housing benefit reduction. a solution but the council is blocking it!

Dunroamin

mazza111 wrote: »

My parents slept in separate bedrooms for the last 10 years of their life. It saved them disturbing each other when they were up through the night. Mum was a light sleeper, dad was always up and down most of the night because of his break in his back.

You're surely not saying that, if they'd lived in social housing and on benefits, they should have been eligible for 2 bedrooms?

Dunroamin

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I can actually understand why Nanny does not want to move away from her area. Familiarity with an area must be very important if you can't see.

As it appears she has a very nice flat in an area she wants, rural and without much social housing, then I think she has two options. One is to get a lodger (and I will re-iterate for the umpteenth time it does not have to be the nearest axe murderer off the street, it could be somebody you already know, or know of), or pay part of the rent.

The latter option, whilst not ideal from a small income, seems to me to be a small price to pay for having a nice flat on a secure tenancy in an area she wants to stay in.

Is there another way to generate extra income, such as doing e-bay?

Actually, I think that Nanny's said that there's an enormous amount of social housing in her town, just not 1 bedroom places. Also, if she can only go out with her PA, I still don't understand why it matters whether she knows the area or not. If she went out independently with a dog or with a stick it would, of course, be a totally different matter.

I agree that she should look at additional funding streams if she wants to stay put.

seven-day-weekend

Dunroamin wrote: »

Actually, I think that Nanny's said that there's an enormous amount of social housing in her town, just not 1 bedroom places. Also, if she can only go out with her PA, I still don't understand why it matters whether she knows the area or not. If she went out independently with a dog or with a stick it would, of course, be a totally different matter.

I agree that she should look at additional funding streams if she wants to stay put.

Yes you are right, I read it wrong, but the fact remains she still has a nice flat in an area she likes, worth paying for I would have thought. Therefore she needs to explore ways of funding it.

GlasweJen

Of course Nanny could get familiarisation training anywhere she found a suitable house, there is a whole social service dedicated to rehabilitating deaf and blind people and I would know because I work with them!

They would be flummoxed at dealing with a person who can't mobilise with a cane and needs a specific person for independence but from what I gather they'd view this sort of relationship between a PA and a client as unhealthy and would encourage nanny to attend groups and social events without the PA to decrease the dependency and get nanny more independent again. I've never met a blind person who can't nip to the shop to get their own milk six months after losing their vision.

bloolagoon

I may not be correct on this but am fairly sure her PA was well known to her prior to becoming her PA.

My mother in law is blind and recently moved home without too much difficulty, however, she did need to adjust to her disability. I was not part of the family at that time so have no first hand knowledge but it is reported it took a lot of support to move her on mentally. She is now highly independent although age and mobility issues now are creeping up. She has buttons sewn into labels to indicate colour of clothing, she does need help putting her shopping in the right place so she eats soup not rice pudding but now copes fairly well.

She has also discovered that shops offer personal shopping so is often accompanied around shops to assist.

I always read Nanny's post that she isn't that far into her journey but my mother in law had her husband and a child at home when lost her sight. On one hand this helped as she had support but also had its own problems with shoes on stairs, leaving things out. It can't be easy yet it's not impossible.

I too get the impression she wants to stay where she is, therefore the fact is this will cost her, nothing will change in that respect.

poppasmurf_bewdley

nannytone wrote: »

they cant live in my flat and pay!
why is it oj for me to struggle but not for someone else?
there is no homeless problem here .... we have surplus social/private housing.

you make me laugh .... you say 'you should downsize' and when i try to i get told im depriving someone else!

so i was obviously right, there is no choice and im being taken hostage by the council and forced to pay

just point outm the landlord (HA) want me to have their property. its the council that dont have ANY properties of a suitable size that are blocking it

Please make up your mind.

In one sentence you say: we have surplus social/private housing.

And then you say: its the council that dont have ANY properties of a suitable size that are blocking it.

It can't be both. It has to be one or the other.

Dunroamin

bloolagoon wrote: »

I may not be correct on this but am fairly sure her PA was well known to her prior to becoming her PA.

That's rather my impression as well, - as I said before, rather too "pally" an arrangement and not one that encourages independence.

ALIBOBSY

I would plump for try to increase your income OP. Make sure you have any benefits you can be entitiled to and look to raise some money yourself. Have a look over on the up your income board, as long as you have internet access its pretty easy to make £20 or more a week from surveys etc. Most income based benefits still allow you to have some income without your benefits being effected.

My opinion as someone who has health issue and 4 kids and has had long periods working and periods on benefits is that in an idea world it would be lovely to keep everyone in a reasonable level of lifestyle whether they work or not. BUT we live in the real world and there just isn't the money to keep covering the benefit bill as is. Many people in countries world wide would be overjoyed if there country simply put a roof over their head and little else, so people currently on benefits will have to get used to lower incomes.

TBH 2 things that annoy are the fact that the biggest "state" bill is the benefits paid to pensioner groups and yet again that group is untouched by this. Plus when everyone is feeling the pain why haven't the BBC been forced to cut the licence fee? For the vast majority of people slashing this by say 30-50% would make a big difference.

Ali x

Dunroamin

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

TBH 2 things that annoy are the fact that the biggest "state" bill is the benefits paid to pensioner groups and yet again that group is untouched by this. Plus when everyone is feeling the pain why haven't the BBC been forced to cut the licence fee? For the vast majority of people slashing this by say 30-50% would make a big difference.

Ali x

I'm not saying that there's nobody in this world who'd like an extra £3.50 - £6 per month in their pockets but I doubt very much that there are many for whom this would make a big difference. What it would make a big difference is to everybody who relies on TV as their main source of entertainment who'd see the quality of the BBC's ouput in sharp decline!

Morlock

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

...people currently on benefits will have to get used to lower incomes.

And once everyone claiming benefits gets used to having a lower income, the minimum wage can be cut, frozen or abolished so working people have to get used to lower incomes too, because 'the country doesn't have enough money'. Hook, line and sinker.