How to get a council house -C4

[heyhulahoop]

Anyone watching? It's so depressing. So many zero hours contracts and racist rants.

I know, it's bloody appalling. The housing officer who was brow beating the couple with the little girl have me The Rage. Everyone knows there are thousands of people on the waiting list

Is the rent increase at 30 grand a year thing still happening? What does the extra money get used for?

Abbibob

Yes as far as I know it is. Tenants earning 30k plus (as a household) will be paying "market rents" whatever the fuck that even means?! I think it's from next year

The money is just getting ploughed back into central government, not being used to build more homes

Why!? that's so weird so it's kind of like a tax then, rather than a rent increase.
i'm in the SE and i see a lot of people being fucked, 30 grand joint income a year isn't a lot, and say if you live in a 3 bedroom house here the rent is going to be something like 1400 a month, at least that's the 'market rent'
or are they basing market rent on their fictional idea of market rent used for housing benefit?
It's almost like they want people to stay poor isn't it?
I understand the problem of people earning a high wage and living in a counil house that people on lower incomes need, but no one is going to move out anyway because of the security aspect compared to private and 30 grand isn't really a lot, most landlords wouldn't rent a 3 bedroom property to someone on that wage here anyway, they want your income to be atleast 30 times the monthly rent

abbi exactly !! I do feel it's like they want people to stay poor! And who's gonna want to better themselves at work etc if it means their rent will increase . If you're in the SE it will be 40k though (not that that's much better) I would imagine that many people on 30k who could comfortably afford their rent will have to then claim part housing benefit. So it's purely ideological, it won't save money, it's just punishing people who dare not own their home

I also think it's to encourage people to buy their council houses through right to buy, as the mortgage to buy it will prob be cheaper than the new "market" rent

The tories do not want council houses , I don't really understand why but they don't

I am not surprised by this and I think you should have been housed. It is not fair.

I do feel it's like they want people to stay poor!
That's the tories, keep the poor poor or poorer, and let only the rich get richer. It's always been their way. Keep the peasants down.

Not just the Tories - Labour had 13 years in power and they did fuck all to help the poor get out of the poverty trap.

True, all governments are the same in that way.

But I am pretty sure there was more council housing under labour. and also they didn't demonise and stigmatise benefit claimants. nowadays if you so much as admit you get tax credits and people look down their noses

The state of renting in the UK is shocking. I watched 'Can't Pay We'll Take It Away' special the other night. A woman and her three kids were shock evicted (she was living in her late father's house and his girlfriend managed to get hold of it). Tottenham Council were absolutely horrible to her. She had to go to the police station with the high court documents, then they said they couldn't understand the documents. The woman's friend rang the council, and all the housing officer did was try to guilt and blackmail the friend into housing the woman and her family, then pull the 'have you got any family who can house you'. They offered her a B&B in Ealing at 10 at night. The bailiff ended up paying for a hotel for her.

expat that was heartbreaking wasn't it

The council did not give a tiny fuck did they

The bailiff was absolutely lovely though wasn't he, it made me cry X

One thing I don't understand is, what happened to needing a "local connection" to be entitled to housing when homeless? A couple of times they have listed the other points - needing to be unintentionally homeless, in priority need and so on - but left out "local connection".

The guy who brought his family over from Romania really pissed me off. I don't think he had proof of a local connection?

And we seriously need to distribute more stuff about what the situation is really like in the UK. So many people "seeking a better life" and being disappointed.

The guy who brought his family over from Romania really pissed me off. I don't think he had proof of a local connection?

Particularly as he then dragged them off to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to have another crack there!

I think this programme is abit unclear in parts , the story about the young man with three kids under five suddenly living in he's mums front room, it was not made clear how he's situation arose and where was the children's mother . It must be rare for a young man to have full custody of three young children so why was he saying he was resorting to telling lies to get accommodation? Did he have full custody? Why didn't the children have a home with their mother ?

expat - I watched that too, I don't always like the way the bailiff's act and talk on that show but Paul and Steve are definitely two of the nicer ones (probably because they are a bit older and have seen more).

The council were shocking "If you're such a good friend why don't you do the right thing and put your friend up for the evening?" How can anyone think that is an appropriate thing to say!

'The council were shocking "If you're such a good friend why don't you do the right thing and put your friend up for the evening?" How can anyone think that is an appropriate thing to say! sad'

And he kept at it. Then pulled the 'Do you have any family you can stay with?' card. I love how she stood up to him and pulled him up on it!

Yeah expat her friend was brilliant wasn't she, she didn't take any of their shit

I watched this. One particular housing officer insisting the poor girl move to Birmingham was a proper bitch .

^^ This.

I live in Hounslow and have met this woman.(housing probs for me and disabled DC) copmpassion my arse. never met a bigger heartless bitch than her. she must moonlight as a Tory MP.

*The guy who brought his family over from Romania really pissed me off. I don't think he had proof of a local connection?

Particularly as he then dragged them off to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to have another crack there!*

and this ^^.

Its shocking that the guy from Romania was housed. Coach fare back to Romania should be the correct course of action.

I agree Woodhill He used a tried-and-tested method, joining many thousands of others who've already done the same. And we can't stop anyone else from the impoverished EU from following that same failsafe route to relative prosperity in the UK for them & their dependants.

Limer - I smell Brexiteering. We could stop this by changing the rules or interpretation on eligibility / priority, and allowing officers some discretion in their decision making - some of the problem is how this country (or particular councils) choose to define their housing and homelessness strategy. To my mind, what the Romanian guy did is the picture of making oneself intentionally homeless, yet the definition of making oneself homeless in the UK is narrow and circumscribed.

Presumably he will spend 3 (?) months in Birmingham on HB. If he still doesn't find work benefits will be cut. 2 months on the landlord will start issuing notice etc as rent won't get paid. A month later, possession proceedings. A month after, bailiffs. This guy and his kids will be back out on the street and presumably off to Brum council as they are now homeless with children. Then there'll be more emergency hostel accommodation. And so on.

As it is, I agree, I am angry that he was housed.

But, there are plenty of British pisstakers too - some on this show. The 21 year old with 3 children trying to lie to the council about his circumstances to bag a property is doing the exact same thing. If he was brave or stupid enough to sleep out overnight with his children and claim his mum had tossed them out, accommodation would be magicked up.

In places the system is too harsh; in others, not harsh enough.

How do you know the 21 year old with 3 kids was lying ?

How do you know the 21 year old with 3 kids was lying ?

He or his mum said so towards the end of the programme, something about having to lie to the council because everyone does (apologies, I watched it when it originally aired so I don't remember the specifics - if anyone has better recall please correct me).

I also think it's highly unlikely that a 21 year old lad would find himself on his own with three under three. Possible, but not likely. I'd have liked to hear more about how that happened.