ok, so i know im gonna get hounded for this one!!!

[benbon]

but AIBU to think that if you live in a council flat you shouldnt be able to afford a brand new land rover with personalised number plate and full leather interiour

its just so frustrating when we struggle to pay our rent and have a crappy car and a man living in the council flats opposite us can afford brand spanking new car

so aibu????????????????

no, i haven't got a clue how much they earn....how much is it?

God... lucky you! We had to put ours up over 7% this year and it'll be the same in future! We're currently going through a Stock Options process and desperately hoping that tenants will vote for transfer to a new HA. Otherwise I'll be on mn every day moaning that I haven't got a job any more!

Do bin men earn a lot then? I'm always telling my DS if he does not work hard at school he will end up being a bin man!

Between The Forum and Assest Management it's all we get!

Trust me daft, we're all in the wrong job, wawste disposal is the way to go if you want money! (my first house cost £30k btw)

Just seen your profile, you're a RIO. I've just been discussing with another Resident how badly the RIOs are being treated at the moment - tut tut getting too popular with the Residents, kick them out and get one that's loyal to the HA instead.

not sure what i'm more shocked by..bin men earning £30,000, or that you bought a house for that....where do you live?

Ok i have been avoiding this thread but now i feel like a rant so here goes....

I live in a council house (now owned by a housing trust), i have a nice car, ds1(19) has a nice car, we have nice furniture, nice gardens, my dc wear good clothes, we went on a nice holiday this year (Med Cruise) you could say we live comfortably, now to an ignorant, tiny minded outsider you might frown upon this, but...

I moved into my council house when i was a 19 yr old single mum, i had nothing, no education, no money. Over the years i have gone to uni and got a good job, this house has been my home in that time, its where my ds1 ahs grown up, its where ds2 was concieved, it has memories for me, it is my cosy little home, i like it, the rent is low, i could probably afford to move out and buy a place but i would struggle as i am a lone parent so we only have one income. I dont want to move, if i do move i will buy it first, i deserve to, i paid my share in rent and i put my heart and sole into it. If anyone thinks its not right that i still live there then here is my arse (|) kindly kiss it please

btw what happened to the OP? did she run away tail between her legs?

No, they get paid more than that. My first house was in 2001 in Birmingham and a repo, didn't take much off the value though.

Hear hear (or is it here here? I'm only a council tenant and therefore a bit thick so not sure)..to edam, fortyplus, expat, vinegartits and justaflyingvisit.

Some of the more prejudiced attitudes on this thread remind my a little of my XP who owns 2 properties yet is always complaining how hard done by he is and how much it costs without realising how lucky he is that he can afford it in the first place!

I read that,'The government's aim, is for council rents to more closely match those charged by housing associations.' NOT to match the private sector. That wouldn't make sense would it, if the HA are non for profit and private landlords are. HA rent is usually quite abit more than council rent. Also, the rent will only go up a small amount each year.

That would make more sense because otherwise they'd be forcing a none profit organisation to make profit. I'm sure my HA would love that because they're desperate to get some areas better covered!

Feck! 30,000!!!!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps I will tell my DS that if he does work at hard he might be lucky enough to be a binman

If they paid nothing more than their mortgage they could have bought my house in 9 months.

I have unfortunatly had 2 friends who both worked, had beautiful owned houses but had them repossed because of marriage break ups and they could no longer afford the mortgage payments, sadly they are now in private renting....yes they do both work and in their 40s are now back at square 1 in the housing stakes . Surely just as many peeps houses are owned by local council or HA if you mortgage your house is it not 'owned' by the bank until the final payment?. With the 'pitance' that one of my friends had left from the sale of her house [after debts, repayments etc..]were paid she wants to buy a car to get her to work I do hope her neighbours won't be so judgemental...because you never know when you could be in her position [miserable from the loss of her home and marriage].
It's also been mentioned about council FREE kitchens, central heating etc..When I had my heating and kitchen fitted i was told my rent would go up to pay for it. When I asked would my rent go down when kitchen/CH were paid for I was told no if I'd ordered my kitchen from a shop on credit I would at some point stop paying..not with HA/council even though if I move I can't take kitchen/heating with me...NOT FREE AT ALL and never mine to own .Benbon YABU leave your neighbour alone and live your own life.

Good point that council housing was for working people. My godmother was a councillor for years - in her village, the youngsters would get engaged, put their names down on the council housing list, and wait until their names came to the top before they got married or had kids. Ordinary working people just didn't expect to own their own homes.

I remember reading a book based on 'At home with the Groves' based on a popular sitcom in the '50s. The mother of the family was constantly worried because they'd taken out a mortgage (her husband was a builder and they kept one of a pair of semis for themselves). She saw it, as presumably most people did, as being in debt - it wasn't truly theirs until they'd payed the loan off.

I always refer to the Nationwide as the true owners of my house not me!

daftpunk, you have missed my point comepletely and on the surface your reaction is correct. Of course i don't value bin men higher than brain surgeons, and fyi my mother is "looked after" by a brain surgeon and his medical team on account of a tumour at the base of her brain (thankfully benign), so i would be the last person not to value these people. BUT my mother, again, thank god, is in a huge minority of people who need brain surgeons. I think you would find it of more detriment to society if we didn't have people to remove our rubbish and it quite simply isn't just a case of emptying our own bins. But of course, value to society isn't the only factor which does, or should dictate wage. The point i was trying to make, clearly badly, is that people work hard regardless of job. OK so the brain surgeon has studied hard, is under constant pressure etc and that reflects in his wage. The bin man is "just" doing a job of work but it is an important job of work, that i concede does not warrant the wages of a brain surgeon. This being the case then means that as one of the lower earners in society, doing a VITAL job, does entitle such workers to subsidy in a society where only the most well off can afford housing. It could be too that a bin man is only not a brain surgeon due to lack of opportunity.

salsmum they're not allowed to charge you for 2010 work, it has to come out of their budget and there are grants they can apply for. I checked this with my HA when my grandparents had the same thing. I don't know if 40+ knows anything better than me, I'm only a Resident working with them so I don't completely understand it all.

I suspect that some HAs and councils who aren't doing enough Resident involvement are hoping their Residents won't know that so they can get away with it.

Someone has made the excellent point of council housing only in recent years becoming housing for the "poor". I grew up in council housing but we were not poor, my father was a railway worker on reasonably good money and probably could have afforded to buy (Not now i daresay), but my Nan had a three bedroom council house and they lived there as my mum cared for her when she was dying. They stayed in the house, chosing not to buy, personally i think it was a mistake (mostly because i could have inherited the house !!![selfish]) as they have paid far more in rent than their friends who now own their houses outright. So it really was a case of council housing being housing for working folk, now it is very different.

I can understand OP rant, as I've ranted over similar things myself. Yes, it's none of our business, doesn't stop us nosey people from speculating though does it?!
YANBU, it really annoys me when folk flash money like that, esp on a brand new car. It wouldn't actually surprise me if he bought it with JSA or similar benefits.

30K, isnt that the national average or thereabouts? Why do bin men not deserve that - it is a shitty job which many wouldn't want to do, what? Do you think they should do it for bread and water and be grateful, the uneducated dolts?

justaflyingvisit my comment was misunderstood, I said they earn more than my first house cost me.

Tink, my comment was directed at daftpunks horror that such people earn so muchy.

Im outa here, i deregistered as lucyellensmum as i was spending too much time arguing the toss in arguments i can't win Enjoy ladies - im off to paint my bedroom

30k round here is a pretty good wage. My point and I was saying it tongue in cheek was that you don't have to work hard at school or get any specific qualifications to be a bin man. I agree it is a shitty job and I would not want to do it, but does this mean they should earn more than someone who has studied really really hard for a good job. Nursing is a shitty job but they don't get 30k!

I know, but I think her horror may increase if she knew the actual amount (which I've cunningly disguised as a maths puzzle for anyone who wants to work it out).