In thinking the Govt have not thought through the changes to council tax benefit?

[JakeBullet]

As of next April most of the poorest members of society will be asked to make a contribution to their council tax. There are real issues with this as for most families although the amounts will be smallish, perhaps amounting to less than £7 a week it comes at a time when they are already being squeezed financially.

The feeling amongst councils is that many will refuse to pay, especially if it is a stark choice between paying this amount or buying food. As the amounts are so small it will be uneconomic to go down a route of trying to enforce it.

I am a single parent and currently rely on benefits (my son is autistic), however because my family consists of just myself and DS it is likely that a small amount going back towards council tax will not pose a problem. The same might not be true for other families who for whatever reason find themselves on benefits.
I don't think the Govt have thought this one through and in reality what this will mean is that councils which supply vital services will face massive shortfalls.

I don't think the Govt have thought this one through.

I think Boroughs are going to escape some of the worst of the savage cuts because they don't run social services (massive black hole) and waste disposal (increasing costs of landfill, less recycling income).

Borough councils do provide social services and waste disposal.

Boroughs provide waste collection, but the counties/unitaries have the financial responsibility for paying for social services and waste disposal for the whole area. I told you I was boring myself with this stuff.

Botton line is we all pay (according to out means); we all potentially receive (according to our needs); we all suffer from cuts.

But Boroughs and Districts have fewer cuts to make visibly, because the biggies come fom the overarching larger councils that sit above them.

Are we all asleep yet?

LineRunner My local council is a borough council, but it has the same powers and responsibilities as a unitary authority, so does pay for social services and waste disposal. I believe the same is true for all councils in this county. Saying that, we may be an exception.

Hasn't this thread diverged. From talk of revolution on the first page, to a discussion on the finer points of council systems

I am the most boring person alive.

Trouble is, knowledge is power. 'Two tier' authorities, unitaries, Universal Credit, local schemes, etc - it's a very arcane system.

What happens when when even CAB can't keep up and we are all pitted against each other for the crumbs?

I'm quite interested in the differences between district and borough councils and what a unitary is and what pays for what. I have no idea!

Does that make me sad?

no outraged, it makes you intrested in learning about something.

thats extreamly commendable have a nice

That you I'll save the incase someone fancies explaining it all to me!

Thank, obviously. Stupid autocorrect

I wonder how much of the council tax is used to fund greedy private landlords via housing benefit?

im not talking about me here but

how does a person on JSA (single) afford to pay from next year out of £71

extra rent top up

some council tax

their gas and electric up

that will be 3 extra rises straight away

all out of £71 and thats without food etc

I think we need more social housing for exactly that reason.

Rents in my area have went up £100 per month since August. Thats on a 2 bed apartment.

LHAs have gone down though.

Outraged I don't know the details of the differences, but this link might help :)

I agree about the need for more social housing! Not only would it bring rents down - less demand for private rentals - which would reduce the housing benefit bill, it would also provide jobs and put money into the economy.

saskia, maybe GB should adopt the system that is used in N.I which has always had a strict cap on housing benefit and as such reduced the amount paid by the rate payer ( council tax). The current HB cap here is about 370 pcm and peaked@ £390 pcm, this has the effect of reducing the landlords asking price, its a good system.

Its not working bureni.

The rise I quoted upthread is NI.

And the top end of LHA for a three bed rate is now £450 pcm.

It may still be cheaper than the mainland. But its creeping up steadily.

Blimey , I wish I could get that sort of money. I rent a 4 bedroom house with off road parking and a garage for £320 pcm including rates which includes water. The point I am making is that I am paying no more than £250 a year in rates (council tax) because it is not handed out in the form of benefits to landlords due to the strict cap on HB which the mainland does not have.

Am I right in thinking that you live very rurally bureni? Maybe not...but rentals rurally are often substantially cheaper here.

Its unfortunate but I actually live in one of the more expensive postcodes. I cannot move due to DDs dad (or we would emigrate) and yes it is capped at £450 where rents are typically £550 for the same bedroomed house. Where we would find the extra is beyond me.

We are now facing trying to get social housing. We are being pushed into a corner. But ultimately it would save the government money until we can get back on our feet.

I feel that landlords are milking the system since there are not real caps on what they can charge, what I have seen is a benefit cap on HB has reduced the rates (council tax) and also what council tax ( rate )payers have to fork out, its the same system under a different title but in effect it is the same but yet I pay lot less here for the same that I would get n the mainland but that is mainly because the council do not have any or control social housing here. Something must be working correctly otherwise I would be paying a lot more every year.

Some will definitely be milking the system....but not all. Some Landlords are those who could not sell but needed to move on so they rent out the previous property to cover the mortgage on it. I have friends who did that and it was a nightmare if people did not pay, a nightmare if anything went wrong and difficult if people moved in quickly. I think we have a lot of reluctant landlords out there who have been forced into the position by needing to move but could not sell.

However....

One LL locally advertises rooms to let with the tag on "deposits available from the job centre"! The fact that he is ALWAYS advertising leads me to think his "rooms" might not be that great. But he gets his "deposit" and possibly a few months rent out of people. His ads say in capitals "HOUSING BENEFIT WELCOME".

council tax benefit is a sepparate benefit to housing benefit,even if its administered from the same dept and uses the same form.

if things like water or ct is inc in your rent then the amount you recive from housing benefit will be deducted so hb does not fund your water or ct.

landlords do not recive ct benefit it is paid to the la directly or the tenant it will not get paid to a ll.