To think people dont understand the magnitude of the social housing crisis?

[Arrowfanatic]

I work in social housing. We have endless requests for moves from customers who expand their family whilst in a property which is unsuitable to move them to a bigger property. We advise that family size housing (3 bed+) has a waiting list of around 10+ years and then these customers get mad.

We're accused of allowing them to stay in overcrowded properties, or affecting their mental & physical health and inevitably an overcrowded property becomes prone to damp & mould as it's too full.

These customers also want these houses in the exact location they desire, thereby limiting even more their chances of a move.

We get so demoralised when every day it's the same thing, but social housing is at a massive shortfall for the needs of the country & family size housing is in an even greater shortfall.

My company has an extensive plan to build more properties but it's a 5 year plan!

It's like they think we're lying to them, or the old classic of "you housing immigrants straight away" note, we dont, they have to apply like everyone else. We dont want our customers in unsuitable accommodation, and we really work hard on making the housing stock we do have work.

If you're in this position what could we tell our customers to make them understand the position we are in, and the one they have put themselves in and why we cant help as quickly as they would like.

I feel like I say "we have a shortage of family size housing" 100 times a day & get yelled at 100 times a day for our association not caring.

Looks like you were correct.

belfastmediagroup.com/housing-body-takes-photographs-of-its-tenants-in-their-living-rooms/

Yes i was involved with social housing and they were taking photos of prospective tenants back in 2012 going forwards.

I don't think some of the posters really have a clue about how truly vulnerable you need to be in order to qualify and receive social housing. In 18 years, some as a solicitor I came across 2 customers who were lying about their disability, out of hundreds. Compared to tax evasion, the numbers are extremely small. But going after wealthy people and businesses doesn't fit the Tory agenda. And just to correct another commentator, refugees are not automatically entitled to an allocation of social housing. Until their claim is accepted under immigtration law, they are housed in hostels, or places like Campfield House. Once their they have achieved ILR or LLR they can apply as homeless. However they must still meet the criteria for homelessness and may be housed in temporary accommodation for years, the same way families are.
The system is broken, and homelessness has risen excrutiatingly under the Tories, that's a fact.

Jon what are the legalities re. photos with GDPR ICO etc.

Depends where you live really Jonb6 in my town anyone who.is entitled to live in the UK can app!y to to go the list for social housing ,I think the conditions are you can't own a property or earn over £65,000 when I applied five years ago I got a house (with no priority) within about nine months ,it's definitely got harder in the past few years but there are some social.housing properties that are advertised for working people .

I mean you get more priority if you are working

@x2boys

What are you finding so hard to grasp about the concept of net contributors subsidising others? Just because you pay a bit of tax, does not mean you are paying your way. Others are subsidising your healthcare, education and children’s healthcare, as well as any benefits you claim (including in work benefits).

Do you really think someone on min wage with 2 kids, receiving in work benefits is contributing, just because they work?

@x2boys

If you are earning less than £38k it is likely that others are subsidising you.

Care workers and childcare workers are on low wages. So i suppose they arent net contributors?

But the job they do ENABLES others ( like the elderly persons relative or the childs parents, to BE net contributors.

If care workers and childdminders downed tools the net contributors would have to stay home and look after their child or elderly relative and so not be able to contribute

So if we are going to talk about net contribution lets look at the whole picture and the CYCLE of net contribution and how lower income workers DO contribute to this cycle!!

@helenadove

They don’t contribute financially though.

X2boys can’t understand that someone who pays £200 tax per month but receives £800 in top up benefits, free healthcare, education etc isn’t being subsidised by others.

I’m not saying it’s wrong that some people are subsidised- I’m just pointing out to x2boys that just because you pay a bit of tax, doesn’t mean that you aren’t being subsidised.

@Jonb6: i don't think some of the posters really have a clue about how truly vulnerable you need to be in order to qualify

I confess that was true for me. See my post above. I am housebound and unable to access my toilet from my wheelchair, yet there were over 160 bids on the one adapted property to come up in six months. One property in 6 months that was adapted....

That means there are over 160 households with a leash one full-time wheelchair user (the category required to bid on this property) in similar or in many cases, work, conditions than mine. That is truly horrifying to me, and I really didn't understand that. I thought such vulnerable severely disabled people would be given proper assistance to find suitable housing, with existing council stock being adapted and made accessible, where possible, to assist these people to find suitable, safe housing.

Gone are the days where you just turned up and got a council house but how could that system have carried on when anyone from the EU are entitled to social housing if they meet the right criteria?
On another note foreign investors buying up huge chunks of land to build on. The average person doesn’t have a chance now. Do not have more than 2 children it puts you and your children in a very vulnerable position.

@adakirkby - totally agree. You have to be a higher rate taxpayer to be a net contributor or thereabouts. Of course that’s how it works- everyone pays into the pot based on ability to pay and funds or services should be allocated on basis of need. So some people will be net contributors and others will not.

But you don’t get to claim you are a taxpayer therefore you can take as much as you like. it doesn’t work like that!

Also there’s no issues with photos of tenants from a GDPR perspective provided they are used for a proper purpose.

The issue of subsidy is tied to the god awful child maintenance crisis for many women and how it cannot be counted as part of your income as it is so highly likely to be unreliable or underpaid by fathers

Also people who work min wage jobs are contributing to society - I work in the NHS. I help run the services that people need to use. People contribute to society in more than just the financial sense
They clean your houses, collect your rubbish, wash your cars, care for your children, take your blood for testing, deliver your parcels - they all contribute to people’s lives but unfortunately min wage is not enough to live on by yourself

Just posting to say I may not agree with everything Helena Dove posts here but she is very informative and interesting and I read with interest the stuff she copies and pastes here.

@coaltit - are you a name change of Helena Dove?

@Menora

These people are being paid for the jobs they do. They aren’t doing it for free. Their healthcare, education and any in work benefits they receive are being subsidised by others though.

I’m not so stupid that I don’t understand that people are working for money. But you aren’t going to acknowledge that they work for very little money, but with a positive impact on society?

A health care assistant/phlebotomist gets paid £18k gross. That is not enough to live on if that HCA has become a single parent. They stand up all day taking your blood. It is a contribution to society

And don’t start telling people to go find ‘better jobs’ because someone has to do all of the low paid jobs and manage to feed themselves

What is the answer to people on low wage if you are so against tax based benefits. Poor houses? Perhaps we can send them back down some mines 😒

@menora - no one is saying people shouldn’t be subsidised. But they are, that’s the point! Other people are paying for the healthcare and education, housing, etc of lower waged people.

What is the actual point people are trying to make about tax contributions?

Can you please be very clear. Because you are just posting that people who earn low contribute less. Yep that is how tax works. Unfortunately in this country those people cannot survive on their wages alone and we have come to a point where the government has to support people to prevent them living in poverty - even people who work full time

Even if someone pays less tax and takes from the system this does not make them a lesser being than anyone else, they are still a human. There are many factors relating to why people find themselves in these situations and usually poverty in childhood leads to poor education which equals lack of choices in adult life

Or are you all Daily Mail readers who know 29 people on benefits who drive Range Rovers around and have no incentive to work? Because the UC system now does not allow people to never work

Someone has to do low paid roles which are just as important to the running of society as the high paid roles. I used to work in IT, some of the account managers were on £120k a year, I don’t think they were anymore worthy of input to our society than the dustman that picks up our rubbish or the care worker who’s looking after our elderly relatives. For a society to work for everyone you need to give everyone a decent standard of living or the rich will have start living in gated communities as crime goes through the roof as that ends up the only way to survive, we all have to share or our whole infrastructure will start to break down.

@zsazsajuju

It’s not a point. It’s just you highlighting something with no point to it. It is meaningless without any point or context unless it is just meant to be left on this thread as a derogatory passive aggressive stance

@Gin96

I agree

If people don’t like living in a civilised society where our poor are supported and children do not have to work to feed their families, then I am sure you can move to one of the many countries in the world who do not have a proper education system. Go be rich there instead. It will not be a loss to the UK

There are.lots of people in private rented who also receive in work benefits ,health care education etc ,my parents own their house out right have done for years retired at 54 ( very good redundancy deal ) however they still use the NHS ,more so in recent years due to my mum failing health and physical disabilities, there are lots of people who have mortgages who.don't privately educate their kids use the NHS some people depending on where they live won't be in high paid jobs ( especially if they bought years ago ) and may even receive tax credits etc so none these of net contributors either .

I was responding to x2boys argument - x2boys stated that people who live in social housing are tax payers therefore they aren’t subsidised.

According to x2boys everyone who lives in social housing is a net contributor and earns over 38k a year so isn’t being subsidised.

I’m not saying being subsidised is wrong. But x2boys is deluded if she thinks that everyone who lives in social housing is a net contributor.