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

thorsoak

Paying one-fifth of your income on rent is not unreasonable: people who do not qualify for h/b pay more like half! I appreciate that you have a small income, but you do at least have a roof over your head.

bigboybrother

MamaMoo wrote: »

Agree with Dogger here. Properties are put up for bids for a reason. It's not fair that you can jump the queue just because you ring up. If there are people who are a higher priority than you, then why should they lose out on the opportunity to bid for this property and gain themselves a secure tenancy? They would not be able to bid on the property you're leaving either due to their size needs, so they'd lose out.
Why not approach other people and offer a mutual exchange?

Or rent privately paying the extra rent out of your other income/benefits as most people are already doing?

Dogger69

nannytone wrote: »

who said i dont have friends nearby?
my friends are the support network that allow me to have a sommewhat normal life.
my daughter lives 40 miles away and both she and her husband work full time, so moving near her would be pointless as i would still be alone.
private renting is not an option, as it offers no security, and as a disabled person, security is even more important than it is to everyone else.

as a blind person, moving to a place i dont know, and people i dont know would be inappropriate to say the least..
lets permenantly blindfold you and drop you in a place you have no knowledge of and see how easily you would manage

Lots of people have difficulties, lots of people do not have security of tenure, but they have to get on with it. You are not unique in your situation by any stretch of the imagination. Be thankful for what you have, and for the fact that this available flat will give someone a fresh start in life.

nannytone_2

thorsoak wrote: »

Paying one-fifth of your income on rent is not unreasonable: people who do not qualify for h/b pay more like half! I appreciate that you have a small income, but you do at least have a roof over your head.

not if you have a good/reasonable income.
when you pay £20 out of £100 it is a huge amount

nannytone_2

bigboybrother wrote: »

Or rent privately paying the extra rent out of your other income/benefits as most people are already doing?

so move into one of the two 1 bed private lets and have to pay 31 and £41 a week respectively?

real bright suggestion

nannytone_2

Dogger69 wrote: »

Lots of people have difficulties, lots of people do not have security of tenure, but they have to get on with it. You are not unique in your situation by any stretch of the imagination. Be thankful for what you have, and for the fact that this available flat will give someone a fresh start in life.

i have never claimed to be unique, and if you look back at my posts, i am mostly concerned about this that are struggling more than i am.
i think security is something everyone should have,
but because others dont, you seem to think that no one should have any.
the lowest common denominator. why not try to raise standards so that everyone meets in the middle, rather than dragging everyone down to the bottom?

Dogger69

nannytone wrote: »

i have never claimed to be unique, and if you look back at my posts, i am mostly concerned about this that are struggling more than i am.
i think security is something everyone should have,
but because others dont, you seem to think that no one should have any.
the lowest common denominator. why not try to raise standards so that everyone meets in the middle, rather than dragging everyone down to the bottom?

I have not said that no one should have security of tenure. I have said you should be grateful for what you have as many others do not.

If you are mostly concerned about others, then surely today's news is positive - someone far worse off than you will now have a fantastic opportunity, yes?

bestpud

nannytone wrote: »

i cant bid. i was removed from the list when allocated this property. when the benefit reduction was announces i was told there was np point in applying as there was no alternative accomodation available ( size wise) and no plans to allow any to be built ( council policy is that 2 and 3 bed homes give them more options)

So you didn't actually apply to go back on the list, or they have refused your application?

I would appeal if they have refused it.

paulineb_2

nannytone wrote: »

regulars on this forum know the position i am currently in. there are two 1 bed flats to rent privately. their rents are £100 and £110 a week respectively ( LHA rate has recently been lowered to £69 a week so non starters even if i were willing to give up my security) and two 1 bed flats, supported housing for young people.

today i became aware that one of the tenants of the social housing flats is moving out tomorrow, and that they are no longer exclusively for young people. the council will be putting them up for bids next week ( it's already on the board in the council office, but no bids will be accepted until the internet site is updated over the weekend)

so i phoned the housing association and spoke to my housing manager. he was more than happy to let me have it, but he had to phone the council and ask them to withdraw the property. he phoned back 10 minutes later to tell me that the council have REFUSED, they want to property to be kept available for someone that is homeless ( he will talk to his superiors next week to see if theres anything he can suggest to get the council to back down,

so it seems we are told to downsize or lose benefit... but when i fond somewhere to downsize to.. they wont allow me to move!

so now tell me im not being 'forced' to pau for the reduction in housing benefit!

Well I certainly agree about downsizing or losing benefit part. In my local area North Lanarkshire in Scotland, there are 90 1 bedroom properties and 85 of those have already been earmarked for people, so there are 5 left. That was reported in last weeks local paper.

I live in one town in that council. Its all very well people lining up to have a pop at people because they are on benefits and therefore should be grateful about having a roof over their head that is part paid for. But when you have a political party that is cutting this housing benefit in order to get people to downsize, did no one actually stop and think that in many towns and cities in the UK, there are no smaller properties to downsize to?

And when people quote figures about what people are paying or what most people do, how do you know this? Rents vary from area to area. And so do the availablity of private lets on offer.

There should be more 1 bedroom council flats available. For people no matter what their circumstances. And more low cost family homes as well. Pushing people into private renting is not the answer.

Its actually hard enough trying to make ends meet when you are on a low wage and getting housing benefit when people automatically judge your life and your circumstances. Im not on JSA, I get some housing benefit but am still on a fairly low wage and finding the extra rent is not going to be easy. I dont believe anyone should have to give up a secure tenancy to move into an insecure tenancy just because they claim housing benefit and because the political party running the country didnt actually have the foresight to realise that there arent enough smaller homes to go around for the people who might need to downsize.

Both in the private and council housing sector. There are very few one apartment homes where I live and also very few flatshares. And there are also plenty of empty flats in the specific area I live in.

And its tough to mutually exchange when you are in a 2 bedroom flat and you are expected to move into a 1 bedroom flat, all the 1 bedroom flats around my area, by the councils own admission were built and earmarked for pensioners, I dont see many of them wanting to move into a 2 bedroom flat and having to pay the bedroom tax themselves.

Dunroamin

paulineb wrote: »

Well I certainly agree about downsizing or losing benefit part. In my local area North Lanarkshire in Scotland, there are 90 1 bedroom properties and 85 of those have already been earmarked for people, so there are 5 left. That was reported in last weeks local paper.

I live in one town in that council. Its all very well people lining up to have a pop at people because they are on benefits and therefore should be grateful about having a roof over their head that is part paid for. But when you have a political party that is cutting this housing benefit in order to get people to downsize, did no one actually stop and think that in many towns and cities in the UK, there are no smaller properties to downsize to?

And when people quote figures about what people are paying or what most people do, how do you know this? Rents vary from area to area. And so do the availablity of private lets on offer.

There should be more 1 bedroom council flats available. For people no matter what their circumstances. And more low cost family homes as well. Pushing people into private renting is not the answer.

Its actually hard enough trying to make ends meet when you are on a low wage and getting housing benefit when people automatically judge your life and your circumstances. Im not on JSA, I get some housing benefit but am still on a fairly low wage and finding the extra rent is not going to be easy. I dont believe anyone should have to give up a secure tenancy to move into an insecure tenancy just because they claim housing benefit and because the political party running the country didnt actually have the foresight to realise that there arent enough smaller homes to go around for the people who might need to downsize.

Both in the private and council housing sector. There are very few one apartment homes where I live and also very few flatshares. And there are also plenty of empty flats in the specific area I live in.

And its tough to mutually exchange when you are in a 2 bedroom flat and you are expected to move into a 1 bedroom flat, all the 1 bedroom flats around my area, by the councils own admission were built and earmarked for pensioners, I dont see many of them wanting to move into a 2 bedroom flat and having to pay the bedroom tax themselves.

As pensioners don't have to pay the "bedroom tax", I think they'd be pretty pleased to get a 2 bed flat rather than a 1 bed. Unless these flats have an age restriction, downsizing in your area should be a piece of cake.