AIBU to think that this is just wrong?

[HiddingMyIdentity]

A girl I know, lets call her K, recently had a baby. K has just turned 18, and she was living with her sister and nephew. K and baby clearly had their own room judging by the 500+ photos she shares on shapchat daily.

K just shared a photo of her new house keys. Apparently for her and baby, government funded of course as K has never worked a day in her life.

Ireland are having a massive homeless crisis, hostels and hotels are full to the brim with families, and K a few weeks after her 18th birthday gets given a house??

I work 50 hours a week, and had to move county to afford to rent a house. Yet this one pops out a kid at 17 and gets handed a house, that I and all the outer tax payers of Ireland are paying for, as her 18th birthday present from the State!

There are families out there in much worse living conditions than K, who have been on housing lists for years, why should she get a house ahead of them??

Is it just me who thinks that this is wrong?

Sorry I needed a bit of a rant!

if we pursue your magical world where social housing is handed out willy billy,

Perhaps you could approach the job centre for some essential skills training. You seem to have trouble with comprehension.

Those of us who pay rent don't have the luxury of refusing to move somewhere as it is too far

No, you have the luxury of choosing your own home wherever you please.

@DoneLikeAKipper

So you think that she is the first single mother with a small family? You don't think there is more like her on the housing list already? Cop on!

from my original post

*There are families out there in much worse living conditions than K, who have been on housing lists for years, why should she get a house ahead of them??

Is it just me who thinks that this is wrong?*

You are totally gone off point and seem to be looking for a fight. I am not rising the the bait! Hope you have a lovely day!

I don't give a shit if every penny I've paid in tax I've paid in my 46-year working life goes to house young women who have babies. I'd rather that than see them at risk of becoming homeless, sleeping rough, in B&B accommodation or their children taken into care.

One day, that child could end up being the carer who's wiping my arse and feeding me when I've gone doolally and am in some grim home. I like to think that because they've been treated with dignity and respect in their short lives, they may treat me the same when I'm at the end of my long one.

This race to the bottom attitude that would see the poor and foolish suffering Dickensian levels of deprivation boils my piss, frankly.

This, with tax-payer funded brass knobs on.

Punch up at those who control the system, not down at those who you (apparently) despise. Because as it is you just come across as completely lacking in empathy. You can dress it up as sympathy for the homeless or for those you judge as deserving as much as you want, but ultimately what you're saying is "wah, wah, someone has something I haven't got and that I don't think they deserve [despite the fact I have no business judging]...it's not faaaiiiirrrrrr."

HIddingMyIdentity, if you 'get that people need houses', why are you being so appallingly judgemental about someone actually getting one? You are trying to set up a narrative about the deserving and the undeserving poor but enough people on here have made it clear to you that that's pernicious nonsense for you to take the hint, go away and do some proper research.

And WHY are you hiding (hidding?) your identity? Because you know your views are indefensible?

Those of you posting about how you got jobs and made better lives for yourselves - if this happened more than about 10 years ago, your experience is irrelevant. Because of the destruction of social housing, the explosion in property speculation, and the deliberate holding down of wages - the proportion of people's pay that goes on housing costs is far, far greater than it was.
The biggest problem we are facing now is the mess left by the fact that a minority of rich people have been allowed to drain the economy of wealth for years, and that the media has convinced those of the poor who are both stupid and self-righteous that the fault lies with other poor people.

@ReanimatedSGB

I completely agree with you!

It baffles me that some people cannot see past the end of their nose at the bigger fuckin picture, they really need to wake up and stop attacking the wrong people!

The naievity of some people on here is astounding. I work in the housing dept of a local authority and the housing list is full of applicants who have had 3 or 4 children in a one bed flat who claim their children are ‘entitled’ to have a garden, their own bedroom, space to play etc and ‘the Council’ are letting them down. Never occurs to them that it may be their responsibility to provide for their child(ren). 50% of the time there is no father on the application despite all children having the same father?! Without exception the mother is a SAHM... and for the people saying social housing isn’t free, it’s not, that’s correct but I can assure you that Housing Benefit is covering 99% of the rent of those not working, with children. Mumsnet is so bloody middle class they have no concept that some people are perfectly happy for taxpayers to pay for their ‘poor life choices’.

I work in social housing, albeit not in Ireland. K will have been given a social tenancy because she will have been high on the list for housing need. She will most likely have had points for not having a home (the house is her sisters); sharing facilities (she and her baby will be classed as being a separate household from her sister, so are sharing with another household), and also overcrowding points - the fact K and baby are sharing a room means this property is overcrowded by at least one person and this will be more if the other people in the house are having to share a room because K and baby are there. Would this be enough to get a house? Quite possibly yes, but there are other circumstances K might have to get her more points, such as suffering anxiety/depression caused by not having her own home in which to care for her baby. If her sister has asked her to leave, that might add to the priority further.

No need for OP or anyone else to flame me here. I am not high enough up the tree to set allocations policy. I’m merely trying to give an insight into how if works.

Also, you generally need to engage with the system and be active on waiting lists to get offered housing. Unfortunately families sleeping rough on O'Connell Street are unlikely to be at that stage.
Finally. And this is especially true for new housing- given the scenario where two households have equal points, a housing officer may well be more inclined to choose a household who hadn’t had a failed tenancy over someone who has. They may well see K as a safer bet than someone older with one or more failed tenancies behind them.

And OP I totally agree there are people who absolutely deserve help because of illness, job loss, children with SEN etc and they should get every single bit of assistance possible.

FFS. Yeah let's just let K and her baby live on the streets eh? I expect they have a goat too.

You have no idea what the situation was with her staying at her sisters/how temporary this was.