Only freedom will do

AlexLK

I suppose I have not seen anything like this in my experiences, own life or through managing rental property. The latter is just down to luck thus far. I know my parents have dealt with having to take possession through non-payment of rent before. I am grateful this all seems beyond belief to me but it serves as a reminder to make good investment decisions from now on in order to pass more onto my son than my parents pass to me and teach him to continue to make good investments for future generations.

As for tackling the problems we are talking about, I think that for the general population it would be beneficial to educate that there are people living like this (most don't realise, I didn't) and for groups to be set up for 'the poor' to learn how to cook and prepare meals, especially if they are to become parents. A kind of antenatal parenting class to prepare these new mothers and fathers for how to look after themselves and their children. Not sure how they could gain access to a kitchen if they've only a kettle but that seems like a whole other matter which can surely only be ill-preparing the next generation and solved by potential future governments. Can't quite believe I'm saying that, to be honest as I used to think there needed to be much, much less government intervention...

...it seems reading MSE is turning me into some kind of socialist :eek: (though I'm not quite willing to pay more tax, yet).

ETA: MCI, if your friend's landlord is not willing to replace a cooker, he is not a good landlord.

edinburgher

Alex, I rented 11 different properties from age 17-29 and encountered 1 good landlord, a wealthy and patient older gent who bought flats for cash and then spent his own time doing them up. Aside from that exception, every other landlord was petty, penny pinching and anal.

I agree that the landlord of MCI's friend is a bad landlord, but they're unfotunately representative of what I have experienced. I once had a landlord accept £550/month in rent, but state that they 'couldn't afford' to replace a bedroom blind - we couldn't see out the blummin' window !!!!!!!! :rotfl:

You think you're becoming a socialist? Hell, I'd provide a universal basic income and then make it so that it would be illegal for anyone to rent a property to anyone else unless they were an 'institutional landlord' willing to accept fair, capped rents (for example, pension funds owning blocks of student accommodation). I'd probably cap home onwership at 1 as well, stop daft people like my parents from buying places that they only occupy for 3-4 weeks of the year

misscousinitt

Alex I totally agree on my friend's landlord being a good one...

MCI

Karmacat

Wow. I'm in awe of the posts on here since I last popped in.

I volunteered regularly for years until my late 20s, when my own problems overwhelmed me, and through sorting them out, went on to train as a therapist to help people with *their* problems - it was all on an individual basis, though, that's what therapy is, really.

I could write (another) book about all this - about people my age who came up from working class families via the free education that was on offer then, and look down their noses when I talk about class ... about how hard it is for people to understand the concept of even "the working poor" - and what that phrase hides is that wages in this country don't cover the basics, that even people with full time jobs are so poor that they need the benefit system to step in - not because of their individual problems, but because thats what happens when the balance of power shifts too far towards management.

Homelessness is worse still ... a family collapsing and becoming homeless, through sheer terror, when one member is convicted of a crime and the whole family is harrassed. Or a family managing to live in a stable, fairly decent rental property, but the front and back gardens have both been concreted over for "ease".

A friend of mine coming up to 70 now was accepted into this country when he arrived with a false passport given to him by Amnesty International, who got him out of the prison where he'd been tortured. And even then he was only helped to learn English and recover from his ordeal by charities, though the NHS helped him recover a lot of his physical abilities. I'm doubting the help he had would be available now

I think about the stories I read in the newspapers about the collapse of the NHS, and I'm so very glad my mother lived where she did - her town is a ghetto of well-off pensioners and millionaire footballers, though even there there's a food bank. The NHS services, offered before they were enquired after, were still first rate. I wonder for how much longer

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Hello,

A very simple change which would make a massive difference to children's nutrition would be to return to the basic meat and two veg school lunch. Lots of children are entitled to free meals, but given the choice (as they are in secondary school) of having baguettes, pizza, pasta pots and similar items which can be eaten whilst playing football or hanging out in the playground, of course that is what they choose instead of sitting in the canteen with a knife and fork. But if the healthy meal was the only choice, of course they would eat it. It isn't rocket science and it is heartbreaking seeing children who you know are living in poverty choosing to eat state funded junk. Such a missed opportunity.

earthgirl

SSS totally agree. I encourage DS1, who will get free school meals for three years, to have the healthy choice at school. He does try, but he is tempted by the burgers and hot dogs (bleurgh) every now and again.

If it wasn't there he wouldn't eat it.

Pizza, pasta, burgers and hot dogs etc must be cheaper for councils to provide?

The free school meals were a great missed opportunity.

AlexLK

edinburgher wrote: »

Alex, I rented 11 different properties from age 17-29 and encountered 1 good landlord, a wealthy and patient older gent who bought flats for cash and then spent his own time doing them up. Aside from that exception, every other landlord was petty, penny pinching and anal.

I agree that the landlord of MCI's friend is a bad landlord, but they're unfotunately representative of what I have experienced. I once had a landlord accept £550/month in rent, but state that they 'couldn't afford' to replace a bedroom blind - we couldn't see out the blummin' window !!!!!!!! :rotfl:

All our tenants have a better (in many ways) kitchen and bathroom than the house my wife and I own. None of them have lived with a roof that leaks or a boiler that would continually break down during the winter for years on end. There are some very petty tenants who won't do even the simplest of jobs (I'd be happy to reimburse parts costs) and to my mind it would teach them how to look after a property when they buy their own. Some simply have no clue how to look after a property but the majority are really nice people. I suppose we're lucky for the most part.

Doesn't sound like you've had the best experiences, though I'd agree there are rubbish landlords, just as there are rubbish tenants.

edinburgher wrote: »

You think you're becoming a socialist? Hell, I'd provide a universal basic income and then make it so that it would be illegal for anyone to rent a property to anyone else unless they were an 'institutional landlord' willing to accept fair, capped rents (for example, pension funds owning blocks of student accommodation). I'd probably cap home onwership at 1 as well, stop daft people like my parents from buying places that they only occupy for 3-4 weeks of the year

:eek: :eek: :eek: Are you serious?

I cannot see how a universal basic income would be funded, to be honest. I also think it would be absurd to make it illegal for people to earn an income from property. Not sure what's wrong with having a holiday home or how any of this challenges the issue of poverty? (Basic income - cost of living will go up to the point that the basic income is worthless, Illegal landlords - one type of investment vehicle being lost, current landlords sell and potentially property prices go down, people with 90% LTV will be in negative equity).

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

Hello,

A very simple change which would make a massive difference to children's nutrition would be to return to the basic meat and two veg school lunch. Lots of children are entitled to free meals, but given the choice (as they are in secondary school) of having baguettes, pizza, pasta pots and similar items which can be eaten whilst playing football or hanging out in the playground, of course that is what they choose instead of sitting in the canteen with a knife and fork. But if the healthy meal was the only choice, of course they would eat it. It isn't rocket science and it is heartbreaking seeing children who you know are living in poverty choosing to eat state funded junk. Such a missed opportunity.

I didn't think senior schools let children out of the dining room with food? Certainly doesn't happen at 'difficult school' but I'm sure plenty of them do choose to eat junk.

edinburgher

UBI funding = easy. Abolish all other welfare funding.

Preventing gouging = rent caps.

Rental gouging already takes place thanks to the wonders of the free market. Landlords buy up many of the cheaper homes that FTBs and people with lower incomes might realistically buy, pricing them out. FTBs are then forced to rent while busting their humps to save a deposit to try and get out of the cycle of paying off someone else's mortgage. You don't see how this is linked to poverty? People making a hearty profit from the provision of a basic right?

Don't buy your negative equity idea - property volumes are far too low in the UK. Any fall in BTLs would be snapped up by FTBs no longer priced out of the market. High house prices are a problem, not a positive

AlexLK

I can understand your points, Ed. I suppose a lot of my issues with your proposed state are quite personal ones; ultimately if this happened my family would lose one good source of income and have to sell the property assets I wish to pass onto my son.

PositiveBalance

Hi Ed!

Nice to see you 'around' a bit more, which is ironic as I have been around a lot less, so to speak (but I will be back with a vengeance in the near future)!