General Chat

private rents are not included in the bedroom tax

We had to do the same Kitty....know exactly how hard it is getting the mortgage ins to pay out...Money that we had been paying month by month to them for YEARS I might add !!!!!

...you have to jump through hoops...and then you only get it paid for the first year.......bye bye house if you're unemployed any longer.

At that time I genuinely regretted buying my own house....it would've been much easier without the worry of the mortgage and the nigh impossible demands of the insurance company hanging over our heads.

If you cannot pay the mortgage e.g. after being made redundant, then their is a government scheme which will cover mortgage payments on an interest only basis for some time.

https://www.gov.uk/mortgage-rescue-scheme/overview

That gives you 2 yrs max though doesn't it? ...and then only at the discretion of your mortgage provider?...sorry can't check this for myself as my puter is playing up and I'm getting stupid black blocks over any link I try to open...will read up later when I reboot..........**edit***...and as I recall will only pay up to about 3ish% interest....bummer if your rate is a set one and nearer 5-6 %

I know how horrible it is to be on benefits albeit for a very short time, so am not without sympathy but....

How can a relative of ours, single mum of 1 living in a rented flat on benefits, have more disposal income than her sister, also a single mum of 1 who works 30 hours a week and lives in the same sized flat?

It seems a tad unfair to me

:-(

I looked at the link Rollo.....it wouldn't have helped us as it says

"Eligibility
Someone in your household must be in ‘priority need’. This could be:
a pregnant woman
someone with dependent children
someone who is vulnerable because of old age or a physical or mental impairment"

It then lists other criteria and we would only have met the income being less than £60,000 a year one..............with us both working we earn about a third of that
:-(

Private rentals aren't per se included in the bedroom tax.
BUT there is to be a cap on housing benefit, so if you are in a high rental area in private rental and lose your job, you will suffer financially.

Some people work hard all their lives and can never afford to buy their own home. That's one of the reasons social housing was invented in the first place. With the price of houses nowadays it's even more likely that many people will be able to afford to buy. Working 40 hours per week on minimum wage earns you less than £13,000 a year before tax and by the time you've paid the bills/bought food etc then there isn't much left, if anything, to save for a deposit.

Just getting a little sick and tired of the implication being that if you don't own your home then it's because you haven't worked hard enough. <--not just this thread but this thread is getting it.

Bedroom tax should only be applied if someone refuses to downsize imo, not if there isn't anywhere for them to downsize to.

*Just getting a little sick and tired of the implication being that if you don't own your home then it's because you haven't worked hard enough. <--not just this thread but this thread is getting it.........*

I really hope my posts didn't come across that way as that wasn't at all my intention. I apologise if they did.

I was trying to point out.that home owners are penalised too and are not immune from unfairly having to pay through the nose..wasn't trying to suggest anything more than that.

Agree with you, Muffy.
My nephew is buying a house (deposit courtesy of my sister - from money received when BIL died of asbestosis), but, even with him and his partner working, they can only afford the interest :-|

In the local paper today a couple have just lost an appeal to keep the council house that they shared with the wifes mother.
The couple left the house when married and returned to look after the mother for a while in 2005 then again in 2007 when the mother had dementia. Just before the lady died she signed away the tenancy even though she didn't understand what she was doing, this is apparently the reason used in the appeal.

The headline says 'Kicked out after 45 yrs' but they haven't lived there for 45 yrs they left.
The council have said they have offered them alternative places but they were refused
Why should this couple get to keep a 3bed council house when couples with small children are having to share a room because they have no chance on the list

I think i'm right in saying that the bedroom tax does not apply to anyone over 61! if this is true, then what a farce, after all, its mainly the over 61's who are rattling about in houses after children leave home, spouses die etc. I own my ex council house (not bought at a discounted price from the council though, never been a council tenant) Where I live, there are 4 three bed houses in the cul de sac with one person in them aged between 70-80, I find this outrageouse when there is so many young families living in over crowded conditions

Do you know what the rent differential in cost is between a 3 bedoomed and a 1./2 bedroomed home - and I specifically use that word - is, Haribo?

i can see a situation were some one is forced to leave a 3 bedroom social housing property and move into a 2 bedrooom private rent and the private rent will cost in benefits more than the social housing would have cost

i can see a situation were some one is forced to leave a 3 bedroom social housing property and move into a 2 bedrooom private rent and the private rent will cost in benefits more than the social housing would have cost

Possibly.

I may be wrong ...but I suspect the majority will swallow the decrease in their benefit and stay put.

its to free socisal housing up
so they want you to private rent or pay the differance

Already happened, terryj.
And as housing benefit will be capped soon - the occupant will STILL be losing out.

i know all about local housing benefit capping
son is un employed and 29 yrs old
lha rules state that under 30 he is only entitled to a room in a shared house and will only pay £50 per week
he is in a cramped 1 bedroom flat private landlord £100 per week so we have to top his rent up
he has now had a letter from the council and he has to pay towards his council tax out of his £71 per week dole money

A certain person - forename Adolph - comes to light

You have not done what was expected of you (buy an overpriced house) .....you are scum and shall suffer!!

Meanwhile, us politicians (millionaires all - thanks to dad/grandad etc) who own lots of propery between us will be raking it in