is it.

badgerhead

then again should this not apply to nurses, coppers etc all off then get shafted in the service of the country sometimes

Andy_L

AIUI its not a priority, its just they don't get penalised for moving about the country every few years & thus falling to the bottom of the rung for social housing

ICATQ

Getting social housing is not as easy to get as you might think. You could end up in a bedsit if nothing else is available. Just because you have served doesnt mean you will qualify ahead of others !

misstasty

herewegoagain2010 wrote: »

I presume you're talking about social housing when you leave the service? I think it's a great idea in principle, but in reality they can't magic a house for someone if it's not there.

I know everyone's circumstances are different, but it does annoy me when people have been leaving toegther as man and wife for numerous years, enjoying overseas postings etc, new cars holidays and the high life and have managed to blow the lot and still expect a house at the end of it. You are serving queen and country but the higher ranks are paid more than average in wages, so why not save a little for your future housing needs. I've got a feeling I may have just prodded a hornet's nest, but that's just my opinion!

Hmmmm Humble opinion! Thats really a narrow minded view to take In MY opinion as a forces wife!!!! Yes the higher ranks get paid above average, but SGT's and below have BELOW average monthly incomes...Take into account that its harder for wives to get employment especially when they are abroad and don't speak the language....throw in a couple of kids, plus expensive costs of living, trips back to the UK to see family ect and before you know it you are living from pay day to payday on a tight budget. LOA has dramatically decreased whilst fuel, light and rents have gone up!
Not everyone has a new car or is living the dream in army Quarters.... Yes we follow our men around moving countless times, uprooting our kids and having to re adjust....if thats the high life then I'm missing something!!!!! POINT IS these days its hard enough to get a mortgage, Various moved can wreck you're credit file!!! forces families should not go to the bottom of the housing list because of not having a local connection. We are not expecting to go right to the top...We just want to be treated in a fairer manner. Yes you did stir up a hornets nest...but my thinking is, that was maybe your intention???...we all love a debate....non more so than soldiers wives!!!!!

Andy_L

misstasty wrote: »

Hmmmm Humble opinion! Thats really a narrow minded view to take In MY opinion as a forces wife!!!! Yes the higher ranks get paid above average, but SGT's and below have BELOW average monthly incomes..

Uk average is ~£26k so Corporal & above beat that (plus some Lance Corporals on higher band as well)

spike7451

Andy_L wrote: »

AIUI its not a priority, its just they don't get penalised for moving about the country every few years & thus falling to the bottom of the rung for social housing

When I was made redundent under Options in 1996,I moved back to my families home town,now when I joined up it was a 'job for life' so to speak.I left the RAF as a singly & despite moving back to my town,I had to go to the bottom of the housing list (I could not live with my parents,family problems long story) so ended up renting a bedsit for £50 a week where I live now.
It angers me that jobless youths get given council houses when I went to fight for my country & when I needed housing,I was :mad:
Anyway,the place I was living in was riddled with damp & the landlord wanted to evict me so he could extend his shop which my flat was behind,so I was lucky to jump up the list & am living where I am today.

herewegoagain2010

Misstasty, I'm soryy I seem to have hit a nerve with you personally.

I'm a forces wife too and have seen so many people plead proverty as soon as they leave the bubble we all live in! My comment regards to people who have been married for several years and p***ed it all up and then wigne and moan because they can't get a social house straight away! Everyone seems to want something for nothing in this life. I think people in the forces deserve higher wages, better allowances and a protected pension. Unfortuntely, at the minute our country is on it's knees and everything is being cut. You can't magic houses out of thin air....I wish you could! It's time that people started to realise that there's no such thing as a free ride. I strongly support our forces, but are they more deserving than the nurses, fireman or police?

Having just come back from an overseas posting myself, I'm talking from my own personal experiences. You could count on one hand the number of families that had a car older than 12months. We've all seen the 'king for a day' spenders in the naafi, loading up their brand new car. I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush, but it's a common sight overseas.

I've moved with my husband and children on every posting (a total of 6 in 7years) have moved length of breadth of the Uk and overseas. It has made it very difficult for me to maintain my career and I have had to sacrifice it. Credit ratings aren't effected by the amount of houses you live in. It just means you have to add extra pages for addresses on your applications. It annoys me when people use the 'forces' card when it suits, but the fact is the higher ranks are paid more than the UK average, combined with cheaper than average rents and it's not a bad deal in this current economic climate.

My hubby and I have scrimped and saved and got on the property ladder and this does effect the amount of 'family' money available. I know it's tough now, but it'll be worth it in the long run. Security for my children and our future is under that roof, so we may go without expensive days out and takeaways that most people take for granted, but that's our choice. It's all about choices and people fall into 2 catergies - people who save and people who don't!

herewegoagain2010

spike7451 wrote: »

When I was made redundent under Options in 1996,I moved back to my families home town,now when I joined up it was a 'job for life' so to speak.I left the RAF as a singly & despite moving back to my town,I had to go to the bottom of the housing list (I could not live with my parents,family problems long story) so ended up renting a bedsit for £50 a week where I live now.
It angers me that jobless youths get given council houses when I went to fight for my country & when I needed housing,I was :mad:
Anyway,the place I was living in was riddled with damp & the landlord wanted to evict me so he could extend his shop which my flat was behind,so I was lucky to jump up the list & am living where I am today.

I've think you've highlighted the geninue area that needs to seriously be reviewed and that's the housing needs of the single people leaving the forces. There's been numerous studies between the link of the ex-forces and homelessness. Priority housing is a brillant idea, but realistically a single person with no dependants is at the bottom of the pile. The whole system has so many flaws and I'm disappointed that so many people like spike have been failed by the system.

My rant is about couples who earn the money and spend without a care for their future housing needs. No doubt because of their short-sighted and selfishness, people with a genuine housing need are going without or are bumped lower down the list.