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?

Xenia - there is such a limited supply of private rented housing for those on benefits already, and they aren't doing anything. Those needs aren't being met!

There are lots of people on low incomes who are reliant on HB and need more affordable and secure housing.Also house prices are becoming unaffordable on average salaries and will continue to be unless more are built.

This is not about encouraging people not to work. This issue is affecting taxpayers too.

Here's the rough draft, help me get it right.

Be nice

The shortage and cost of housing in this country has reached crisis point. Housing issues can have an effect on health and family relationships as well as a damaging influence on childrens education and emotional development. Many low income families unable to access social housing or buy are renting in the private sector. The high cost of this is causing problems. It is also very insecure, families need to put down roots as this builds communities and instability can have a negative effect on their education. Also house prices are becoming unaffordable and this need to be reversed.Therefore this campaign calls for:

The building of more affordable homes
The building of more social homes

According to shelter:

"The government?s proposed 150,000 affordable homes over four years is less than a third of what is needed. This will leave millions of families stuck in limbo on housing waiting lists, and push house prices further out of the reach of those on ordinary incomes.The cuts of more than 60% to new affordable housing will lead to the loss of jobs, skills and expertise that could take over a decade to recover from. Shelter research shows that for each £1 cut from housing the wider economy will take a hit of at least £3.50."

Statistics from shelter.org:

"In 2008 the number of repossessions rose to 40,000 from 25,900 the previous year, and it is predicted that 65,000 homes will be repossessed in 2009."

"Over 1.7 million households are currently waiting for social housing."

"Some homeless households - many with dependent children - wait for years in temporary accommodation. "

"At the end of December 2008, 64,000 households were living in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities. Just over 49,000 of these households had dependent children"

This campaign is not intended to be about party politics.This is a crisis that has been building over many years and an issue that needs to by addressed by whoever is in power.

Name of campaign????

I can see why the Govt is changing the system ? it?s not all to do with scroungers, fantasy or otherwise.

People on average incomes ? even couples both working ? now can?t afford to buy their own houses in most of this country. Ever. For Brits home ownership is their benchmark of achievement, life goal, grail, you name it. Once the realisation they were born without a hope sinks in to us all (it hasn?t yet) what motivation can you scrape up to work when you know however hard bust a gut you?ll get nowhere? How many seconds will it take for you to realise the council pays your rent if you don?t?

So to solve the problem, the Govt lowers standards for welfare rents. Easy.

Are the new limits set the same across the country or does it depend where you live? My nearest large town is approx 60 miles from central London and I've just looked on Right Move at three bed rental properties. Even the poshest ones are going for £1100-£1300 per month, the bulk are around the £700-£800 mark, and the can be got as cheaply as £500. The proposed limit as far as I can see is £1360.

If they are not weighting payments to area then they really should be, but as far as I can tell, based on my area the limit seems more than generous. I might be getting the wrong end of the stick though! Have no idea how many of those properties will take HB though, the details didn't mention it.

Having said they should weight the payments according to area I see no justification for subsidising or paying for housing in the most expensive exclusive areas that are out of bounds to all but the super-rich. That's just daft.

No Fellatio, weighted to an area. If the drop from the 50th to the 30th centile happens. People will get rent shortfalls in a lot of areas unless landlords drop rent.I dont know if it has gone through as they were voting on it in parliament yesterday.I can't find any news of it.

Still think for campaigning for more affordable housing in general is a good idea.Might be a good idea to avoid hb cuts as don't know what is hapenning on them and everyone has different ideas about whether they are a good thing or not.

The map in the link shows the reductions across the country (colour coded)

england.shelter.org.uk/what_you_can_do/campaign_with_us/housing_benefit_campaign/uk_affordability_map

Shall I post the rough draft in campaigns or do I need to tweak it?????

Name it campaign for more affordable housing?

'Housing Cuts Won't Heal'?

I am still horrified at that comment about re-establishing the workhouses. It's made me break out in a cold sweat that there is still such thinking in this day and age. Have we never moved on from Victorian times?

Treat people like animals, they'll behave like them.

Remember, this generation you're so keen to sweep into the poorhouse, Xenia, are the same ones who may/will be paying the tax that will support your housing needs/bills when you're old. Not to mention perhaps doing your shopping, cooking your food, washing your clothes, making your bed and locking your front door at night when you may be too elderly/infirm to do it yourself.

You'd better hope they've got more compassion than you.