AIBU to hate the line "why should people on housing benefit live in homes that working people can't afford?"

[standupandbecounted]

"Why should people on housing benefit live in houses that working people could not afford?"

I keep seeing this line being thrown about in the media. Along with stories about families, usually with an average of eight kids, claiming a shocking level of housing benefit.The government is going to cap housing benefit to prevent this. Reasonable, but not the whole story.
A a less publicised proposal is to drop the level of Local Housing Allowance(LHA) from the 50th centile to the 30th centile.Local housing allowance is currently set at the median-middle value- of private rents in your local area. In my area the LHA is nowhere near the proposed cap. The maximum I can claim for a 2 bedroom property (I have 2 kids) is 126.92 per week. For a three bedroom it is £150 per week. Shelter have estimate that the average loss for a for a two bedroom tenant in my area will be £12 per week.( I assume this is based on predicted rent levels)
Loss per area here

I am renting a two bedroom flat for myself and two children, aged 18 months and 5. There is no outdoor space, it is not large and not in an exclusive area. The soundproofing is poor and the tenants upstairs are fond of partying way into the early hours. Hardly luxury housing that working people can't afford. I believe this myth about HB claimants living in the best properties does not represent the reality for the majority of us. I have tried to find somewhere better but most landlords will not take HB or children. I have put my name down on the waiting list for council housing but have been awarded thr lowest priority level. I will never get one with that banding.

The thing that upsets me most is the "working people" bit, a lot of HB claimants ARE working people! Housing benefit is also available to people who don't earn enough to cover their rent. Most low income people cannot access council housing anymore. They are forced to rent on the private market, where rents are to high to be affordable on low incomes. This is the case in most areas, not just London.

So, AIBU to feel angry that people on housing benefit are being misrepresented and subjected to unfair cuts?

You are mistaken Nelson. I am and have been working class all of my life. I live on a London overspill estate and everybody I know round here votes conservative. I'm not arrogant or patronising, just saying what I see.

I didn't know the difference between the major parties, or their histories, until I attended college at 42.

Well most people have never had a politics lesson in their life, but they are still capable of forming an opinion based on what they see around them! How would you be felling about those 'poor people will no political education' if they all voted Labour? Would you still be concerned that their decision was uninformed?

sorry for typos

I currently live in a 2 bedroom flat in a not very nice part of south london. It is in a serious state of disrepair. Walls are litrally falling down, no carpets in the bedrooms because of the damp - well puddles in actual fact.
No use of the bath in the family bathroom as it floods the cellar, no use of the sink or shower in there.But I can use the toilet in there which is good as I can't use it in the ensuite as it is leaking and damaged. The wall in DS1's bedroom is collapsing, as it is in the ensuite but i can use the shower in there as long as I place 4 towels on the floor to catch the water which pours out of the bottom of the shower.....these are just a few of the problems in the property.

The landlord expects £1400 pcm for the property but HB only pay him £880. I have refused to make up the shortfall simply because of the state of disrepair.

Today I viewed a property...and accepted it. it is a 3 bedroom flat on the 2nd floor of a tower block.I cannot wait to move in.

Do I think HB should be capped yes I do, because hopefully it will help stop the greedy landlords like my current one being such arses.

Any uninformed decision ought to be alarming; especially when there is the ability to give them real choice, as opposed to Daily Mail headline fodder.

Yes, it is, but I somehow suspect you wouldn't be too concerned about whether they were ill-informed or not, or even consider they might be, so long as they vote your way.

Why do you need to know the history of a party to vote for them that's like saying you need to know my life story and my parents and grand parents to be friends with me!

fellatio don't worry would rather we xpost and both made it clear how daft it sounds.

I'm always concerned for the people round here. I'm related to half of them Whether it matters they vote with me for the sake of me getting my own way, I shall have to think about that. It might be an ego thing, I don't know.....

Fair comment Constance re ego. I'm always amazed people don't realize how right I am too. Night all.

Why wouldn't you want to know the history of a party you are voting for? You might vote in a right bunch of fascists if the party's history was irrelevant to everyone.

All the mostly working class people I know would never ever vote conservative ..some of the idiots voted Lib dem though ..doubt they will do that again

History does tend to have a habit of repeating itself.

The Labour party always leave the country in a financial mess.

They would never vote Torie because they remember the thatcher years..so yes you are right about history repeating its self

Of course someone that can support themselves 100% without handouts should live in better accomodation than someone relying on the state to look after them. Otherwise, where is the incentive to work? You have 10 kids? So what? Your decision. You support them. It's not the state's responsiblity to ensure your kids have a room each. It's yours. Numpty. Unless you have fallen on hard times although I struggle to believe anyone can afford to properly bring up more than a few kids without a single handout. Even the Beckhams stopped at three kids.

loads of jobs out there ....not

Even if you are fully self-sufficient having too many kids unless you are sufficiently rich that it will never be an issue) is a little foolish. We all know we are at the mercy of fate, redundancy, health problems etc. Even if I could afford six now, I'd still have half an eye on what might be round the corner.

How dare the peasants breed ..mind you 2 of mine work now and pay their own tax so maybe I was allowed 3 ,although DD2 does get some HB so maybe not

On our estate, a huge amount of social housing has been given to people of other cultures, such as Nepalese and Polish. A lot of British people here vote Conservative because they think it will turn that tide.

I think it's really sad that people blame the Polish and the Nepalese, rather than knowing that the housing shortage derives largely from the sell-off of social houses in the 1980's that were never replaced. It makes for a horrible community atmosphere. So it is important that people know their political history, in that respect.

I can't believe anyone would deliberately have a child that they couldn't afford to bring up without state support??? Is that what labour have done to this country? "Oh, I can't afford it but some other anonymous poor sod can pay for it"? WTF?

I confess, I did vote LibDem cos I thought it would help the Labour Party. Ignorance is not bliss. And, NO, I would not do that again :)

Maybe if people were paid a living wage we wouldn't need state support

I agree with that one, Usualsuspect :)

"Even if you are fully self-sufficient having too many kids unless you are sufficiently rich that it will never be an issue) is a little foolish. We all know we are at the mercy of fate, redundancy, health problems etc. Even if I could afford six now, I'd still have half an eye on what might be round the corner."

Absolutely. You are not saying 'how dare the peasants breed'. You are simply stating the fact that all of us (apart from the ridiculously, absurdly wealthy) need to make major life decisions such as who we have children with/how many we have, we a sensible, well thought out view of not only our current situation but also factoring in what might, realistically, happen. If you are in a super powered high earning but insecure job, it would be daft to have 6 children, if the chances are you might be considerably poorer the next year. Just as you'd be daft to take out a million pound mortgage.

That's simple common sense. I expect that's why some people sneer at it

Nobody better have any kids in the next 4 years than I reckon ...who would have planned for the Tories to get in again?