Cut benefits before increasing council tax

[Bonde]

https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/reeves-council-tax-hike-5HjdMrJ_2/

As an increase in income tax is now out the window, the government will have to look at other ways to fill the gap by increasing a dozen smaller taxes. One option, I think they will opt for, is to apply a surcharge for homes in bands F,G&H. It would be politically expedient to do so because many people will assume those in such homes are wealthy.

We purchased our band f property earlier this year at £550k. We live in London and didn’t want to uproot our family, and move jobs, so decided to buy our 2.5 bed house.
After mortgage and bills, we have £100 to £200 left over, but some months have nothing. An increase would be so difficult to manage.

Why can’t the government have the courage to cut benefits. You can buy a BMW or Mercedes on the Mobility Scheme! Why?

It is not a new tactic, it works though. Years ago, I remember that single Mothers were being demonised by the press, and blamed for a lot of Society's ills. It never changes, the useful scapegoat.

She's got less money because she's bought a house she can't afford in an area she can't afford. If somebody on minimum wage did that and moaned about it, I'm pretty sure you'd be saying move!

The South East is expensive, but there are cheaper 2 bed properties than that in commutable distance. I understand she doesn't want to live elsewhere, but the difference between living in actual heating versus eating poverty and simply having bitten off more than you can chew mortgage wise is it's not a question of what you want.

If she's struggling that much, move. She isn't entitled to a house in a more expensive area because she works. She's only entitled to what she can afford, like the rest of us. We all make hard choices, but I struggle to sympathise with someone who could save £150,000 by moving house but won't do it.

If someone on minimum wage in a £150,000 mid terrace in Manchester was complaining about their situation, you'd all be asking why they weren't working harder, getting a better job, etc. Moving to a different area if the work isn't there.

Middle class woman complains and suddenly it's poor you, how terrible, nothing she can do to help herself.

It works brilliantly. Bread and circuses are old!
We all need to wake up and realise that we are all being manipulated by the government, the media and financial sector because if serves their interests. I can't see that happening though. 😪

I agree that house prices are out of control in London and other places too. I'd consider myself very fortunate if I could afford such a big mortgage and still with money left over after bills were paid.

That's an unpleasant and not very sensible argument.
She could just as easily to around to someone disabled and tell them that they are not entitled to benefits and list various reasons. Why do you think that you can pass judgement on who is allowed to struggle and who is not? Again, this isn't a race to the bottom?

It has been acknowledge that a lot of people are finding life difficult right now. Of course people are going to defend themselves, if they are unfairly targeted, which is what happened with the OP. As I pointed out earlier, taxes are used to pay towards lot of things, but the first point of call for the OP, was to make a false, inflammatory comment about Motability, without doing a basic check, to even make sure that what she was saying, was true.

You may well do but that doesn't mean that it is a privileged situation. A huge debt is a millstone. There are plenty of groups who deserve sympathy.

I agree. I just think it has gone OTT and that rants about her being privileged are wide of the mark.

Fair enough. It would be interesting to know if the OP thinks differently now, if she is still reading the thread.

Of course it's a privileged situation. Buying a house is an asset and there's a reason why the vast majority of people who can afford to buy a house, do so.

When people say they've bought a house, it is usually said with smiles on their faces not expecting sympathy from others because they've now got a mortgage.

OK then. Absolutely no-one committing fraud not accounted for in the 1%....

Hopefully so!
There's far too much awful anti disabled and poor people rubbish, mainly in the right wing press and people fall for it.

Where have I said she isn't struggling? She is struggling, but it's not a struggle she can't do anything about.

It's only 'not a race to the bottom' when it suits, isn't it? I've seen a few posts on here where people tell those on low wages that it's their own fault, they aren't working hard enough, etc.

Seems fine and dandy to point out the errors in judgement of those on low wages, but heaven forfend we dare to suggest someone on an income that enables them to obtain a £500,000 mortgage might improve her circumstances by simply moving.

Disabled people can't simply sell their illness and move to better health. That's the difference.

Well that's because the Brits are obsessed with house ownership and social media fills people's heads with nonsense about dream houses. Also, people don't understand basic maths and economics.
They were a great asset for older people who managed to buy decades ago. Now, they have become a liability for some people. We are going to get a big financial shock at some point and a lot of people will lose their jobs. House prices are falling, not rocketing up like in the 1990s.

No system is 100% fraud proof. I can't think of another word to describe what I mean. Some posters like to make out it is rampant though, even when they are told time, and again, how difficult the system is.

A 2.5 bed home is hardly a SM dream or whatever, it’s a very expensive place to live. And people still tend to want a house if they have dc.

Fair enough. I also hate those sort of 'it's all poor people's fault' type posts.
She does have more choices than some, including most very ill and very disabled people (obviously wealthy ill and disabled people have far more choices than poor ones), just not good ones, hence my sympathy for her too.

I still think it's a better option than having to rely on a landlord in a private rental which is usually the only other option.

I agree.

Thank you for your decent and polite response. This is a lovely example of how debate should happen on these sites, and I am not the best always at acknowledging the validity of other views myself, so responses like this remind me to do better. We need more folk like you round here.

It's because nobody wants to be paying rent and worrying about having to move because their landlord decides to sell the house, when they are 80.

I didn't want a dream house, I didn't want an asset I could make money out of, I just wanted something that wasn't subject to the caprices of somebody else, where I could put a picture on the wall without having to ask if I could drill a hole, where nobody tells me what pets I can have and where any improvements I make benefit me, not someone else.
I know renting is more common abroad, but I'd genuinely like to know how their landlord/tenant systems work to guarantee security in old age, etc.

Even if house prices fall in the short term they will inevitably rise because of the population growth and the rise of one person households on one hand and the restricted supply on the other.

Well, it's her money she's spending.

That’s the point. It may possibly be rampant. It might not. How can we determine that unless we identify unidentified fraud? But I’m pretty certain that the 1% figure bandied about doesn’t account for all fraudulent activity. It would be naive to think it does.

Maybe, but I have yet to encounter anybody telling me with glee in real life, how they are defrauding the system, like I read about people claiming here, often.