Scotland's new income tax!

[mummyhaschangedhername]

Was this expected? What the general feeling about this?

What have the high calibre politicians (lol) in Westminster done to make people's lives better? Serious question.

I don't have a problem with the Bedroom tax. Why should people expect benefits to pay for them in a larger house than they need. There is a shortage of housing for those that need it, and there are plenty of people not on benefits who live in smaller houses than they need as this is all they can afford.

I stand corrected Nyx but i think that those things are spread over many years. And I don’t see much improvements where I live. They are covering hillsides with wind farms true enough which is fine if you don’t live amongst them. Housing? Well probably UK gov are building in England too. Votes at 16, not too sure that is a good thing. More employment, yes but mainly the care sector down our way. We are short of GPS, consultants so NHS not too good. Etc.

I think the SNP income tax plans are great idea. That said I learn less than £33,000 a year. The national average wage is £27,000 and I think for Glasgow its less than that again so most people will be better. £33,000 a year is footballers wages.

&Lichtie the problem with the bedroom tax is that there is lack of alternative housing for people. If you lived in a 3 bedroom council house that you moved into when you had a young family and are then asked to pay the bedroom tax or leave your home with all its happy memories is that fair. Especially when there is no suitable replacement available. I'm sure people would be happier to downsize if there was a nice little flat in their local area near their friends and their families.
We need a vast amount of social housing built as soon as possible. That should be our priority as nation by which I mean Britain as the SNP have mitigated the bedroom tax and the SE has a terrible housing shortage.

@Lichtie I meant

Yes, Lichtie, it's all very well saying if you have a spare bedroom we're going to dock your housing benefit, if there is somewhere suitable for you to move to. But there often isn't, and the person/family are stuck where they are, with their spare bedroom, having had their benefits cut and there's nothing they can do about it. And it's quite a large cut, as far as I know. So you've got families being evicted because of no longer being able to pay their rent, and it was just not well thought out at all. If there were suitable smaller properties ready to move into, fair enough, but that simply isn't the case.

Also there were the issues with disabled people needing a room for their carer, or their equipment, etc. This was leading to them having their benefits docked. No more, thanks to the SNP, but it was a worry for a lot of families.

So pretty much what lessworried said! Sorry for repeating! Typing on my phone in between working...

Melony, what's with the "yes, but... yes, but...."

Tell me a list of things Westminster has done to make peoples' lives better?

I don't disagree that the system has its flaws. It's the governments responsibility to make sure there is suitable housing. But we shouldn't have subsidised under utilised housing when there are other families in need. If you don't own it, it is not your home.

So if you're renting, you don't have a home. What if you're paying a mortgage, is it 'your' home if you still have payments to make?

If you don't own it, it is not your home

I’m lost for words. Obviously there needs to be a better system so families/people can have access to social housing that is the right size for them, but the Bedroom Tax wasn’t it. Like Nyx says, if there were options to move to a smaller property locally that would have been better. But the “if you don’t own it, it’s not yours” smacks of the boot on the neck that the Tories are so fond of. People have the right to a safe home where they can settle. Whether that’s social housing, private rented or owned is irrelevant. People in receipt of benefits and/or social housing shouldn’t be made to feel they have to justify every move they make, that’s really demeaning. I’m bloody proud of the fact that the SNP countered the bedroom tax and ensured many families weren’t pushed into further poverty because of Tory policies. It’s one of the things they’ve done that I’m really, really proud of.

I’m not on benefits and I do own my own home, but it wasn’t always that way, and I well remember how much attitudes which sneered or patronised hurt.

ditto

100% agree with what notreally just said

And having read further back, I’m yet to see an example of how Westminster under the Tories has improved life for anyone???

pissing myself laughing at the “better calibre of politician one though

No but if you have a mortgage or rent and you can't afford it you don't just get to stay there regardless.

@Lichtie but the people affected by bedroom tax could afford it until that ridiculous policy came into force??? And let’s not pretend housing benefit provides a palatial home, or even a fit for human habitation one at times! It’s very very basic.

NRA... I'm nor saying it's a perfect policy, there is no perfect solution to the social housing shortage, there isn't the funds to build enough. But I agree if you have a family of four in a two bed house and a family of 2 in a 3 bed house we are not using the available stock to its full advantage. I would rather SNP had adopted policy but only applied it where alternative accommodation was offered and refused. It's not just about the people in the housing... It's about the people not in it.

NRA... Being subsidised to stay in a property larger than your needs is not affording it imo

The problem is the lack of suitable of suitable alternative accommodation.

I think the nations number 1 priority should be building a vast amount of social housing.

LHA or housing benefit is paid based on the makeup of your household, ie how many people are in it and siblings sharing is taken into account, so I’m not sure why you think people are being subsidised to live in bigger houses?

@lessworriedaboutthecat absolutely! Grenfell Tower sadly brought into the mainstream the attitudes towards social housing tenants and also the problems with a severe lack of social housing stock, and yet nothing has been done.

Not just for the very poor but for people in employment on salaries above the minimum wage who at the moment struggle to get on the property ladder. These people would be able to pay a fair a rent for a secure roof over their head and over their lifetimes more than cover the cost of their homes. They may even start families younger and have more children mitigating the effects of the demographic time bomb that's going to hit when the 2nd generation boomers hit retirement age and start getting old and frail.

That’s the thing, it just doesn’t register with some folk that even professionals are financially struggling just now. On STV news the other night there was a nurse who had had to use foodbanks, despite working full time in the public sector!

NRA.. I may be wrong, so feel free to correct me, but I thought housing benefit was based on the level of your rent, not the number of people in the house.
There are people who used to be have larger housing needs but who's kids have left home still in large properties getting the benefits for these
... Like to say I may be wrong