Ben cap

gettingready

There is nothing wrong with social housing but the people who get to live there, that is the problem.

If social housing was for people and allocated on their need to live close to work - we would have wonderful social housing estates.

What we have instead is crime ridden no go areas in places where people would like to live.

I live in a council flat, I swapped to where I am now - it is lovely, absolutely lovely. Why? Because of the area, lots of people bought their flats here. Some stayed, some moved on. VERY few people are out of work. No crime, no hoodies, no graffiti, I can honestly walk on my estate at 3 am and no trouble at all. We do not have 1.99 chicken shops, off licenses, kebab shops etc. We have NOTHING here. People work so go to bed at decent time - it is quiet, safe, clean and lovely.

Every estate could be like that - provided people work and care and have will and resources to care. It won't happen when a council tenant calls repairs to have a flipping light bulb changed as he/she can not be bothered (can not afford) to get one himself/herself.

Killerseven

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Not really. They just secure suitable accommodation that falls below the cap. That may not be in London, of course.

This is the point, so how can any low income families work in London? Without low paid workers London will grind to a hault.

No they won't commute that fa ran for a min wage job when they can get that same wage local.

lighting_up_the_chalice

Killerseven wrote: »

This is the point, so how can any low income families work in London? Without low paid workers London will grind to a hault.

No they won't commute that fa ran for a min wage job when they can get that same wage local.

You've kind of answered your own question. London needs low paid workers. Low paid workers won't work for low pay. So...... London needs to pay low paid workers more money. It's basic economics. If you have a service that is needed, you can charge a higher rate. The more needed your service, the higher the rate you can charge.

HarryDentJr

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

You've kind of answered your own question. London needs low paid workers. Low paid workers won't work for low pay. So...... London needs to pay low paid workers more money. It's basic economics. If you have a service that is needed, you can charge a higher rate. The more needed your service, the higher the rate you can charge.

So you are saying the supermarkets and all will have to pay more than min wage for thos ein London? You are saying in fact ALL min wage jobs in London need to go up a long way to make up for the cuts in benefits?

I cant see it happening myself.

gettingready

HarryDentJr wrote: »

So you are saying the supermarkets and all will have to pay more than min wage for thos ein London? You are saying in fact ALL min wage jobs in London need to go up a long way to make up for the cuts in benefits?

Of course - living in London is more expensive than anywhere else.

Do you remember London Weighting? I believe some companies (public sector) still pay it to people who work in London. Pity it is not all companies.

System

I don't understand why my sister chooses to live and work in london, its expensive and she pays double what i pay up north, for a room that's half the size of mine (plus mine includes bills). She is haring with 2 friends but personally i can't see the appeal of working down there unless you're in a well paid job (she works in retail).

That said someone has do to the lower paid jobs, if those people are forced out of london and can't afford to commute, who will do them?

gettingready

My daughter was renting a lovely and I mean really lovely 1 bed flat "up North" way bigger than my 2 bed in London and for the cost of what she would need to pay for an average room in a house share here so I agree with you on that one.

People choose to live/work in London for various reasons - some like the busy city which does have so much to offer, more than small rural places. Some have family/friends here and do not want to lose that. Etc

But wages in London should be higher for ALL jobs. Having a NMW at the same level all over the country makes no sense whatsoever when cost of living is so different and people are needed to work low skills job.

System

gettingready wrote: »

My daughter was renting a lovely and I mean really lovely 1 bed flat "up North" way bigger than my 2 bed in London and for the cost of what she would need to pay for an average room in a house share here so I agree with you on that one.

People choose to live/work in London for various reasons - some like the busy city which does have so much to offer, more than small rural places. Some have family/friends here and do not want to lose that. Etc

But wages in London should be higher for ALL jobs. Having a NMW at the same level all over the country makes no sense whatsoever when cost of living is so different and people are needed to work low skills job.

I suspect my sister is there because she has a dream of being an actress..despite not having formal qualifications. I feel bad for her, she doesn't have a bad quality of life (she's on holiday abroad as i type) but i feel bad she's not having a better quality of life she could get elsewhere.

I'm not certain hat she gets paid, but i think it is a "london" wage at least. Its crazy how much more expensive it is down there.