Bolitics The New Condem Government

[peterms]

So, I see that as well as cutting benefits for the poorest and reducing their housing allowances, we have managed to make these policy changes at a time when there's about the be a significant rise in food prices driven by a global food shortage.

And we've just announced plans to cut back on court time, legal aid, police and social workers.

Should be an interesting few months.

[leviramsey]

Indeed. A few years hence it's not that hard to imagine the Orange Book Libs Dems, Tory-lite Cameroons and Labour Blairites all sharing a platform, with Right wing Tories + UKIP on one side and Lefitist Labour and Lib Dem MP's on the other.

That does seem increasingly likely.

[snowychap]

Should be an interesting few months.

Not for the majority, probably.

[peterms]

Should be an interesting few months.

Not for the majority, probably.

Interesting in the sense that the reaction to the poll tax was interesting. Will everyone be too busy slumped in front of Sky Sports and chewing pizza to get off their lardy arses and riot? Time will tell, I suppose.

[snowychap]

Interesting in the sense that the reaction to the poll tax was interesting. Will everyone be too busy slumped in front of Sky Sports and chewing pizza to get off their lardy arses and riot? Time will tell, I suppose.

I'm not sure that UK 2010 has any inclination to riot.

If there were a tax on xboxes, perhaps.

[snowychap]

rocket polishers

STUPID DUPLICITOUS rocket polishers

[peterms]

rocket polishers

STUPID DUPLICITOUS rocket polishers

Who? What?

[snowychap]

rocket polishers

STUPID DUPLICITOUS rocket polishers

Who? What?

Stuff on newsnight. Apologies for the capslock, though. :oops:

[peterms]

What stuff on newsnight? For those of us not watching it.

[snowychap]

The coalition says to the poor:

[Risso]

£20,000k a year in housing costs, poor? Do me a favour.

[snowychap]

£20,000k a year in housing costs, poor? Do me a favour.

Edited on reflection.

How about the reduction in local housing allowance from the median to the 30th percentile?

How about the increase in social housing rents to 80% of 'market rate'?

Or do we want to continue to debate the idiotic 'public debate' (not pushed by coalition ministers at all, at all) about this cap?

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Caps are all the rage with this guvmint.

They'll be capping caps before too long.

[kidlewis]

£20,000k a year in housing costs, poor? Do me a favour.

you can find a 4 bed house/apartment anywhere in the UK apart from a 2 square mile circle pretty much from westminster.

with the current cap at £3200 there are barely 30 properties in the whole of the midlands on right move that even ask for that kind of money.

yes every authority is different, but I am sorry plenty of people who are earning have downsized because they've had to save money, so why should people on LHA be exempt from such changes?

because their kid might have to change school?

because they have always lived in that area?

both of those aren't valid i'm afraid. Many people move area and change their childs school and move from the area they always grew up in.

the only issue with this (and it's a big one) is that the rental market is becoming saturated in many places therefore rent is increasing, mainly due to the fact you can't get a decent mortgage rate without a minimum 15% deposit.

as a result 1st time buyers and many people caught up in the Northern Rock mortgages cannot move or buy a home.

the only thing to combat this would probably build quite a few homes in those problem areas very quickly and flood the market to reduce the rentals.

it won't change the fact no one is buying (apart from the minted lot who can afford to bulk purchase these properties to rent out...again), but some could be used on the Homebuy scheme, where people can purchase between 40-60% initially and pay rent on the rest until they are in a postition to buy.

also you only need 5% deposit which is much more achievable.

[Awol]

£20,000k a year in housing costs, poor? Do me a favour.

you can find a 4 bed house/apartment anywhere in the UK apart from a 2 square mile circle pretty much from westminster.

with the current cap at £3200 there are barely 30 properties in the whole of the midlands on right move that even ask for that kind of money.

yes every authority is different, but I am sorry plenty of people who are earning have downsized because they've had to save money, so why should people on LHA be exempt from such changes?

Quite. It's like complaining that children will starve because the public will no longer be paying for them to eat at the Savoy Grill.

[LondonLax]

£20,000k a year in housing costs, poor? Do me a favour.

That is just a smokescreen mate. A very popular headline that will smooth over these changes.

The real issue that is going to **** people is the reduction in allowence to the 30th percentile of properties in an area.

There are virtually no areas in the country where £20,000pa in rent is the 30th percentile anyway so it will virtually never be given out. That figure is just a smokescreen for what is actually going to happen where people on much much lower rents than that will be priced out of finding somewhere to live.

[LondonLax]

£20,000k a year in housing costs, poor? Do me a favour.

you can find a 4 bed house/apartment anywhere in the UK apart from a 2 square mile circle pretty much from westminster.

with the current cap at £3200 there are barely 30 properties in the whole of the midlands on right move that even ask for that kind of money.

yes every authority is different, but I am sorry plenty of people who are earning have downsized because they've had to save money, so why should people on LHA be exempt from such changes?

Quite. It's like complaining that children will starve because the public will no longer be paying for them to eat at the Savoy Grill.

Speaking of children, this is Bernados take on it.

The Local Housing Allowance will be set at the 30th percentile of rents in each broad rental market area (BRMA), rather than the median

4. We are concerned that effects of the overall caps on rents will be made worse by the proposal to restrict the calculation of payments at the 30th percentile of rents in a BRMA, rather than the median. Barnardo’s believes this will have a profound effect on areas with high property prices, most notably the capital. Currently, on the Government’s own estimate, 52% of properties in central London are available to benefits’ claimants because they are within the local housing allowance levels. This will reduce to 7% under the proposed reform. This will place a significant additional pressure on the availability of properties to rent in all the inner and outer London boroughs. However, these areas themselves are estimated to see a reduction in their housing stock with a fall properties available at local housing allowance levels of between 17% and 26%.

[kidlewis]

so if an area has rents between £2000pm and £500pm for a 4 bed property, they will be limited to a rent of a maximum of £950pm?

[LondonLax]

so if an area has rents between £2000pm and £500pm for a 4 bed property, they will be limited to a rent of a maximum of £950pm?

Yeah that seems right. So currently you have loads of people renting in that area for up to the median rate but everyone in that area currently getting up to the mean will have their rents cut and be forced to try and find a place to rent for £950pm.

There are not going to be enough of those places for those families though so they will be forced to move somewhere else and hope to find a city or town where there are loads of available properties in the 30th pecentile free to rent.

[Risso]

The function of the welfare state should be to provide a basic level of support for those that need it, not to provide a higher standard of living than that available to lots of people who aren't on benefits.