Oh God spare me the lying Prime Minister

I went into buying my home in 2001 when I had a pretty decent NHS job.
I must point out that I'm disabled and was originally able to work but my health did deteriorate until I was made redundant in 2011 and I have been on ESA since then.
My mortgage company went bust a couple of years later and everyone was migrated across to another company who increased the interest rates.
Those who were working were able to escape the ridiculous rates by moving to another provider but anyone on benefits (like me) was locked into this company.
I wasn't able to move to another provider due to not being able to work and not having a salary, so I've been stuck having to pay around 4% above everyone else's mortgage interest rates purely because my income came via benefits instead of a job.
I agree with the majority of PPs about not letting people on benefits 'start' to buy homes because if you're on benefits you're only allowed to have £6k in savings before the DWP will reduce your benefits, so I suspect the vast majority wouldn't have enough saved to pay a deposit and 100%+ mortgages are a massive risk for the lenders.
BUT, what I would like to see is for mortgage lenders to look at people in similar situations to myself and allowing them to 'move' their mortgages to one with a more favorable interest rate. Those people on benefits who had taken out mortgages BEFORE ending up on benefits are being 'locked into' mortgages once their fixed rate deals come to an end and find themselves struggling with high interest rates and are unable to move to another deal.
It's always the same, those who are least able to pay, have the biggest bills.
I will add that everything I've said above would be wonderful to see.
Fortunately, none of it would apply to me any longer as I have recently managed to (eventually) pay my mortgage off in full by paying tiny bits extra (sometimes as little as £5) each month, which has cut a few years and a reasonable amount of interest off my overall bill, but I would have been really grateful for such a move back in the day.

Lies, lies and more lies!! It seems the tories on the payroll and their 'leader' will go to any lengths to stay in power.
It seems any semblance of integrity and honesty are long gone. Narcs will do ANYTHING to stay in power.
I watched I, Daniel Blake again last night. That's the unjust reality of many people in these British countries today. ( I object to it being called 'this country'. Its actually 4 countries)

Boris Trump!!

Reading the generic letter from my MP again it dawned on me she uses the same tactics. Don’t answer the question but divert it to something else. I’m going to contact her again and ask her why she didn’t answer my questions.

Esspee

In Glasgow there seems to be wild enthusiasm for building student accommodation (the modern day single end), while on the outskirts it is all detached 4 and 5 bedroom luxury homes.
Little is being built between those two extremes as far as I can see.
The Conservative Party think the heads of the hoi polloi button up the back.

It's the same in Bath and in many cities with one or more universities. I frequently hear complaints from parents and grandparents that the city gives permission for homes for students from all over the world but not for people born there. Many less expensive flats are bought as buy-to-lets for student multi-occupancy. Most new builds are luxury flats with extra bathrooms, beyond the reach of young families.
Why should housing associations be forced to sell their assets to tenants who are honestly not in a financial position to buy? And what will happen if the new owner cannot pay the mortgage? This scheme reduces the number of good rental properties available which cannot be a good thing. We all saw what happened when a certain M. Thatcher introduced the right to buy - for a few it was successful but many lost their homes. And the eventual result has been a large reduction in the amount of social housing available for those who really need it.

You know there was a time when governments were much more enlightened regarding the right to be housed in decent accommodation.

Near me is what was once a council estate, now sold off and no longer available for the poorer members of our community, and yesterday I walked through it.

My goodness it is much better than a lot of the little boxes now being put up as “affordable housing”

They are at a guess 3 bedroomed well built houses with lovely mature trees and areas of grass all around. It is very pleasant indeed.

The Tory idea of privatising living accommodation simply resulted in so many living in dreadful conditions at exorbitant rent. Money for the renters, poverty, and ill health for those least able to help themselves in our community.

flump

Anyone seen the latest "Led by Donkeys" video? It's only when a list of Johnson's life and lies are presented chronologically that it reinforces what an absolute b-----d he is.

twitter.com/i/status/1534059039994298368
Here it is.

Those council houses would have been built at a much lower density than is the case with either market or affordable housing today wwm. Land prices have rocketed.

As far as those on low income/means tested benefits are concerned, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

The biggest group of food bank users are those on UC (working or not) and if they can't (as they say) afford to eat and pay for energy etc. how on earth can they pay the costs of homeownership?

It's not just about the mortgage, it's also about HA service charges, possible lease charges, and things like the roof needing repair.

Johnson didn't appear to know that banks require substantial deposits for home purchase, and that if a person had over £16k in the bank, they wouldn't be getting UC/housing element.

His next suggestion was lending them or gifting them a deposit...

What could possibly go wrong? ?

For anyone on a low income, they are far better off, if they rent a HA property, just sticking how they are.

They have security of tenure, and most HAs are happy for tenants to carry out home improvements.

UC can be a fluctuating, flaky benefit, which already causes confusion and stress to claimants. Trying to pay a regular mortgage will add to the stress.

The only way to ease the pressure on affordable housing is to build more social housing. That will create more supply, drive down the rents on private tenancies, and lessen the benefits bill.

For first time buyers/renters around here, it's impossible.

Private rents are extortionate, and first time buy flats sold a couple of weeks ago cost £475k - which most young people can't afford.

We have thousands, in the London/Kent areas, stuck in hotels, hostels, bedsits for months/years.

Or moved to the other end of the country, where rents are cheaper, but where they have no support.

We will have a real crisis soon if we don't start building true affordable housing - for rent and purchase.

"Struggling to understand how this proposed sell off of housing association homes to people receiving housing benefit (and little capital for a deposit) will work."

Housing benefit is only paid for rent, not mortgages.
So there'd need to be a change made there.

Of course, it's only Johnson's words so nothing will actually happen but he'll say it did.

I remember when essential workers like nurses and social workers could get access to special low rate mortgages and even support with buying run down houses in London to renovate. I think it was run by the council but not sure, just recall colleagues buying locally with a bit of help, and despite being badly paid, nurses could still manage to get their own place. There was also inexpensive hospital accommodation available which eased the burden and enabled people to save up a deposit. It certainly encouraged NHS employees to stay in their jobs as there was hope for the future. I can't imagine anyone wanting that sort of very stressful job now, pay being so poor and rents sky high with no hope of it getting better.

I've read all 3 pages of comments on this thread so far. Not one is agreeing with Johnson. It is a "dead cat or red meat" as he likes to call it to distract from his failure as a PM.
Gransnet I would say at a guess has older commenters. Traditionally Tory voters are older people. Not looking good for him is it?

This idea of selling housing association homes rearing its head again reminded me of this File on 4 programme from 2016 about the amount of fraud involved in right to buy - billions of pounds of public assets already lost to developers and money launderers.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07gfjhr

Do we trust this government, seasoned as it is in wasting public money, mired in corruption and not averse to using dirty money itself to further its own ends? Can we trust it will put into place the necessary safeguards to ensure that this latest scheme isn’t just an upscaled opportunity for speculators and fraudsters which will leave vulnerable people out on the streets?

The reasons that this is nonsense is a long list.

If a tenant had a sufficent deposit, they would not be in receipt of UC.

Osborne investigated this when it was proposed by Cameron, and the Housing Associations agreed; as long as their massive debt was taken on.

No mortgage lender is going to be interested.

Has the whole cabinet had an attack of amnesia and forgotten about the sub prime mortgage disaster? Sunak, as one of the Deutsche Bank gangsters certainly should remember, as should Sunak.

How does removing affordable rented properties from the rental market help anyone?

I can't even be bothered to get angry about this nonsense, it is just same old, same old bo**ox day after day.

MayBee70

Reading the generic letter from my MP again it dawned on me she uses the same tactics. Don’t answer the question but divert it to something else. I’m going to contact her again and ask her why she didn’t answer my questions.

Because its a copy and pasted script they are told to send

The policy of a lame duck prime minister who is oven ready for the chop.

A local councillor in my small seaside town who had bought her council house under Thatcher was bemoaning the fact that her daughter could not afford to buy one, reason being that former council houses had become so desirable because their value had increased enormously. She can’t have it both ways. For Boris to suggest housing association houses should be sold at under their market value is a cynical vote catching ploy. This man and his sycophants are an insult to democracy.

Jaxie, that horror is repeated in any ‘desirable’ area. In some of our less desirable areas, former council homes are now owned by private landlords. I’ve known people evicted from their council house because of anti social behaviour, drug dealing etc, to move back into a private rent on the same street they were evicted from.

Tinydancer

I've read all 3 pages of comments on this thread so far. Not one is agreeing with Johnson. It is a "dead cat or red meat" as he likes to call it to distract from his failure as a PM.
Gransnet I would say at a guess has older commenters. Traditionally Tory voters are older people. Not looking good for him is it?

I have noticed the diehard Tory/Johnson supporters on GN have almost stopped commenting (possibly by arrangement??) as they got annoyed at “Boris bashing” threads and decided we were all loony lefties….which is definitely not the case. Many traditional conservative voters are now disillusioned by Johnson et al.
Well that Lucca’s analysis of the political leanings of GN!!

Conservative voter who has had her say and hasn’t stopped posting. We don’t all support BJ and every policy.

Has everyone forgotten the mortgage disaster of 2008? Stupid loans (100% mortgages) given to people who couldn't really afford the property. The property market rose rapidly only to drop as rapidly when people started defaulting. As a result people on the lower end of the property market found themselves in hock for large amounts with no way to recover!
In the US it was even worse leading to massive poverty and a worldwide recession.
I suspect someone is pulling PM's chain and nudging him on a direction that will bring him down with a huge crash!
Not that I'd be sorry to see that but it is the people who end up bankrupt or detitute that worry me.
The only winners in these situations are the banks, the property landlords (when rents rocket) and those who already have too much (or at least enough). NEVER does the poor person win in scams like these!!

The banks don’t win if they’ve lent more than the property’s worth.

Maybe if the government bought back the scheme that paid the landlord directly instead of paying the benefit claimant and trusting them to pay the rent, a similar rent to buy mortgage scheme MIGHT work ...otherwise just more homeless sadly

NotSpaghetti

flump

Anyone seen the latest "Led by Donkeys" video? It's only when a list of Johnson's life and lies are presented chronologically that it reinforces what an absolute b-----d he is.

twitter.com/i/status/1534059039994298368
Here it is.

Words fail...This man is even more of an a**ehole than I'd thought.

All politicians lie which is why they are, in poll after poll, pretty much neck and neck with estate agents on the trust front. Our present PM was elected by people who knew his reputation as a populist, good with words. As Mayor of London he won by declaring, ‘No more high rises’ and proceeded to clutter the skyline.

BJ Is suffering from the following:-
- a concerted media and own party cabal to oust him.
- an unremitting focus on himself which lets off everyone else who is ‘lying’. And, let’s face it, that’s everyone else.
-a desire to be popular and liked.
-a very hostile civil service which is holing every policy in the water.
- Remainer bad blood.
-The global fallout from Covid

Would anyone want the Opposition in charge? Seriously? With Putin?

I don’t even like BJ’s policies. I think they are unConservative. But an election is an on/off switch and you get what you vote for - even the bits you don’t like.

BJ Is suffering from the following:-
- some sections of the media and his own party have realised he is a liability.
- being a serial and unrepentant liar
- he is less popular and liked than he was/would like to be.
- 41% of MPs from both the remain and leave camp want him gone
- the worst performance of any G20 country (except Russia) post Covid

According to all polls the majority of people would now like someone else in charge.