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Landlords from Hell - Channel 4 tonight at 8.30
Comments
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Ye gads! An FOI request relating to housing benefit in Croydon.
1. The approximate number of households being paid over £1000 per
month in housing benefit.
As at 5 October 2011 a total of 2120 households were being paid over £1000 per month in housing benefits
2. The approximate number of households being paid over £2000 per
month in housing benefit.
As at 5 October 2011 a total of10 households were being paid over £2000 per month in housing benefits
Croydon has 35069 residents in receipt of housing benefit.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/86654/response/218919/attach/html/4/response%20F%20CRT%2011%20594%2017%2010%2011.doc.html0 -
as a LL i felt sick, really nauseous, to see how Dave Wells was accommodating families in truly disgusting conditions - the landlord response today on various landlord forums is universal disgust with this type of LL who sadly helps tar us all with the same brush.
The really sad thing is that landlords like him, never come on forums like these, and those of us that do come here to help, are sometimes tarred with that brush.
Like other viewers comments, why the council did not take legal action is clearly obvious.. they had no other property to offer displaced tenants... so why not offer displaced tenants to other landlords on their Accredited Lists, with DIRECT PAYMENT guaranteed... that would maybe persuade some ex-LHA landlords to come back again into the homeless sector.....
I know of one landlord who provides fantastic accommodation, has been in the business for over 20 years, and was turned down by an east midlands council when she applied to house a homeless family because the sink in the kitchen was a new belfast sink, and because the light switches were too high........
there's regs and there's regs... and there is blind "sticking to regs" in the face of all common sense..... God preserve us from jobs-wurfs council employees, and from b*astards like Dave Wells.....
No one in government will officially recognise that they shot themselves in the foot, many times, with the change of LHA payment from landlord to tenant.. and now that the universal benefit (due in 2015) is so far down the line, it is getting harder and harder to lobby government to allow direct payment with any hope of them changing the proposed legislation.
Grant Shapps is neither pro tenant or pro landlord.... he is pro whoever he is talking to.. and spineless at other times... like most politicians.0 -
I think beggars can't be choosers and if you want a 4 bed place and have accumulated that many children without arranging your own secure housing. Which in my limited knowledge would mean minimum 3 kids maximum 6. Then you should be jolly happy with 2 houses knocked together with a downstairs loo.
And no back garden to speak of, and no front garden, and a road right outside the front door.
The reason so many of these properties fall into decline is the lack of demand.0 -
Why not scrap all second hand cars and make people buy new ones instead?
Isn't that what we do, when cars become old, slow and unsafe? You don't see many Reliant Robins round now, do you?Why dont we burn second hand furniture - theres so much nice gear in the Argos home section, isnt there?
See above reply but replace "Reliant Robin" with any naff 60's furniture brand you want.Why not pulp all books - theyll get reprinted, right?
It's what we do. And the resultant pulp is used to print newer books. There's only so many times an adult can read the same book.Whats the point in old appliances? Richer Sounds are still open, yes?
Some of us like the better sound quality of CD's over your old wax 78s.Why are you such a monumental retard?
Why are you so keen to get us back to living in caves. We used to do without central heating, double glazing, inside toilets, hot running water, washing machines, a damp proof course, drinkable tap water, refrigeration, etc etc etc. It's called progress. If it takes a retard to tell you that, just where do you fit into the evolutionary scale?You can lose the sighs when talking to me on the internet, noone wants to hear the grunts and groans of an defective arguement.
I think I let you off lightly with just a sigh.0 -
PS where do you think the moneys going to come from to 'build the houses people want to live in'?
I live in a refurbished Victorian terrace, and while its nice, id like a 6 bedroomer. With a pool, and a 10-strong platoon of Football-manager-grade escorts trained in First Aid, CPR and Blumpty on 24 hr standby.
But whos going to pay for this house to be built?
If theres an existing shack, 4 bedrooms, a decent sized pond with a rough old bag next door who still has her red lightbulbs in the top sideboard drawer for when funds get tight, then who the !!!! am I to complain?
Jesus, have you considered so much as experimenting with *reality* at any point in that life of yours?
Do yourself a favour and look up a few words like "progress" and "Aspiration". Why are you so intent on setting us a downward race to the bottom?0 -
propertyman wrote: »But beggars can't be choosers.
As long is it is in good repair and exceeds the rating system then they can reflect on how to satisfy their own aspirations, and, in so many cases, the choices they made that put them there.
And we curse ourselves with 21st century slums? Rule Britannia!0 -
mustrum_ridcully wrote: »The world begs to differ...
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”
Addressed via the HB/LHA system. That's the right for a STANDARD OF LIVING adequate for........... HOUSING. No specific human right to housing. If you want to test that, just pop down to your local authority and present as a single, fit, healthy person with no dependent children and see how much "housing" you come away with.0 -
I wonder why some of the residents in those nasty hotels had been there a year plus despite the bugs, mould and drunk visitors (thieves...) - is it because they are holding out for social housing rather than continue in private accommodation so will put up with the substandard conditions in the interim? Or is it because Croydon council have no decent schemes to assist them into other private accommodation, such as a deposit guarantee scheme or so on? Again, their website claimed that there is a good supply of private accommodation in Croydon and they had various schemes to help those in need secure it. Is it the usual case that most landlords won't consider LHA tenants?
That is certainly a huge part of the problem. But one aspect of the Localism Bill will be the facility for LA's to discharge a homeless duty to house with the offer of privately rented accommodation.0 -
lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »Do yourself a favour and look up a few words like "progress" and "Aspiration". Why are you so intent on setting us a downward race to the bottom?
Aspiration and progress are things to be worked towards by the person themselves not for the state to provide. The state should be providing basic decent living accommodation.
The problem is the state has stopped doing this, it is also stopping others from trying with red tape and is letting scum lords get away with it.
I think if you asked anyone living in those two hotels/B&B whether they wanted to stay were they were or have one of the two up two down properties you would find they would leap at the chance.
The red tape with council houses is choking, where I live we have a one and two bedroom council flats and houses standing empty. The reason for this is single people and couples without children are not a priority and this housing is only issued to priority cases. Unfortunately to be a priority you have to have two kids which these properties are not big enough.0 -
Also if you are on benefits then no you shouldn't have a choice of where you live, if you turn down a property then you should go to the back of the housing list.
What a disgusting comment - replace 'benefits' with black, jewish or disabled and would you have written the same comment?
Of course not - but you think its perfectly acceptable to discriminate against another minority! People like you make me sick :mad:0
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