working/housing/caps

[moonstars]

I really don't get this government... i'm a single parent to 4 children. as i'm in a private rent in London i'm over the cap because of the expensive rent. If i'm lucky enough to find a job. childcare will be paid up to 300 a week, my full rent will be paid then i will get in work benefit top-ups.. So if i done that it would cost more for me to be in work....

Also I'm wondering why private renters seem to be getting singled out. Maybe singled out is the wrong word, as there are lots of cut backs but that seems to be the one that risks loosing a place to live. I sort of understand there needs to be a cap but this is meaning the people who had no choice but to private rent are the one's who are suffering.... but people in council don't have anything to worry about.

Also i spoke to shelter a couple of days ago and they told me that people who are homeless now cant refuse a private rent. so when my landlord evicts me i will be pushed back into unaffordable renting

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Don't take this the wrong way but, if you don't work, why are you in expensive London? Why not take your family and live somewhere cheaper for rent, childcare, transport and so on and where there might be more jobs you can have a shot at?

[moonstars]

Well i kind of see your point. but i would have no support system at all. my oldest is doing her gcse's . and london is m home... i did move out of london once i was gone for 6 months. and i hated it so so much and depression etc set it... But anyway its not just about me as such there are going to be a lot of families in the same kind of situation.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

But surely it is more depressing to be short of cash and facing eviction than to move with your family to a different area? There are lots of lovely places on the outskirts of London, still inside the M25... a short train-ride from friends and family... with great schools and good job prospects.

[moonstars]

no not really i would rather be short of cash and happy... i don't see why london should be only for the rich... and money does not make the children happy... also im not 100% on this but i don't think the rent is that much cheaper unless move right out... also as i said my daughter is doing her GCSE's no way could i move her now. it would rip her apart. and she has mental health issues to so i don't want to make them worse. Anyway if wages were better i guess it would not be so hard :/

[HappyMummyOfOne]

So you have four children, dont work and live in a very expensive area all funded by the tax payer and the government are being unreasonable

if you have a support network where you are then you have choices, either work and use that support for childcare or move to an area you can afford. Your life is your own, you choose your own destiny. It is not down to others to afford you the lifestyle you want.

[dreamingofsun]

we only have 3 children as thats all we could afford and we moved out of london as housing was much cheaper. Thoroughly recommend it - once your daughter's finished her GCSE's. And we both work - untill recently FT and earn way over average salaries - just couldn't afford to live in london.

sorry for your plight. but maybe you should stop moaning and relying on the tax payer and do something about it.

[Writehand]

It looks as if you're going to move out of London. I am generally very sympathetic to people having trouble with the benefit system, and a lot of people are treated appallingly, but it seems to me that in your case you're being unreasonable. You need to move.

I lived in London when I was single and my DH & I shared a flat in London as a couple. But when we wanted to have a baby, like most people, we moved out of London because of the prices. We didn't get benefits, we paid our own private rent and there was no way we could afford a larger flat on what we earned. Like most people we found accommodation we could afford. That is normal, you know.

I have never in my middle class working life earned enough to pay rent on a property big enough for 5 people in central London. How many MN people could? Very few. London, these days, is for the rich.

I think you would find that your quality of life, the type of people, the facilities so much better away from London. I have never regretted leaving. My DSD grew up in social housing in London and it was rough. Syringes in the park. Stabbings in the school. Not the sort of thing we get out here in the sticks.

[expatinscotland]

'but people in council don't have anything to worry about.'

They don't? Our HA - no council around here - has just jacked up the rents. And plenty of disabled people and foster carers in HA/council housing will have a reduction in their HB come April.

We had 3 children, but then chose sterilisation as couldn't afford more.

[Orwellian]

Were you/your husband employed when you had your children?

The government were bound to put a cap on benefits sooner or later as this is a way of discouraging people from having kids on benefits. The world is overpopulated and although it is unfair, there are plenty of people with no kids or a few kids with both parents in work who have had to move out of London because they aren't entitled to any benefits or social housing and can't afford to pay London rent/mortgages out of their own pockets.

London is now only affordable to the very rich and those in social housing which is ridiculous.