Social housing and Syrian Refugees

[Plentymoresharks]

Controversial one. A memo has gone out from the local council to local residents, asking whether anyone has a property they can offer for Syrian refugees, housing benefit will be paid as well as a premium and money to hold the property until it is occupied, money for decorating and repairing the property etc.

Aibu to find it ridiculous that basically the council will be housing refugees who have been flown around the world ahead of people already on the waiting list for social housing? Also, there are homeless people who I see every day, living in the park and under a car park bridge but they aren't getting this same help (the memo mentions the social and medical help the refugees will also be given).

Mrs De Vere there is a lack of affordable housing because there is a lack of housing. The shortage drives the price up in an unregulated market. It's basic bloody economics. Why are you ignoring what I am saying about the issue of empty homes? I really don't think you know enough about the issue in depth to comment. And why are you bringing the EDL into this? My dh is a Muslim immigrant and we both think any government needs to take serious action about the housing shortage if it's going to continue this level of immigration.
As for the credibility of Shelter, hmmm. I worked as a researcher for them the summer after graduating (having taken housing policy as an honours option) and while I think it's a worthwhile organisation in many respects, it's certainly not perfect.

So true MrsD, people bang on about how they have a right to their OPINION and nothing we do can stop them having an OPINION but fail to see that we also have the right to challenge said opinion. But it's usually futile and any attempt to present facts is ignored. On a recent thread, one poster was talking about how more immigrants would result in dogs not being allowed in taxis because Muslims think they're dirty but the only examples of this that I could find were by cabbies with English names! This was conveniently ignored of course, why let little things like facts stand in the way of a bit of bigotry?

Sorry I think it's Mrs De Vere that has a problem with her opinion being challenged.

I agree with Lauren15.

Try living in the middle of it then talk

There is NOT a shortage of housing. There are houses everywhere. Empty ones.

I know. But why aren't they being let? Did you read the document talking about the 56,000 empty homes?

There is a shortage of AFFORDABLE housing.

And why is that? do you think the problem is that there are LL with homes ready to let, and hordes of tenants waiting to let, but LL are just asking too much? That's so OBVIOUSLY not the problem. Just think about why rents are high.

I live in London.

I also live in London. I have a lot of friends in the atrocious private rental sector. it sucks. Because of the housing shortage, dwellings don't have reception rooms. I know of some people living in places where the kitchen is a "bedroom".

Sky high rents are the problem. They are a symptom of the problem.

I've skipped a lot of the thread, apologies if I'm repeating.

I live in London and was homeless until this week. I still don't resent refugees being given a place to live. I've sat in a homeless day centre filled with rough sleepers and spoken about this issue - every single person I spoke to agreed with housing refugees (we would have copies of the Metro around and discussed views on politics quite a bit).

There is no shortage of housing in London, there is a shortage of social housing but not private (take a look on RightMove or Gumtree). The city is full of empty buildings that have been bought by people that aren't living in it and the housing that is available is too expensive for a lot of people. This is an entirely separate issue to refugees.

Just a thought to ponder...my friend and her family were refugees from the Kosovo war. The things they saw are beyond comprehension for most of us. She (age 12) and her mother were gang raped in front of their father. He was shot (it missed) and left for dead in a pile of bodies. Their village was marked to be burnt to the ground the next day. They got out because the parents were doctors/nurses and had money. They paid their life savings to make the perilous trip and arrived here with nothing. I thank god they were given a house.

My friend is now a doctor, her brother a trainee surgeon, saving countless lives everyday. Her parents still work in the NHS. I only wish I was half the person she is.

Yes, pirate, my friend was a child refugee from Bosnia and also witnessed terrible stuff. Her family managed to get to Croatia but they couldn't work there and she wasn't entitled to go to school. They were eventually taken in by the US.

This is why you can't just stop at the first peaceful country. You may not speak the language, be allowed to work or go to school. How do you rebuild a life then?

I will say it again and maybe someone who is currently badly informed will take it on board. There are hardly any Syrian refugees in the UK. There are more living in the CITY of Istanbul than in the whole of the CONTINENT of Europe.

They are not allowed to work in Turkey, just exist. These people have been waiting for an opportunity to go home. It is now nearly five years on and still no hope of going back. Somehow they have to move on. To all those saying they should just stay in the first peaceful country - What would you do?

It does cause a divide, how many posts do you see everyday on MN about funding being cut from this, that and the other? The NHS is at breaking point and when people see a thing like this, quite rightly, they go mad...what about the vunerable, what about people who have to wait months for life saving treatment who are told there's no money, it's not just the council paying for houses, it's schools, it's hospitals

So the extremely destitute are going to be blamed for a lack of social provision and not trigger-happy Cameron and his cronies who much prefer to spend money on bombing the Syrians than helping the homeless or women fleeing domestic violence, etc.

It is not a simple problem. We certainly do b enefit from educated refugees - look at the Ugandan Asians and their contribution to the UK and the Jews we took in before and after WWII. They have hugely enhanced the nation. It is a different matter to take in say 300,000 young Muslim men with no qualifications who won't be able to get themselves on their feet, may not speak English so cannot easily get jobs. I support Cameron's careful policies on this topic.

On housing there is rented housing in the private sector - when my daughter was letting tenants (in London around the £1300 a mark a month) had a choice and shopped around and moved to another place if the rent would be rising etc. It is a very competitive market which works for all those many people who are mobile and want a year's tenancy whilst they are seconded to London or are just too young to buy yet and not settled.

There has been a shortage of council housing since council housing was started. Even when I was a child back in 60s Newcastle getting a council house was very very difficult. They have never been handed out like smarties and nor are they very nice anyway. In places like Liverpool Newcastle Sunderland there are lots of rows of homes unoccupied. Some councils have offered them to buy at £1. In areas with no jobs there is little house price inflation and no housing problem. In areas with jobs it is hard to find one to buy particularly in outer London at the cheaper end £200k - £300k.

The NHS is at breaking point and when people see a thing like this, quite rightly, they go mad...what about the vunerable, what about people who have to wait months for life saving treatment who are told there's no money, it's not just the council paying for houses, it's schools, it's hospitals

the thing is that we have decided (through our government) to have some portion of our budget be foreign aid. we could cut that to zero, and dump it into the NHS. likely, however, the better way to deal with the NHS is improve efficiency. But I think we need some foreign aid budget.

So, we have a foreign aid budget where the money for the housing for the refugees is coming from. However, that doesn't magic up houses in London. that's what I don't get. while in some happy land London doesn't have a severe housing shortage, in real life it does.

There is definitely a shortage of cheaper end homes to buy out here anyway in this bit of London. They are sold before they hardly get to the market. That may well dampen down a bit soon but I doubt it in that £20k - £300k price range which is the most many people can afford. There is not much of a shortage of homes to rent if you can afford to pay market rents (not social housing rents) but similarly with houses, the shortage is properties with very low rents in London. In fact houses over £2m now in London can hardly sell and have dropped in price because of the new 12% stamp duty.

I would define a "shortage of affordable housing" as a "shortage of housing".

cerseirys this tread is about Syrian refugees, not about muslim taxi drivers. You still refuse to believe my experience, which is your prerogative but I suggest you use google to discover whether or not I was being truthful and then let the matter drop and stick to the matter being discussed FGS.

Alternatively. .post what you like

Haven't read the whole thread, don't feel like I need too.

Totally agree with you actually op.

shabby that IS what I discovered when using Google. And I was using it as an example of people refusing to change their opinion when faced with facts, which is something a previous poster was referring to.

We should remember that any accommodation shortages that currently exist for the refugees will be greatly increased within just 1 generation of them being here. What do we do then? Keep on building more and more houses for them ad infinitum? The UK, and it's resources, are not bottomless and at some point, we will have to address the issues regarding the plight of our own homeless people. What do you suggest Mrs DO?

I didn't need to read the whole thread to know how offensive it would get.

Anybody thinking it's offensive to homeless people can join me when I next go to a homeless centre and speak to actual homeless people and find out what they think.

i would rather refugees then the horrible neighbors i have right now, I would rather anyone than them!
Back on topic, i think if i was a refugee i would want someone to help me so i cannot be displeased at the government helping them, if it was you, you would want help as well.
Maybe they choose london as its multicultural and they may feel more comfortable here.

The UK, and it's resources, are not bottomless and at some point, we will have to address the issues regarding the plight of our own homeless people. What do you suggest Mrs DO?

We are so far from running out of any resources. Those refugees will get jobs, and if the government gets out of their way, BUY a house. Perhaps, if we one day scrap the insane planning rules that have created this crisis, said refugees will pay for their homes with a job in the buildings trade.

In short. build houses. This housing crisis has turned the rather generous people on this island into something I don't like.

I'm somewhat reluctant to weigh in on this thread, but just wanted to make a correction. , I live in Canada, and the government, and so many of the population are welcoming the refugees with open arms: http://gu.com/p/4fbdd?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other
I have been astounded at the level of compassion shown by Canadians in the form of food drives, clothing drives and private sponsorship (I know of at least three fundraising efforts to sponsor families in Toronto), and people are keen to do whatever they can. I'm so glad my (new) government is taking a lead on this.

build more houses

Very genuinely, aren't you concerned on how this will impact on our countryside and wildlife?

Very genuinely, aren't you concerned on how this will impact on our countryside and wildlife?

not in the least. it's a big country.

I hear this trotted out a lot. countless lives are being ruined because of it.