Benefit Cuts

Do you have a link?

No, sorry! I'm not 'well up' on politics but just watching a program about people being evicted. It just doesn't seem fair.

I would gladly read any links put up so I could find out more.

I assume your talking about the programme on channel 4. Re. How to get a council house. The lady with the epileptic son? Did you not know about the bedroom tax?

No, I was watching Can't Pay we,'ll Take it Away. Poor old couple just couldn't pat the hideous rent and had to go. It makes my blood boil.

The world's gone mad (or rotten)

I did see a little bit of Can't pay we will take it away last night in which the elderly couple were evicted. Wot . It puzzled me that there was no mention of the actual rent that this poor couple were expected to pay the (private) landlord in London although I can image it would have been a ridiculous amount. Why aren't these landlords being taken to task? What can the LA be expected to do ? just keep paying £1000's per month with no end ? It's about time the greedy landlords were exposed. Terribly sad .

I meant to add that I hate this kind of television. Making a program out of misery. I am ashamed to have watched (part of) it.

I didn't see that gollybob - did the council have to re-home them?

Yes they did rehouse them Anya but in Birmingham ! Presumably the greedy landlords of The South charge such extortionate rents that Birmingham was the closest place the housing allowance would cover the rent. Sad that they had to move so far away from "home" . The old man said he had been a care taker all his working life and a house came with the job. Obviously when he retired he was homeless and was forced to rent from the private sector.

So All landlords in the south are greedy? A bit of a sweeping statement no? I guess they are asking as much as they can get unfortunately and the government have colluded in this. .I am sure northern landlords aren't all altruistic philanthropists. There are many charitable housing associations in London charging affordable rents and the government are trying to force them to sell their properties. Disgusting.

No suzied not a sweeping statement at all. Do you know the average private rental in London? Do look it up. The rents obviously are set appropriately for those on large incomes who can afford to pay them. It's just a shame for the people like this elderly couple who are relying on housing benefit to pay the massive rent.
I expect that there are plenty of greedy landlords in the North too, but they are set well within the boundaries of housing benefit . The difference in the average wages in the North and South helps to govern the private rental market.

The program didn't say as much but I wouldn't have been surprised if the landlord wanted them out to cash in on the huge increased value of the property.

I suppose we all wonder why people don't plan for their old age. If this man was living rent free it's a shame he couldn't put something aside for his retirement.

But it's easy to be wise after the event and how many of today's young people plan for their future?

I'm saddened by this but at least relieved to find they have a roof over their head, even if it is in Birmimgham - which incidentally is quite a nice place to live.

Planning for old age (financially) is fine if you have the income to save Anya. We have no way of knowing how much the gentleman (and he was a gentleman ) earned in his job as a caretaker . Maybe he scraped a living and didn't have any spare cash to save? I don't know. I don't doubt Birmingham is an okay place to live but considering they were London born and bred, why would they want to move so far away from all that they know and love at such a late stage in their life? Quite cruel actually.

It is very worrying what is happening , I am so lucky to own my own home and it is luck because when I we bought this house in the 70`s almost everyone could afford a mortgage . My husband was a new teacher on low pay and I worked as a telephonist also lowly paid but there was no question that we wouldn`t get a mortgage . It is not the same for my children , 3 renting and 1 with both him and his partner working full time are struggling desperately to get the deposit for a small house . No bank of Mum and Dad unfortunately .
I deliberately don`t watch these type of programmes because I get really upset by people being evicted etc .

Didn't see the programme, no idea of the age of the couple. Plan for his old age? He should have known thirty years age there would no social housing when he reached retirement? He should have known we would have a government which refuses to control rent? Should have known how popular the buy to rent scheme would be?

I feel so sorry for this couple , to be moved by force to a city they know nothing of

I don't know the current rules for being allocated social housing (not that there is nearly enough of it) but it used to be based solely on needs - some time back I think some councils introduced an element of extra points if you were 'local' and had long-term ties to the area. Maybe that's no longer the case.

It's fundamentally unfair that an elderly London couple should be moved to Birmingham.

Before council houses were sold off , here houses were allocated to locals and if a chap left the army but was married to a local he was classed as a local, people in tied houses were also housed when they retired . I expect the poor man thought it would always be so , he cannot be condemned for that

I do know how much rents are in London thanks I live here. My DD was renting a freezing 1 bedroom place for over £1k a month . Bank of mum and dad have helped her and her boyfriend buy a tiny 2 bed maisonette and the mortgage is lower than they were paying in rent.

Cross-referencing with the thread on UKIP in Wales .... the Hamilton's own a flat in Battersea in a block that was originally co-ownership.

Long ago Christine Hamilton in a newspaper article proudly said that she bought out the other half at a great discount. Not a good use of public money.

So you must beable to see how greedy landlords are making a killing on the backs of those people who can ( or could) afford it. suzied and to hell with those like that elderly who could no longer work to pay the exorbitant rent . Local authorities cannot be expected to pick up the bills for £1000 per month ( and often much more) in order to line the pockets of the landlords can they? And not everyone can rely on the bank of mum and dad. Least of all a couple in their 70's/ 80's ! I don't know the answer other than stopping the sale of council properties and calling a halt to the overpriced rents, but there is always someone willing to pay isn't there?

Anya, If we all had a regular job and steady income it would be possible to plan far better for retirement. unfortunately far too often we tend to forget about those on the basic living wage who cannot put anything aside for later life. We also tend to ignore those mentioned in the latest Charity Independent Age report, in which it is claimed 1,000's of over-75s receive an average of £3,000 a year less than younger pensioners. It claimed ministers should do more to raise awareness of pension and benefit top-ups available for older pensioners.

My reason for widening the subject is to highlight that our society is not always fair and equal and we do need to be far more caring towards those stuck in the poverty trap.
Nor do I agree with those who keep inferring that social housing should only be available to those who cannot afford a mortage. That was the type of attitude that created slums in many parts of our urban areas , the more enlightenened who believed access to a good standing of housing at a fair market rent, public or private alongside affordale housing is a far better proposition and one more acceptable in more enlightened countries.

1 million pensioners live in poverty.

Surely they were entitled to Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit? My experience of working with older people is that these problems are not always as straightforward as television programmes and newspaper reports make out, especially when the reporters have no idea how the benefit system works.

Old Age is only a moment in time. All old people have been children, young and middle aged before they reach old age and many, when younger and having a more than adequate income, have chosen to ignore the future and have not set money aside for their retirement. I have very little sympathy for older people in dire straights because of their own carelessness, fecklessness or refusal to make sensible decisions even when their immediate comfort and care is concerned.
Very soon we are going to get programmes about the poor old people who had decent pension funds but chose to release the money to go on luxurious holidays and buy expensive consumer goods. I will not have any sympathy for them either

I think everything possible should be done to help the poorest of older people who could make no provision for their old age because their income through life was too low.