To think he’s choosing to be homeless and it’s right that he doesn’t get a housing association property?

[Casparr]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-68033982

Man works 50hrs a week. At minimum wage that’s 27k and about £1900 take-home each month. He sleeps at friends’ houses or his ex-partner’s, presumably for free. Why can’t he just get a room in a house share (under £600 a month in Glasgow) and save up a deposit for a flat?

Don’t forget you also need a guarantor and good credit history, also a recent reference from his previous landlord. It’s nothing like the old days, most places in my area want 3-6 months rent in advance.

Would he be eligible for the Rent Deposit Scheme? If he has been accepted as statutorily homeless he should be.

I'm not going to go listing every single group that I'd put beneath him. It's not the point of the post. I also guess that you're hoping that I'll say something that you can grip onto, twist and rip apart to deflect from the nastiness of your own opinion on this man and his situation.

My point is that this is a man who is working hard and trying to better himself. He wants to be given a chance and is clearly willing to work hard and pay any associated rents, council taxes etc. He should be given a helping hand. May I ask, out of interest, why are you making such mean spirited judgements on someone when you don't have a clue of the realites of the housing situation in Glasgow?

I was speaking to the chief housing officer of my local council on Friday, and she said the biggest problem facing people trying to privately rent is that landlords are demanding guarantors. So even if someone can afford the exorbitant rent, if they don't have someone able and prepared to stand as guarantor, they cannot rent the property.

I am not sure why he can’t be a lodger and save slowly. This is how the rest of us managed. I feel like these stories are just for headlines. He is a healthy young man, I am sure he will be fine.

A 2 bed quite far out city in Glasgow is £750pm with a £1000 deposit needed, it's never easy to get started out.

His daughter is 1 year old, so it’s likely he’s paying for her and her mother’s accommodation and towards their living costs, if they have no support from family the mother probably can’t afford to work herself either.

But almost anyone can live with a landlady in a room and be perfectly comfortable.

There's a really good book on the Housing/Rent Crisis by Vicky Spratt. It's called Tenants and it discusses the government failures that have brought us to this point and gives many detailed examples of people from all parts of the social and economic spectrum and what their issues are. In one example, one woman (I think) was having to pay a significant amount in storage costs just to keep her stuff while she was homeless and unable to find something else. There are all sorts of costs you might not necessarily think of.

I’m not saying the housing market isn’t terrible. It is! Mortgages have rocketed, same for rents. I have dozens of friends in their thirties and forties with full-time jobs living in house-shares who hate having to share facilities, and plenty more worried about rate and rent rises.

I just don’t see why this man wouldn’t expect to be bottom of the list for housing. It’s for the people most in need, or should be.

It’s made perfectly clear in the article that he can’t.

This. And to go to the effort to make a post online about it. You’re weirdly invested.

Because it’s in the national news and I have no idea why it’s newsworthy. Nothing in the article is surprising or shocking to me.

Surely he could rent a room in a shared property for cheaper than a studio or a 1 bed ?

Or

Find a landlord who will rent a property without a deposit (there are some)

Exactly!

OP obviously has no idea what it’s like in the real world and can probably borrow from the bank of mummy and daddy whenever she feels like it.

In reality he could have a drink problem/gambling issues etc and maybe that’s why he no longer lives with his dp and baby which would explain why he can’t afford the basics. Or he is guilting his ex?

People are forgetting that not only does he need a deposit but for private rent he will like to need a guarantor and insurance often states the landlord must have a reference from the tenants previous landlord.

Most places Ive seen on spareroom.com for just rooms in shared houses dont need a massive deposit, maybe a week or so, although yes they will want a reference of sorts. No need for a guarantor for a room.
Once he does that for a while he will build up a credit history and good reference.

True. Very sad.

Ive just done the sums.

£27k a year is £1685 a month. If his dc never stays with him then £250pcm on child maintenance. So now hes got £1435 left.

Rent somewhere for £800. Hes down £635 for the month.

But he still has bills to pay (gas, electricity, council tax, interent, insurance, water, phone, etc). Lets say £300 on that. Hes down to £335 left for spending money.

£335/30 days in a month gives him £11 a day to live off. For bus fare to work, for food shop, for replacing shoes when they wear out, or buying his dc a birthday present. Some months it will be doable with careful budgeting but what happens if he needs an emergency dentist appt or his dc wants to go on a school trip or his microwave blows up and needs replacing. Or the landlord bungs an extra £100 on his rent......

Can you really blame him for seeking a council house?

Aylesbury estate in London has 600 empty homes

Exactly and if he is employed a reference would be straight forward.

The system is overloaded agreed.

”I don't know anything about a city but I've decided that the houses I've seen on Rightmove are ones that are suitable for a stranger I've read about on the internet.”

I largely agree with what you've been saying except that in my view, there is the money to embark on a mass building of social housing and that housing should be for people who cant afford or cant access (for all sorts of reasons) the private rental market and ownership

Just like in the 50s

There is no political will for it, thats all

We should have several markets, the private rental, the private rental HMO, the ownership and the social market and it should be enough to manage the needs of the population. It isnt.