General Chat

I'm sorry Merlin, but I can't let this go without comment.

" the Last load of Parasites ruined the country and left it in such a state that generations of future children will be still paying for their greed and stupidity long after we,ve gone,thats what people should be thinking about,not how much they can get off the state,there is too much cash going out of the country to people not living here or contributing to our tax system.getting that sorted would help."

"The last load of parasites" - which load of parasites would that be, then?

The parasites who were ruled by "greed and stupidity?" that'd be the bosses of Northern Rock and others like them. Accountable to nobody - obviously not their shareholders. Motivated by one big ego trip.


"there is too much cash going out of the country to people not living here" - how very right you are, Merlin. That'll be Philip Green to name but one. Our newly appointed government's efficiency advisor. Very efficient. Efficient at avoiding best part of £300m of tax. All by his little self.

Or do you mean "too much cash going out of the country to people not living here" - like the homeless victims of the floods who are reduced to drinking polluted water, or like the starving people of parts of Africa, or what?

I know this government hasn't been in power very long, but what exactly would you suggest I give them a chance to do? Reduce our fire service to the point where they haven't the ability to actually attend a fire? Reduce our police service to a 999 call centre?

Do not get me started........

Sue x

Or Thatcher's ME ME ME generation that bred them?

Gwynne

suzian

totally agree with your take on things, i too would much rather pay more in tax and help those in need.

But I will probably be out of a job soon, so i will be the one costing the taxpayer unfortantley


mer lin

when you refer to the last load of parasites do you mean the bankers ?

Just read this thread, it seems a bit like "Chinese Whispers" started on one theme and ended up totally different to the original post. One thing comes to mind though, some people are knocking the latest Government,they hav,nt been in power very long so give them a chance. the Last load of Parasites ruined the country and left it in such a state that generations of future children will be still paying for their greed and stupidity long after we,ve gone,thats what people should be thinking about,not how much they can get off the state,there is too much cash going out of the country to people not living here or contributing to our tax system.getting that sorted would help.**M**.

Newbs and Lorraine clearly know more about the ins and outs of housing benefit that I do.

All I would say is that I have paid my taxes for the last God knows how many years, and I have no objection whatsoever to them going to pay for housing for those less fortunate than me - at least I have a job and am in a position to pay my way .

And to whoever said "Maybe we should stop sending all this aid abroad and look after our own people first. It would certainly make a change" - all I can say is that I disagree 100 per cent. At what point in history did our responsibility to each other stop at the English Channel?

To my mind, the old saying of "from each according to their means, to each according to their needs" applies. Ok, I know that that is Karl Marx, but - as a reasonable tax payer - I'm capable of giving a bit more "according to my means" and gladly would.

I'd much prefer to pay a few more pence in the pound in tax, than to be a part of a country where the poorest in society are penalised. There can be no excuse whatsoever for removing housing benefit (and therefore a home) from those who can't pay. Thank God that I'm in a position to be able to look after myself. But, if I wasn't, I'd hate to thing that I was at the mercy of the "I'm all right, Jack" school of thought.

Sue x

We're so lucky in this country - our economy is booming!

But I am sure our new "Greens/Country Party" coalition government
will soon fix that!


xxxxxxx mick

Social housing costs are used as the median when assessing HB for private rental HB.

housing benefit or or local housing allowance as it now called is not based on social housing rents for private rental but on the average costs for your area

as i pointed out in my last you are assesed for housing benefit on you income.

Local Housing Allowance rates are calculated each month for individual areas, known as Broad Market Rental Areas.

The Local Housing Allowance rate for each property size is based on the 'middle of the range' rental figure for the area. Exactly half of the rental properties of that size in the area will be affordable if you claim Housing Benefit under the Local Housing Allowance rules.


any amount over and above what your council has set as a local average will have to be paid by the tenant

Sorry Lorraine , whether it was paid direct or not many people found they were being overpaid and it should show on their mortgage statement.
Private rent is awarded by the 'fair rents assessors' based on the same cost for social housing in that area
All rent is not paid re private housing just because you are receiving certain benefits, it is assessed based on your needs. and higher payments are capped and a timescale applied.
I have not said the new rules will not cause hardship for people caught up in this change.

newbs

just to clear up a few points about SMI payments

you have to in receipts of of a benefit ie income support for 13 weeks before you can apply

if you are on income support you can only claim for a maximum of two years

any payments over and above the interest of you mortgage ie if your interest rate is 5% and they where paying 6% it went direct to your mortgage it was not cash in anyones pockets

as very few people have interest rates lower than 5% it is going to cause great many people hardship.


janey

re housing benefit

a local rate is set as an average for the area you renting in

ie 2 bed house in cornwall may be 700 per month in london 2000

so it varies per county, all rent is paid if your on income support or jobseekers allowance
a portion of rent is paid if you are on low wages or family credit depends on your income.

if you occupy a 4 bedded house and only have 2 children the benefit will paid for a 3 bedroom house rental value and the tenant will have to make up the shortfall of rent.

I work in children services, we have a shortfall of 162 foster carers, we have 4 , 8 bedded childrens homes, one of the homes is being axed in january. saving 70.000 per annum, due to the shortfall in foster care these children will have to go to private childrens homes at a cost of £7000 per child per week, still payed for by local councils, thats over £360k per year per child, nothing to do with budget cuts just lining the pockets of private shareholders

Thanks for that Newbs, it is helpful to know that :)

MIS is now being reduced to no more than 4 bedrooms per property. Housing benefit for private lets is decided using a 'fair rent' assessment. based on the cost of the rent of a similar social housing property.
If 2 people are privately renting a 5 bed house , only the living area required for 2 people is taken into account and paid as benefits.
Edit SMI is only avaliable on the first £200,000 of a mortgage

It's all in the process of changing Janey, but generally speaking you get housing benefit which is a proportion of your rent....for exmple a pensioner friend with a rent of around £80 a week received £55 housing benefit.

Curiosity from foreign parts ... do tenants get payments equivalent to this mortgage interest support, to pay rent? I would assume so ... and also that there is some sort of ceiling on the mortgage interest support ...

Rose , the mortgage interest payments for housing benefits were set and paid out well above the rate most building societies were charging for the last year.
Some people were better off by £200 a month.
edited .. 6.08%
Mortgage interest support

The current system of mortgage interest support means that 92% of customers get more help than they actually need. To ensure that Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is better targeted we will reduce the rate from 1 October 2010 from 6.08% to the Bank of England average (currently 3.67%).

The details of the spending cuts haven't even been finalised yet, let alone made public. All is speculation at the moment. Of course they will be 'bad', but why do we all get so aeriated at this stage? I don't know whether Labour or Con/Dem are 'right' regarding slow or rapid cuts, I don't have a lot of faith in any of them - party politics rarely solves society's long-term problems.

I'm not going to argue the rights and wrongs at the minute..but today letters are going out to those unemployed ( through no fault of their own ) who are in receipt of mortgage interest only payment benefits .

They took out the mortgages when working and house prices were good, now unemployed and with the house in negative equity, they are rec' the letter saying that benefit is being slashed leaving a shortfall, will the mortgage companies let them stay if they only pay a half /two thirds of the mortgage? ...or are there going to be families made homeless after repossession...looking for council housing that just isn't out there?


From the NHF :

"Thousands of people with disabilities are at risk of losing their home following a government decision to cut support for mortgage interest payments, according to a housing umbrella body.


The National Housing Federation says 64,000 people with disabilities – including those with profound physical and mental health problems – could be plunged into arrears in October when SMI from the government is reduced from the current rate of 6.08 per cent to 3.67 per cent. The move brings SMI into line with the Bank of England average mortgage rate.

Homeowners receiving income-related benefits, such as income support and jobseekers allowance, can qualify for government help towards their mortgage interest payments"

Wouldn't it be great if the schools had all the money they needed and the military had to hold a bake sale to buy a tank?

As we used to say in the olden days.

Or ...

http://www.armybakesale.com/
http://www.armybakesale.com/faq.html

humour from south of the border / across the pond

well TBH and this is not going to be a popular post . I am sick to death of paying for some who decide that no matter if they will ever be employed or not, have no where to live and cannot even support themselves they stil think they have the right to produce children,and as a result are then owed somewhere to live and expect others to support that choice for ever and a day
Children are having children.. its not benefit fraud it is just the new acceptable way of living .