Legacy Benefits, Legacy Housing, ppl have no clue

[JeansNTees]

AIBU to think that 90% of the "advice" given on here recently bears no relation to the current reality? That people in their 20s now have not a lot in common with those in their late 30s+.

Legacy benefits that some people are still hanging on to are so much better than UC. So people saying that you should be able to survive if only you can stretch a chicken to last a week, are thinking of the days when WTC and TC were still available.
Need someone to sign for your passport, just ask your HV (we don't have local HV any more, almost impossible to get an appointment, and many of them won't sign, same as teachers not wanting to give out their home address).
Overcrowded, just go to the council and get on the housing list (someone actually said this to me and was shocked to find that a) our council no longer runs its own housing dept, it was outsourced to a company years ago and b) we wouldn't qualify as our circumstances are nowhere near extreme enough to be in the top levels of need).

Things really are so much more difficult now. There are more examples but these stuck in my mind after reading advice on here from people who were helped by a better safety net even a decade ago.

One person who thinks I'm unreasonable but won't back themselves up, LOL.

Other areas that have changed: contributions to preschool (not compulsory but at the same time, not voluntary!) and schools asking for DD to be set up in words that let you know that this isn't really an option, its a must.

Expecting your council to have school spaces available, this has gone from bad to worse and our council has no spaces at all in many year groups, no matter how far you're willing to travel. People moving into our area then having to drive their children back to their old schools, worst I've heard of was 1.5 hours each way daily. Waiting lists aren't moving in the right direction.

Yes! I’m getting a divorce and the amount of times ex goes “just go and get a council house!” Like there’s a single mother starter pack with a free house included! Had it off other people too “everyone’s entitled to a council house” “just go with all your stuff and tell them you are homeless” it doesn’t work like that!
And school places! I know people that still think you can put 1 choice down and get it. Then get really shocked when they’ve been allocated a school miles away

Most people on here don't have a clue about benefits particularly disability benefits ,they always know someone who gets " disability "benefits " who doesn't need them , also I think a lot of people are not really aware of change of policies regarding tax credits ,for a third child ,or single parents having to find work once their youngest child reaches a certain age ,council houses are not free btw Gin in spite of what posters on here would have you believe .

I'm not sure what it's got to do with age. If you are in a UC area and apply for benefit it has to be UC no matter what your age. If you want social housing you're unlikely to get it no matter what your age. If you need a passport photo signing or to see your HV there are not special rules for the over 30s. I think a better argument would be those on legacy benefits don't understand how much tighter it is on UC? I'm 39 on UC but only had TCs before (I remember when you got double for a baby under 1). What are the difference in figures now?

Legacy benefits are not better than UC. The payments actually work out the same but if you were found unfit for work your amount would increase until the next assessment when they found you fit. At that moment your housing stops being paid, benefit stops being paid, you have nothing and very often people don't reapply as they just bury their heads in the sand. UC reduces the payment rather than stops it. It's not perfect but the old system was poor. Easy to manipulate but had the potential to make thousands homeless. It also trapped people in a system where it paid not to work as they restricted it to 16 hours and every benefit stopped making them far worse off. It was not fit for purpose. I do however agree people seem oblivious to the lack of council housing and amount of landlords that are anti benefit. I wouldn't say everything is more difficult either. Some things are tougher but there is a lot that makes life easier too

Also with passports the list of who can sign has expanded so it's easier to find someone to sign it than it was years ago

@JeansNTees - can you give an example of how much better a legacy benefit is vs UC?

@UndertheCedartree people who are older will have benefited from a better safety net that simply doesn't exist in the same way now. For example, if someone today is lucky enough to get a housing association house, no way are they allowed to pass it on to their children, it won't be an unlimited tenancy for a start. Whereas some adults today have inherited their parents' council house and terms. england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/council_housing_association/can_you_inherit_a_council_tenancy

Legacy benefits are not better than UC. The payments actually work out the same

Says who? I am £300 per month worse off on UC than I was on tax credits. This is for a number of reasons, primarily because I'm in receipt of occupational pensions following my husband's death which are taken pound for pound from my UC entitlement. To add insult to injury because I pay tax on my pensions but they're deducted gross I actually lose money twice. For example, if I have a £1000 pension I pay tax at basic rate and only receive £800. UC takes £1000 from my entitlement so I lose the £200 twice. It's even more frustrating because this is my DEAD HUSBAND's pension. Had he left me instead of dying, this money would be maintenance and I'd keep it all.

Tax credits have a very different approach to additional income and I don't lose huge sums as a result. Moreover, the entitlement simply isn't as generous and it's been said over and over that the main losers on UC are single, working parents who have no accommodation costs, i.e. me. My MP has been discussing my situation with the DWP but to no avail so far.

So go tell someone else that £300 a month less is 'the same'. Or at least arm yourself with more knowledge before you spout off.

There are some very large families still getting legacy benefits; I wonder how the statistics will change from UC onwards, whether people will have fewer children. Despite the "UC is not worse than legacy benefits" brigade.

Schools off-rolling difficult or disabled children to protect their results: 19,000 secondary students disappeared in 2016. educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/06/off-rolling-an-update-on-recent-analysis/

Parents used to be able to benefit from term-time holidays at cheaper prices, then it was discouraged completely, then the fines came in. Funnily enough a student missing school for a week is more of a concern than the off-rolled difficult student missing a year. Oh but one saves the council money.

GPs not having the time, or not even being able to get an appointment, for paperwork that they used to do like the Fit Note now for UC. Or charging for reports. Ah the days of being able to ring the surgery and get an appointment without being on hold for an hour then being told there are no appointments, or that you have to fill out a form online then you'll be triaged and phoned back within a week.

What does it matter. If you’re in a situation where you need housing/benefits then you need to speak to relevant people I wouldn’t take the word of a random person on my life.

I am homeless and live in temp accommodation with my kids but I spoke to the council and made sure I knew exactly what I was supposed to do and how they could help, I didn’t just ask June down the road and hope she knew what she was on about tbh. I also still get ctc and wtc certain people still get them rather than UC but hopefully will be in a job where I Don’t need to claim anything soon, but I guess everyone has an opinion about other peoples lives and how they should work or work more or not claim this or that etc I wouldn’t want anyone in my shoes it’s a horrible situation to be in (no fault of my own i might add) I’ll still be sat here in another 2 years time I suppose waiting for a house & yes if I could rent privately or buy I certainly would have done. I don’t expect a house for free either or for someone to move out of their home for me

I'm with you, OP. Buying or renting a home is far more difficult for people now than it was prior to, say, 2000. But you just get a load of boomers saying 'it was difficult for us too! Stop eating so much avocado and you'd be able to afford a four bedroom house in Surrey like we've got'.

It's absolute bollocks. In real terms the average house deposit needed is ten times what it was in the 1970s. I feel for millennials, I really do. Starting out in life is so much harder for them. Huge student debt, stagnating salaries, a shrinking welfare state, ridiculous housing costs, insecure employment in the gig economy. Anyone who can't see that has got their eyes closed.

My point was, kaykay, that times have changed but the advice here hasn't. "Ring the CAB (the one that has shut?), go to the food bank (gonna have to stretch those 3 food parcels a year like a MN chicken), talk to your GP (they are sending people to out of hours or urgent walk-in centre as they don't have capacity to even see any more patients), get a diagnosis from CAMHS (only a 2 year wait) then you'll be able to get disability benefits for your child (hear of PIP??) and a special school space (bitter laughter).

Opticaldelusion Yep. And it is so short-sighted. Who today wants their kids to work on a 0 hours contract delivering parcels, living with parents forever or in a crappy bedsit with no option of having children of their own?

@JeansNTees - I don't know anyone late 30s/40s who has been given social housing let alone pass it on to their kids.

I always had to pay contributions to nursery/school. Not sure what you mean 'set your DD up'? You do realise lots of people in 30/40s and older have children in nursery/school?

How is UC worse than legacy benefits?

Of course things have got a lot harder. In the 80's a relative of mine fell pregnant, she was given a 3 bed council house while she was pregnant! In the 90's I was housed within 4 months of my son being born, with a secure tenancy. I only had 2 DC anyway but someone I knew back then ended up with 8 (blended family so she didn't give birth to them all!) and the amount they got in benefits was astronomical. I spent some time on benefits with my DC in the 90's and while the money was never "generous", they were always fed and clothed adequately, we didn't need things like food banks back then. Things have got worse and worse over the following 20 years and I sadly think they will become harder still.

@opticaldelusion - that's terrible! I'm so sorry about your DH dying

Totally agree with you OP. So many people on here think they know it all, yet in reality they haven't got a clue.

@UndertheCedartree ah so you know no one who needed social housing. Bless. How about you take £300 off your pay each month then tell me whether you feel a)fantastic, not a problem or b)neutral or c)this sucks. That is our difference between legacy and UC per month.

Re: Passports, a professional person like a teacher doesn't have to give their home address, they can put their work address. My neighbour is a teacher, gets asked to sign passport applications all the time and doesn't mind, it just depends on the teacher. They do have to write their passport number though and most people don't have that to hand.

GP's and HV's aren't allowed anymore.

@JeansNTees - but most of those things have been the case my whole adult life. No social housing, no doctors appointments, restrictions on Food banks, high house prices, my DC have not been allowed term time holidays. I think life has got harder but I think you're targeting the wrong age group. And I'm not saying UC is better than older benefits but I'd be interested to know the figures.

And of course advice will not be great on Middle class MN. Nothing to do with age.

Welfare benefits have always changed, the past few years aren’t unusual. When Invalidity Benefit was replaced by Incapacity Benefit in 1995 it was because of a recognition that it was no longer sustainable or reasonable (and did not reflect the changing workforce) for people to remain out of work for years on end because they could no longer carry out their old trade. A lot of people receiving it felt that was very unfair at the time, just as many people who used to receive tax credits will think its unfair they are now losing what they assumed they’d get for life.

Views on council housing will be based on what people know of their own area. I used to live in a part of the country where there was virtually no private rental market because anyone who wanted or needed to rent really could just get a council house. Likewise people who live outside of the south of England often don’t understand why people working in professional jobs in London can’t afford to own a home. It’s just individuals’ world views.

When I eventually move over to UC from legacy benefits I will be several hundred a month worse off so to the PP who says they are the same, they aren't.

@JeansNTees - you don't uderstand there are people in their 30s/40s who are on UC and that needed social housing, bless!

I know plenty of people who went on a waiting list for social housing and never got a house atall.

I'm on UC. I got no money for 4 months, then £350 for a few months, then put up to £700 for a year. I had to pay for housing, bills and food for my 2 children and myself for that. I had had a mental breakdown so was trying to recover from that too. But yes, you're right it was so much easier for me because I was in my 30s! I felt just fantastic! Would you like to try that and tell me if it makes you feel fantastic too?