If the government can pay rich landlords mortgages off - why can't they pay the interest on mortgages of people going through financial difficulties?

[UndertheCedartree]

My friend was asking how my financial situation was (as I have been unwell and in hospital) and I was telling her that it has finally been agreed that I am entitled to some help with my housing costs (interest on my mortgage) but that it is a loan. She was shocked and said when she had financial difficulties the government paid most of her high rent (more than double the interest on my mortgage) and it ultimately went to her rich landlord who was able to pay off his mortgage with it. It made me think about the supportive accomodation my boyfriend lives in. The owner is extremely rich and gets housing benefit for 10 bedrooms when there is only 6 as each tenant gets housing benefit at a 2 bedroom rate. He also gets £800 per month for utilities/broadband from the tenants.

It does feel unfair that I have to take out a loan to cover the interest on my mortgage while I'm unwell (as surely keeping a roof over myself and my children's head makes sense?) while wealthy landlords benefit from housing benefit.

So this housing model heavily disincentivises people from moving into employment. Anything that messes up their 100% housing benefit claim, even temporarily, is likely to leave them with massive rent arrears very quickly. So people become trapped and find it very difficult to move on to somewhere more settled and safer, even it were available

And then they get called entitled by the usual suspects on here and very likely in RL too.

Having just listened to that podcast.........they mentioned women escaping domestic abuse and people coming out of prison.

So its entirely possible that a rape survivor could be having to live in a room in the same place as an abuser/rapist just released from prison. Am i overreacting. Are there safeguards against this?

@HelenaDove - that sounds awful. I imagine any safeguarding would come from the woman's social worker.

From the report:

Commissioning: This accommodation is not commissioned by a local authority. This includes any homelessness or housing support funding regimes, any agreement with the local authority for the provision of ‘Specialist Supported Housing’ (SSH) or social care packages. This means that there are no corresponding assurances and monitoring of safeguarding procedures, staffing levels, project aims and outcomes, and no formalised assessment of the adequacy or suitability of accommodation for individual resident need.

There is no safeguarding because nobody in this set up is accountable for it. The report is called 'Exempt from responsibility?'

Most women escaping domestic abuse will not have a social worker.

@Langs - thanks for the information. I did wonder why there was little accountabity - this makes sense, now. What I find crazy is the support workers are responsible for giving medication. A nurse has a professional qualification and trains for 3 years, then has to train in the hospital to be deemed safe to do this. Yet these guys, many who have very poor English, are dishing out the meds! Unsuprisingly, there has been a few mistakes with my BF's medication.

It's the same set of loopholes that have led to unregulated children's homes:

It's illegal to place a child under 16 in one of these settings but children as young as 11 have been placed in them.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49734338

We've had 10 years of austerity. This is the result - the safety net has worn so thin, across housing, care, the benefits system - everything, that it's now just a disintegrating mass of holes.

Now just a disintegrating mass of holes
I fear that you are right, we are descending into dysfunction dereliction and decay, austerity has meant that a few people at the top do increasingly well whilst the rest of us sink
That rising tide, the one that they told us would float all the boats, well the luxury yachts are having a super time 🚢🚢🚢
the rest of us are shipwrecked🚣🏼‍♀️🚣‍♂️🚣‍♀️

Its a tragedy waiting to happen.

This is awful and just uses vulnerable people to put way over the odds public money in Landlords pockets. Why is that ok but the OP can't get the help she needs?

I know where I'd rather my tax money went!

@LangClegsInSpace Panorama tonight 8.30pm BBC1 Cashing in on the Housing Crisis. A look at temporary accommodation.

Thanks Helena.

You know what. I did agree with the consensus on here but after seeing yet more derision towards social housing tenants ive changed my mind.

Helena, I never enjoy reading your posts because you point at all council housing residents people on benefits as helpless who should never have to take any responsibility for themselves and therefore people who should be entitled to be looked after 100% by the government

Did you read the article i posted written by Elizabeth Spring? It says the opposite to what your attempt at gaslighting does.

People keep saying that SH tenancies should be short term and SH only for the most vulnerable Wanting housing estates to become like hostels and then moaning when thats exactly what they become.

Make your bloody minds up. Because i have no alternative to think that the reason you are doing this. The constant goalpost moving is to have a group of people to kick that you can feel superior to.

And im sorry you dont enjoy my posts. i guess i will have to hone my entertainment skills.

So why the fuck did post the article by Elizabeth Spring on this thread then.

Why am i constantly posting about residulisation and the effects of this and how it turns housing estates into ghettos"

Its from another thread

I think OP SHOULD get help Maybe if more ppl with mortgages did get help it would stop the derision ,the nastiness. And the strange twisted jealousy directed at social housing tenants from people who cant make their minds up about what social housing should be.

I could be the landlord you describe, disgustingly getting my mortgage paid by my tenant. I can imagine what you'd say about me!

What you wouldn't know was that I used to live in this house I bought with my ex. We were both working ft. When we separated, I earned just enough working ft to buy him out and get the mortgage in my name. I had two DD 4 and 1yo. I left home at 7am, dropped my kids to nursery at 7:30, picked them up at 5:30 to be home at 6pm. Never had helped, no maintenance, life was very tough, and I cried many times 5bro7gh sheer exhaustion.

Then I met my OH. We put both our properties for sale but had no interest so we decided to move to his and let mine.

It hasn't been fun. I was alive to start with, too nice, wanted to give a chance to single families and got walked all over, costing me £1,000s.

Is rent paying my mortgage? No it isn't. As a high tax payer as still working ft (just over the 40% limit), a large portion goes back to society. By the time the interest is paid, insurance, maintenance, and savings for bigger jobs in addition to a pot in the instance of rent not being paid, having to go to court etc..., there is nothing left.

As I didn't start paying towards a pension until I was 30, my property is just an investment, hoping property won't crash to fund my retirement.

Would you think as badly of me if I invested in shares instead? My tenants tell me they are happy as they really enjoy the house but can't yet afford to buy similar.

I sympathise about the illness, this is why I took sickness cover if I could not work again.

Not all landlords are people who came into easy money through pure luck in life.

my property is just an investment

It's not clear from your post whether your tenants get housing benefit or universal credit. If they do then your investment is being funded from the public purse.

OP cannot even get the interest paid on her property because the government cannot be seen to be funding people's assets from the public purse.

OP's property is her home, not just an investment. And it's her children's home.

Can you not see the hypocrisy here?

I get £500 pm from my investment and it's my future pension.
never had any money, worked doing up houses rather than getting tradesmen and moved a lot.
Made 50k profit in total over 25 years and bought a house to do up to rent out.
We are a low income household on tax credit and yes we do declare the income.
The money goes into an account for if anything goes wrong and for maintenance and repairs. Then obviously about 6 months saved in case of damage or losing rent/court etc.
Still it will be nice to sell it one day.

I agree it is morally wrong to pay rent which pays off someone else's mortgage, instead of housing benefit the state should be providing housing so that people can't just buy up houses to fund their retirement. Might even bring house prices down as well so people who do rent might actually be able to afford to buy.

Buy to let mortgages became widely available in the 1990s after the 1988 Housing Act which changed the lending rules for banks. My understanding this has contributed to rising housing prices in some areas but the biggest factor is not enough housing being built.

OP I have read more as the thread progresses and think I understand. Whilst I disagree that LL’s should stop to getting their rent when tenants fall ill. I agree that it’s not really fair that private home owners don’t get any help either. If I were to fall on hard times I wouldn’t get any help, like you. Where actually help for a few months might keep you afloat and prevent you from being a welfare claimant further down the line.

@Dontdisturbmenow - have you read the thread? You can imagine what I'd say about you?? I'm sorry you're being paranoid.

This thread has said nothing about tenants paying off mortgages. It has been about housing benefit/help for mortgage housing costs and about supportive accomodation LLs getting rich from the public purse.

I get you work hard - I did too - I left earlier than you and back later - I had no help, cried too! And when I had a mental breakdown - yeah, then I really was crying and getting 2 hours a sleep for 3 months - yep I was super exhausted then!

You're not the only one that's had difficulties. But good for you - you have an investement. You are very priveliged. And why would I think badly of you as I don't know you??

Thanks, for the scathing 'sorry about the illness' but I'm alright Jack. Good for you you could get sickness cover - not everyone can.

The point that you don't seem to get is the money that comes in rent doesn't go in my pocket. It makes no difference if it comes from universal credit or people's wages. By the time I paid my taxes on the income, insurance, maintenance and the rest, NOTHING goes into my pocket. What I have is the capital, like you.

I could moan about the likes of my friend who became a single mum like me, went on benefits and got the interest on her mortgage paid for 15 years. She lived in London. When her mortgage came to an end, she sold her property and made a profit of over £250k. She sold it and bought a house outright moving back North to her family. Is that more acceptable?

Or maybe my colleague who got a nice new Council house working 16h, then met her partner 2 years,later, who moved in with her despite earning over £60k and later bought the property before selling it for a good profit.

Resenting others is pointless and targeting landlords is expressing anger at the wrong target.

@Dontdisturbmenow - well I'm assuming you pay the interest on the mortgage of the property? But really what you are saying is irelevant to this thread. I'm not moaning about anything or resenting LLs. The discussion is about policy and lack of regulation.

@Dontdisturbmenow - and of course it matters if it comes from Universal credit/housing benefit as that is the point of the thread!

I am a landlord too (sadly not rich by any means) but struggle to get offended by OP’s comments on this thread.

Imagine if you took out a loan to buy buy some other investment say stocks and shares, and then there was some way that you could get government money to service that loan for you, and then when government money has paid off all of the loan you get to keep the stocks and shares to fund your retirement
Would that be the same thing as a landlord who buys a property with a mortgage and then has that mortgage paid off through housing benefit but then gets to keep the investment?