Bedroom Tax and kids living away??

SingleSue

Lou76 wrote: »

ETA: Sorry Sue, I'm honestly not stereotyping your parents, your post just happened to be the last one I read that I agreed with, and backed up my feelings on the matter.

Ah, don't worry, I was sitting here giggling at it....and you got some of the details absolutely spot on!

Mum does indeed have the Singer sewing machine in one of the bedrooms....my middle son has a drum kit in the other!

Tottyshouse

Owner occupiers will never be subject to any sort of "tax" on their spare rooms. They have paid this through the tax on their wages that they went out to earn and then spent on buying their home. Their "tax" has been paid. It is unfortunate that the reduction in housing benefit will hit some of the most vulnerable in society. However this has come about because for the last 15 years the welfare bill has gone through the roof - and there is a whole underclass of people with an "entitled to" mindset who can't seem to understand the money has to come from somewhere. I do feel for people who cannot through disability increase their income and so the 14% reduction will hit them hard. However for every one person like that there is an able bodied person with a spare room living in social housing paid for by housing benefit. When I was single and my mortgage rate increased years ago (and my wages didn't) I worked in my day job from 7am until 4pm and then worked in a taxi office from 6pm til midnight. It was a horrible exhausting time - but it never occured to me that "the state" should ever intervene in my life. I don't want to see a time when we end up with a welfare system like the US where it really is just enough to stop you from starving - but I think there has been a sea change in attitude in this country regarding benefits. It isn't going to get better - even if labour get in they won't reverse any of the changes. There is no money left - and they can't risk upsetting big business anymore than the Conservatives.

Lou76

SingleSue wrote: »

Ah, don't worry, I was sitting here giggling at it....and you got some of the details absolutely spot on!

Mum does indeed have the Singer sewing machine in one of the bedrooms....my middle son has a drum kit in the other!

Ahhh, but when are you telling your Dad he's known on MSE (albeit, by me, but he needn't know the finer details ) as "A Boy Named Sue?"

Now I'm imagine Single Sue's Dad to look like Johnny Cash, and I'm starting to fancy him. :eek:

haras_nosirrah

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Your wife has had secure social housing much larger than she requires for TEN YEARS even tho she had no children and you call that nothing and being sh1te on?? I call it fortunate and ungrateful. Maybe it's time act in the best interests of your community instead of being selfish and borderline racist, step aside and let a family in need get the same opportunity. If you moved to a house you can actually afford the rent on - live within your means - you'd pay less council tax and energy, so you'd be richer wouldn't you?

IME many immigrants work INCREDIBLY hard - I've seen it in several cities with people of Polish, Indian and Pakistani origin working as cleaners, kitchen porters, running their own small businesses twelve to sixteen hours a day six or seven days a week.

It's more often white Brits who won't work for minimum wage, won't work unsocial hours or who choose to remain on benefits long term, some are still calling JSA a 'giro'!! :eek: More often white Brits who are (often deliberately) having babies in their teens, expecting a council house and benefits never having done a days work in their life. Funny how 'accidental' pregnancies rarely happen to unmarried Asian girls isn't it? If you want to draw lines in the sand between different ethnic groups let's get our own house in order.

I agree with the above - so many people have an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude and this is the problem. There is a woman on the facebook group complaining saying something along the lines of - when I was given my council house 33 years ago I swore I would never move. My grandchildren like to visit - why should I give up my house?

This annoys the whatsits off me - while some families have been given a home for life others will never get the chance of secure housing. If more people downsized from their 3 and 4 bedroom houses when they no longer needed them we wouldn't have the situation where two adults and two children are living in one bedroom so a selfish %%% can live in her three bedroom house on her own forever (and probably thinks it's unfair she can't pass the tenancy onto her children - after all it was their home.

Surely a better way is the plan to give people 5 year tenancies so that if people no longer need the council houses they are moved into private to give someone else a chance.

I remember reading a while ago about someone on here who made my blood boil. She was part of a couple in a council house who paid £400 a month for a 3 bed house in the country somewhere. Between her and her husband they earned £120k a year (own business) and said that they weren't going to move - why should they as they were entitled to the house. They said that they might move one day if they have enough in the bank to buy a house outright and a holiday home in France. If people like this didn't milk the system dry then others like the disabled probably wouldn't be as badly affected as they are now

Mojisola

haras_nosirrah wrote: »

I remember reading a while ago about someone on here who made my blood boil. She was part of a couple in a council house who paid £400 a month for a 3 bed house in the country somewhere. Between her and her husband they earned £120k a year (own business) and said that they weren't going to move - why should they as they were entitled to the house. They said that they might move one day if they have enough in the bank to buy a house outright and a holiday home in France.

If people like this didn't milk the system dry then others like the disabled probably wouldn't be as badly affected as they are now

It's strange that people have to show they have a need for a council house in order to get one but then never have to justify that need again - even over a lifetime.

I know families round here who got a council tenancy when they really were in need of housing. Their circumstances have changed over the years and some have three or four working adults in the house earning reasonable salaries. They should be out in the private sector now so that other families in need can have those houses.

evenasus

Morlock wrote: »

There are 10 people living in the UK and one 10 bedroom house. One person claims he has the right to live in 9 of those 10 bedrooms because he pays more money, the other 9 people have to share one bedroom. In effect, you are that one person living in nine rooms.

Actually, my house has 11 rooms. :)

If those 10 people sharing a bedroom, have done nothing to help themselves, by working and saving to buy/rent the rooms they require - that is no fault of the person living with 10 bedrooms which they have bought.

Morlock

haras_nosirrah wrote: »

If more people downsized from their 3 and 4 bedroom houses when they no longer needed them we wouldn't have the situation where two adults and two children are living in one bedroom...

Whilst I agree it is unfair for a single person to live in a 3-4 bedroom social housing property alone, that is a very rare scenario. 81% of people affected by the bedroom tax have only one spare room, and the majority are two bedroom properties. The fact is, there are not enough suitable properties available for those people to relocate to without some degree of under-occupancy.

evenasus

Morlock wrote: »

Social housing tenants do not enjoy free housing, social landlords charge rent too. Perhaps you would care to expand on how social housing is subsidised, for example, how much government subsidy is social housing receiving this year from taxpayers?

Try asking some of the people on the benefits forum who quote "I get full housing benefit & council tax benefit" - then go on to ask "Is there anything else I could claim?"

Morlock

evenasus wrote: »

Try asking some of the people on the benefits forum who quote "I get full housing benefit & council tax benefit" - then go on to ask "Is there anything else I could claim?"

That is not exclusive to social housing tenants, tenants in private rental can also claim full housing benefits and council tax benefit, home owners can claim council tax benefit too, and SMI. You may have had a point if it was solely social housing tenants receiving these economic subsidies.

evenasus

Morlock wrote: »

That is not exclusive to social housing tenants, tenants in private rental can also claim full housing benefits and council tax benefit, home owners can claim council tax benefit too, and SMI. You may have had a point if it was solely social housing tenants receiving these economic subsidies.

Morlock wrote: »

Social housing tenants do not enjoy free housing

I was just pointing out your statement is incorrect.

I know it doesn't apply solely to social housing - but it certainly includes them.