In hoping the benefits cap may prove to be A Good Thing?

[thepeoplesprincess]

In the long run. For private renters anyway.

As things currently stand, private landlords are getting away with charging extortionate rents that few can afford because the shortfall is made up by Housing Benefit. So if benefits are to be capped, landlords will (hopefully) be forced to lower their rents to affordable levels or sell up if they can't find tenants that can and will pay hundreds of pounds a month. Either will be great for the average Joe IMO.

Lougle Would point out that benefits aren't taxed, in reality this equates to a taxed income (1 person) of around £35k. I couldn't be less tory, but I think this may be worth a try. I can't afford to live near family in central London, so I don't. I can't afford a bedroom for each potential child, so I don't have one. etc

Step 2 Cut funding for Social Services so that mentally ill people and addicted people end up on the streets.

Private landlords can charge what they like and will not reduce their rents if HB is capped. Rental prices are high as people have no choice but to rent as they can't get a mortgage. Supply and demand, I suppose. Lots of renters = high rents, espec where there is a property shortage

The point is, they might have to- especially in expensive areas such as the South-East (where I live) if they cannot find tenants who are able to afford their rents without massive government subsidies. Round here you'd expect to pay around £300 a week for a bog-standard 3 bed house, and there are very few families- working or otherwise - who could afford to pay that without massive help from Housing Benefit. With any luck, the whole buy-to- leech let market will crash.

"He said: ?David Cameron has got it wrong again and has shown that he is completely out of touch with the pressures on hard-working families across Britain by claiming that rents are falling across the country, when the evidence shows that they are rising.?"

www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/private-landlords-dismiss-cameron-rent-claim/6520018.article

1)Rents are rising despite LHA (housing benefit)cuts

2. A lot of misleading misinformation on this , see above article.

3. IDS and Cameron are nasty little cunts.

The Tories won't let the rental market crash. They would lose far too many votes.

They are cleansing London and the south east of the people most likely to vote Labour. Even Boris Johnson thinks so!

*How To Create Slums And Ghettos:

Step 1: make a person on benefits move to a place that has "affordable" rent.*

Slightly O/T but it wouldn't be particularly unfair if non-working families were made to accept lower-quality housing. They've been doing it to us 'lucky' council tenants for decades......

"But the 26k is an overall cap, not a cap on housing benefits - and this I agree with."

Lesley It's housing benefit that drives it up to 26k. In cheaper areas the max is nowhere near this. But the person with 26k will have the same income after housing costs as the person on much less. And it is on this income that they will either have to make up the rent shortfall or find somewhere else. So I actually disagree with it as some people will be forced to choose between eating or paying their rent. Some will be made homeless and very likely forced into bed and breakfast. This is because demand for private rentals outstrips supply NATIONWIDE.

Oh OP, YABM

You. Are. Being. Misled.

So YABU

when i bought my first flat i couldn't afford to buy one in the area i really wanted to live in, and i had to get one in the much more downmarket location next door. i accepted this because thats all i could afford and i knew that no-one was going to bail me out.

why should people on benefits be any different? they should move to cheaper areas. And as to the social cleansing argument - may of these areas have already been cleansed of working people - i don't see any of you arguing against this

beacause there aren't enough homes for them in cheaper areas. They will spend YEARS in temporary accommodation. Temp accom is expensive about £400pw. No saving , just social cleansing.

thats rubbish. there's a lack of housing practically everywhere - especially in the south and london - in both cheap and expensive areas

Having been homemade at the beginning of 2011 and having received not one ounce of help from the council as I work I may come across as bitter. However I do feel something big needs to be done to reform the country.
The housing situation can only get worse. The average small 3 bed semi or terraced house here is at least £200k and the vast majority seem to be being brought by buy to let landlords as the wages here don't allow people to buy their own homes.
I don't object to privatley rented houses, I live in one, but I do object to the huge rents that is charged. I am looking at moving areA, but first I need to find a job as what would be the point of moving and then having to claim full benefits as not working?
I bang my head in despair as I reAlly do not know how the country can rectify the problem?

I am not sure that the benefits cap will affect rents. My rent is high, in excess of 1k a month but it needs to be that high to cover the mortgage of the landlord. There is a glut of rented out houses because the owners had to move for worker personal reasons but they can't sell or won't sell at a loss. Ironically I have a despotic to buy a house saved in the bank and we earn enough to buy the house we rent. I will it pay what the owner would wish to sell it for and the owner does not want to sell what I , or most other buyers, would be willing to pay. So I am in my house waiting for the prices to drop, paying less than I would be for a mortgage, my deposit is in a high interest account and the landlord is paying for repairs.

My house, along with other expensive rented houses , would not be let out to someone on benefits. I have just been reading the Independent and in their Comments column they refer to benefits claimants who have never worked living it up in their West Hampstead pads. Most houses let to people on benefits are not luxurious pads in prime locations. I used to be a tenant on benefits, most places would not take me. I ended up in a damp house on a dodgy road where I was burgled by drug addicts twice.

There is also a difference between a single average wage which may be around 26K and a household wage. The benefits cap is for a household not an individual.

i do agree somewhat with a cap but this would be a cap on how much cash was allocated NOT including rent

different parts of the country can vary alot.i think each county/council should set a reasonable amount regarding HB for their area

but cash benefits should be capped (disabled obviously generous disregards) the cap would include a cap on how many children would be payed for etc

no easy solution,and so many ???????

i also say this as a claimant with children but do see that for a variety of reasons benefit dependency is not good for anybody,and i suppose we have to start somewhere,trouble is its always going to be unpopular,whats the answer

oh and i dont have a lot of sympathy with BUY TO LET lanlords.pure greed from the lanlord,buy up the flats ,cause a shortage,rack the rents up bingo,poor tenants

many people do not actually want to be landlords. unfortunately gordon brown crucified the pension industry in this country and not much has been done since to solve the situation. if there were better alternatives to pension saving schemes there would be a lot fewer landlords. though not sure if that would make the situation better or worse for some people housing wise

The cap can only be a good thing.

The only issue for me is that it's being capped at too high a level.

I have been a landlord, I actually charged a rent that was lower than I could have done and I chose to rent to someone in need.

I am also not a poor tenant by any means and my landlord is not exploiting me or ripping me off. Yes there are exploititative landlords out there but not all. My landlord would also rather not be a landlord. Ill health on their behalf meant that they cannot upkeep a house if this size and need to be near family .

Although I suppose they are not really buy to let landlords, so I am spouting crap. I will get back to my marking.

I doubt you'd say that if you were having to move house 'for the greater good' so YABU

so BTL landlords sell in large numbers. only banks want large deposits. which potential buyers dont have. so house prices will drop significantly. so banks really wont want to lend....

so only people who dont need mortgages will buy at low prices.... probably for rental property...

OP do you see why that is not the best plan ever (& wont ever happen)?

also isnt the average Joe a home owner? dont you mean best for you, not hte avergage Joe?

yabu
unless you enjoy seeing people suffer

also isnt the average Joe a home owner? dont you mean best for you, not hte avergage Joe

None of it makes any odds to me either way. I'm a council tenant.

yabu
unless you enjoy seeing people suffer

I don't enjoy seeing people going out to work and earning less than some (non-disabled) people are claiming in benefits.

actually it does - a fall in house prices would be bad for the economy.