disabled will NOT be exempt from 'bedroom tax'

No, he isn't Nonu, just as long he doesn't get into government!

I would make a good chancellor of the exchequer.
I would certainly get taxes down.

Frank

If FRANK finds it amusing , well so do I .

laugh !!!

Well, Frank you certainly have the blinkered approach needed for Ch.of E -to the problems of people who need help, to those whose lives don't revolve round some obscure area near Birmingham, who cannot afford their own houses, who are poor, or sick or disabled in any way. And a complete lack of compassion. (you seem to be nice to dogs...) Yes, you'd fit the bill.

Back in the 90's when we had to be rehoused by the council we were given one house to look at and if we didn't accept it there would be no further offers. Actually with three good size bedrooms, a proper bathroom and central heating it was an awful lot better than our little cottage which had been repossessed.
A friend of ours had the same thing when she needed rehousing, An upstairs flat for her and her daughter, take it or leave it. She wasn't as lucky as us as the downstairs tenant was an appalling foul mouthed woman, F this and F that. The council officers were afraid of her and wouldn't respond to any complaints about her - and she was a childminder!!!

So Frank you'd get taxes down, but then how would you fund things?

NO, PLEASE DON'T BOTHER TO REPLY, BECAUSE I CAN ALREADY GUESS WHAT THE ANSWER WILL BE

Well, for one thing he'd abolish the Royal Family...

I knew someone who complained about taxes. Went to live on a certain little tax haven in the Channel. No hospital, not really public services at all. Perfect place to retire. Only stuck it out a couple of years but might be worth a try to anyone who is bothered by the idea of taxation.

It is indeed a shame we can't ever have a sensible discussion, to try and find humane and yet sensible solutions to some of the really difficult problems the uk faces (:

Because some make ridiculous comments, or because some just say, again and again, that because tax evasion or fraud is wrong, anything to do with trying to make intelligent savings elsewhere is automatically wrong, and should not even be attempted, in any way shape or form.

Again, tax fraud is WRONG, totally - and the current bedroom tax is ill-thought and unfair in many instances- but that does not mean that creative and humane solutions cannot be sought. And, again - if we let people with council houses which are suited for families and not singles or couples on their own-

WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THE FAMILIES LIVING IN TINY FLATS AND BEDSITS???? One just has to weigh where the most damage is done, and clearly kids being brought up like this suffer long-term damage, in so many ways.

JessM if it was Alderney it does have a hospital.
And a policeman.
Sark is rather primitive. When we sailed in once we were offered a lift up to the top in the hod of the harbour masters tractor (shared with an enormous cod) if we were prepared to wait til he'd finished the 'round the island backwards, tractor and trailer race'

Galen

How would 1 policeman deal with 60 drunks?.

Frank

They could reduce expenditure on jails.
No windows or heat. They will soon be empty.

Frank

He does! They have a one cell jail. He's a very nice man with a lovely family and sails!
Drunk is normal on Alderney! Well at least merry, but surprisingly little crime. People don't bother to lock their houses. It's all very friendly.

There's the answer then! Compulsory drunkenness merriment, one PC for the whole of the UK and don't lock your doors...

I am as guilty as anyone, and quite cross that I have responded to the ridiculous, self centred assertions that have diverted this post, and I am sorry.

Granjura has rightly brought the thread back on track, and I agree that this is an ill thought out inconsiderate idea which will increase the suffering of those most in need of help.

Couldn't agree more, Ariadne - I think we all do. But what to do about it?

And still, if my memory serves me right (and apologies if it does not)

will anyone please answer. Where shall we house families with children currently stuck long-term in bedsits, while singles and couples stay in larger council houses with gardens, where they previously were lucky enough to be able to bring up their children? Where, how, when?

I have no idea. This thread (and others like it) go round and round in circles, and no one has the definitive answer. How could they? That's all from me.

How about the government support housing associations in getting more social housing built granjura. If they had done this instead of Osborne's odd scheme to help people buy houses, it would still have revitalised the construction industry and it would not have risked pushing up housing prices again.
Or making sure that those building private housing for sale include a proportion of units of social housing. Local planners could do that and in fact sometimes they do - you want planning permission to build a block of apartments for sale - right then there must be 10% social housing units that will be handed over to housing association or council to run.

Maybe they shouldn't have made the councils sell off their social housing at give away prices.

JessM

I hope that you are not suggesting that social housing will be built amongst private housing and private buyers will have to subsidise the cost of this social housing.

Frank

There are enormous numbers of properties standing empty all over the UK, especially in the large cities. Some were scheduled for demolition and then the programme stopped so whole streets of boarded-up houses remain empty. Renovating such properties would cost far less than building new ones, could happen quicker and would cause less disruption to the rest of the community.

I also think that privately owned property that has been left empty for, say, more than 18 months or two years, should be taken over by the council for housing the homeless unless there is an exceptional reason for its being empty for so long.

Frank you really are on a planet of your own!

"They could reduce expenditure on jails.
No windows or heat. They will soon be empty"

They will soon be empty. Oh, so convicted criminals would decline prison on the grounds that there were no windows or heat. Of course, they have a choice.

Re your incredibly ill informed remark about social/private housing, I suggest you get yourself up to speed! Yes, social housing is being built alongside private housing (shock horror!)

One of the London boroughs has recently converted dilapidated garages into 1 bedroomed flats, 5 have been sold, 5 offered on a partial ownership basis, and 5 rented out to tenants already on the council waiting list. One of the former who was interviewed on Radio 4 has been on the list for over six years, and is now moving in and paying (I think) around £150 rent.

Several of us made suggestions on the previous thread about this tax but as they have been totally ignored there seems to be no point in continuing.

Ok