Westminster Council's ?3m homeless tab
Westminster Council's ?3m homeless tab
If you're not confused you don't know what's going on.
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Arginald Valleywater
- Posts: 4288
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: Westminster Council's ?3m homeless tab
If you are homeless do yourself a favour and get out of one of the most expensive cities in the world. London's streets are not paved with gold.
Re: Westminster Council's ?3m homeless tab
Well the local London councils have/are shipping out there dregs to surrounding areas.
For example in my area there is/was a tenacey deposit scheme for rented housing which could only be used in the borough area whereas southwark (amongst others) you could get a nice slab of cash and move anywhere meaning they get rid of their problem along with all its associated costs.
For example in my area there is/was a tenacey deposit scheme for rented housing which could only be used in the borough area whereas southwark (amongst others) you could get a nice slab of cash and move anywhere meaning they get rid of their problem along with all its associated costs.
Re: Westminster Council's ?3m homeless tab
You have a solution for everything.
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David Johnson
- Posts: 7844
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Jonone
Yes this really is the world of Alice in Wonderland.
1. Thatcher's government sells off huge quantities of the state owned council housing stock at knockdown prices and refused to let councils replace the stock. The Labour government did little to correct this.
2. The coalition introduces its own right to buy scheme. Discounts of up to ?75,000 are offered ? four times the current deal on offer in London and treble the discount for residents in the rest of the country. Apparently this time the houses will be replaced with new affordable rent properties.
3. There is no control of private rents.
And surprise, surprise, we have a housing problem. Who would have thought it?
So is the government spending huge amounts of money to replenish the housing stock to try to alleviate the problem? Of course, not.
Instead it is spending it's money on schemes such as providing up to 20% of the cost of a home funded by a shared equity loan, which will be interest-free for the first five years. This will be for new build homes up to the value of ?600K. This should help to generate a housing bubble, increase house prices and further increase rents.
Meanwhile as you point out the government is paying enormous sums of money for hotel accommodation for those people for whom council housing is not available.
1. Thatcher's government sells off huge quantities of the state owned council housing stock at knockdown prices and refused to let councils replace the stock. The Labour government did little to correct this.
2. The coalition introduces its own right to buy scheme. Discounts of up to ?75,000 are offered ? four times the current deal on offer in London and treble the discount for residents in the rest of the country. Apparently this time the houses will be replaced with new affordable rent properties.
3. There is no control of private rents.
And surprise, surprise, we have a housing problem. Who would have thought it?
So is the government spending huge amounts of money to replenish the housing stock to try to alleviate the problem? Of course, not.
Instead it is spending it's money on schemes such as providing up to 20% of the cost of a home funded by a shared equity loan, which will be interest-free for the first five years. This will be for new build homes up to the value of ?600K. This should help to generate a housing bubble, increase house prices and further increase rents.
Meanwhile as you point out the government is paying enormous sums of money for hotel accommodation for those people for whom council housing is not available.
Re: Jonone
It all seems quite .... forseeable ?
Making the same mistakes and expecting different outcomes is a definition of insanity.
Making the same mistakes and expecting different outcomes is a definition of insanity.
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David Johnson
- Posts: 7844
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: Jonone
Yup and the housing benefit bill has spiralled out of control over the last 20 years as a result of government inaction on the underlying problem i.e. lack of affordable housing.
Some of the coalition government measures seem more about punishment than saving money. For example the "bedroom tax" or the "spare bedroom subsidy" depending on what party you belong to, charges people etc. for spare bedrooms they might have.
In many, many cases, there are not suitably small premises for people who have spare bedrooms so if the measure is "successful" in the sense that they are forced out of their council homes, the only option is to move into the private rented sector which in the vast majority of the south of England and many places in the North is going to result in a higher sum being paid in housing benefit.
Some of the coalition government measures seem more about punishment than saving money. For example the "bedroom tax" or the "spare bedroom subsidy" depending on what party you belong to, charges people etc. for spare bedrooms they might have.
In many, many cases, there are not suitably small premises for people who have spare bedrooms so if the measure is "successful" in the sense that they are forced out of their council homes, the only option is to move into the private rented sector which in the vast majority of the south of England and many places in the North is going to result in a higher sum being paid in housing benefit.
Re: Jonone
It just seems like it hasn't been thought through. One often hears a politician being described as 'brilliant' referring to their intellect. I don't think the belief that these people are 'clever' is sustainable when you consider policies like this.
Re: Westminster Council's ?3m homeless tab
The real issue is the massive lack of jobs that pay a living wage hence people can not save for a deposit then pay a mortgage.
Successive governments have put industry and making the UK as self-sufficient as possible in either the ' don't care ', ' too difficult ' or ' too much effort required ' basket.
Just two example are
1 -
Much the manufacturing that remains relies heavily on imported components and sub-assemblies. Take the example of JCB who stated several years ago
' We currently import 70 % of raw material and components but 30 years ago it was just 10%. '
2 -
If we were self-sufficient in beef, pork, lamb and chicken the horse meat scandal and other scares about non-UK meat would have had minimal effect in the UK.
Successive governments have put industry and making the UK as self-sufficient as possible in either the ' don't care ', ' too difficult ' or ' too much effort required ' basket.
Just two example are
1 -
Much the manufacturing that remains relies heavily on imported components and sub-assemblies. Take the example of JCB who stated several years ago
' We currently import 70 % of raw material and components but 30 years ago it was just 10%. '
2 -
If we were self-sufficient in beef, pork, lamb and chicken the horse meat scandal and other scares about non-UK meat would have had minimal effect in the UK.
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David Johnson
- Posts: 7844
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Sparky
"The real issue is the massive lack of jobs that pay a living wage hence people can not save for a deposit then pay a mortgage."
Agreed and this explains why many low paid workers could not possibly survive without housing benefit and tax credits which go to landlords in the one case and subsidise employers' low wages in the other.
Agreed and this explains why many low paid workers could not possibly survive without housing benefit and tax credits which go to landlords in the one case and subsidise employers' low wages in the other.