Preparation for mass exodus of poor from London

[SkippyjonJones]

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/24/exodus-poor-families-from-london

they are NOT asylum seekers!

do all those properties accept HB?

Oh and I am not for a moment blaming the tenants - not at all! I am blaming the fucking BTL landlords who have pushed rents (and property prices) so bloody high in London. It's people wanting to make a quick buck that have exacerbated the prices here - not the tenants.

do they accept children? or people who couldn't pay their last lot of rent, so those with debt?

Headless my point is that 60 properties is a tiny number. These areas will not be available to social tenants, and London will become much the worse place for losing the mix of its residents.

I don't know lego. But if only those flats that are beyond the remit of the private renter do, then surely we should introduce some kind of rent-capping system?

Why should private landlords be making an absurd profit on the back of HB tenants? Don't you think that's wrong?

Within 5 miles of WC1 there are 954 properties, so I'm still not convinced. The point is (surely) that most private renters pay the capped amount or less for their rent.

God I'm sounding like a fucking tory but something is seriously wrong here :(

When SIL was renting and in recipt of HB, the properties that were good value for money were snapped up for more than the pay out in HB, she ended up supplementing the HB out of her income support as they alternative really was living in a sh*thole of a property

I'm not very articulate, so forgive my ineptness but whilst filling the dishwasher I kept thinking about the fact that lots of landlords aren't prepared to take people on HB. Also when you rent a property you need to find a deposit and sometimes one or two months rent upfront as well. So speaking hypothetically, if people did have to move somewhere cheaper, how would they find the funds to pay the deposit and rent upfront on the new property? Also if you move areas, sometimes your existing JSA claim is stopped temporarily whilst your details are swapped to the new job centre. There can be a delay of up to 4 weeks with no money coming in too. These are all issues which would make things even more stressful for someone already having to move due to HB not covering their mortgage/ rent.

lots of london properties are owned by foreigners

That is very true teanandcake - but again, that isn't the tenants' fault, it's the system/landlords who are being wankers.

Perfectly articulate and v. good points, teaandcake.

One of the really depressing things about the coalition is that they've given every bitter, prejudiced nasty piece of work the feeling that it's suddenly socially acceptable to bash the poor. Even those selfish sods generally realise racism is Not A Good Thing to express publicly - but prejudice against people with less money is fine and dandy these days.

Council do deposit loan scheme things for HB claimants.

the whole thing makes my head hurt even though it doesn't directly affect me - home owner high equity to mortgage ratio so we're unlikely to lose our home.

However the over priced housing and rental market makes me so very

Oh god I am gutted if you think I am a prejudiced and bitter nasty piece of work edam :( I am just fed up of landlords fleecing HB tenants.

Lord, no, not you headless! Just thinking of some of the horrid posts there have been on threads about this kind of thing since the general election. Lots of smug, spiteful stuff, some posters really getting their rocks off on the idea that other people will suffer. The return of the concept of the deserving and undeserving poor - not that there haven't always been some gits who were into it, but they didn't have quite this level of official sanction.

headless - have you ever tryed claiming your RP? It is not always as straight forward as you think and some people that have had PR have wondered why they just didn't pay money each month inot a raining day account..

As for ghettos of rich, this isn't a good way to live and the rich ghettos will suffer badly for social reasons they have never dreamt of

(Although you don't seem quite on top of the population density v. available housing stock in London - there are eight million-odd people in London, 954 properties available to rent within a five mile radius of WC1 really don't represent a viable rental market for people on HB.)

we did not qualify for the deposit scheme or get muchg help with housing i had to live with my mum and step dad and 4 dc in 2 bedhouse and save the money and then try find a landlord that would take Hb and dc not easy by any means

So dont say deposit scheme is easy very few get and even fewer landlords accept

teandcake, you are right. it is expensive to move. you can borrow but it is taken back from your benefit, and i think there is only a certain level you can borrow to. i guess if you borrow and it comes out of your already shrinking benefits and shrinking HB then you will be in a very hard place.

shelter used to have, dont know if still has, an article about people living in private accom. it was so right when it said that tennants didnt like to complain too much for fear of rent being put up and then not affording the rent. i know a woman who was in this situation-one whole side of her inside wall was green and black with mould. in the end she did complain and still the landlord did nothing. when she left the house the landlord re-did the wall, painted it etc and wacked up the rent for new tennants. the landlord wasn't bothered while she was getting her 'rent' [partly from HB]-even with 2 small kids breathing it in everyday.

not sure what my point was now...

I wish I had the money to be a socially responsibile landlord

Basically we'll have even more scum Rachmanite landlordism with the under-35s stuffed into rooms in shared houses (single sex I presume - unless we want to expose women to something really horrid) - crap and overcrowded properties for families, a few in town, but mainly in poorly accessible places with bad transport links where no-one else wants to live. What a fabulous city that will make London, with its armies of low paid workers who rely on LHA because the councils stopped building social housing. Great that they can get up even earlier to sweat all this way to work on cycles, while the toffs whose shit they carry away and whose sandwiches they prepare swan in later on well-upholstered seats. Of course landlords are one of the roots of the problem (read Marx on land rent and parasitic capitalism), but I absolutely agree with the poster who says that this government has legitimated a 'hate the poor' attitude. I also find depressing that the announcement of all the cuts has led to a lot of talk about "as long as I'm alright' and glee at other people's suffering. What progress we are making in the 21st Century!

Do let us remember that there are low paid people who work in London who commute in long distances already or live on campsites in North London. Those that live in London but not work and live on benefits will have to move out and those that do work will then be able to find smewhere closer to work at a reasonable rent.

The housing market will come back to an equilibrium but with different people living in the houses at a lower rent as they will no longer be crowded out by people on HB.

People losing their jobs and moving out of London is not new. Me and DW did.

Yes they do offer crisis loans but it is clawed back. I'm not sure they're generous enough for a deposit and a month or two months rent either. You really would be stuck between a rock and a hard place really. Unless a friend or relative was prepared to help.

[Except that is the 2 bedroom flats that are available to rent right now so only a snapshot]

Landlords have been totally taking the piss out of HB tenants as is evidenced by the fact that a lot of private renters pay a lot less. If we had standardised rent capping (for size of space/rooms) then there would be a lot fewer Daily Fail headlines.

where is the 'reasonable rent' coming from?

where will all the other people go [those on HB] if they aren't in london?

No it is not new that people move but, the best communities are those where there is a mix of people.