Now, since Job Seekers Allowance is currently £67.50 a week (which equates to £3.5K a year)
is it not reasonable to assume that these people must be eligible for some quite serious benefits to get the total up to 26K plus?

Please put aside all your anecdotes about "my mate who has a colour TV and is on the dole".
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:43, 4 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

I haven't got any, Al.
Keep your wig on.

The only people I know who don't work are crooks who claim nothing.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:44, Reply)

You get council tax, rent, morgtage interest, free prescriptions, shitloads.

(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:44, Reply)

Free dentist. Free local authority pool and gym entry.
All the bins you can rummage.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:46, Reply)

The vast majority is on housing benifit, when landlords can just keep upping the rent and the DWP will rubber stamp it.
I'm glad that'll put a stop to that sort of thing.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:45, Reply)

When I first rented out my flat
it went to someone on housing allowance. Granted this was in Scotland, so it might be a different story up there, but the council agreed an amount of rent, and two years later when I wanted to put the rent up by £50, they refused to honour it. I knew I'd never get the extra from the tenant, so I dropped the matter.
I'm sure what you say is true, and there are some seriously overinflated rental prices, just because councils are willing to pay them - maybe the reform should be focused on that instead. A cap on private sector rental to a certain percentage above rateable value, or something.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:48, Reply)

That's partly why we have the problem.
The previous government allowed landlords to charge councils something closer to market rents.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:49, Reply)

If only we could have a system where councils themselves owned properties
because something the size of a council could take out a mortgage at fucking great rates of interest and then they could let people stay in the houses and it wouldn't really be costing the council anything, especially after a few years once the mortgage was paid off.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:51, Reply)

There are very few council properties left.
Most have transferres to housing associations, laughingly called non profit making groups.
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:55, Reply)

Bloody Thatcher

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:57, Reply)

But without the market really being involved.
Say a good 4 bed house goes for £1500 a month in an area, a shit one with rubbish heating damp etc should be more like £1000-£1200, but because the "market rate" is £1500 they can charge that to the council.
fucking cowboys.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:59, Reply)

But will it?
Because the government line is that you should move "somewhere you can afford" and whilst in principle I'm in favour of people living according to their actual capacity to pay their rent, the problem is that a) they are not doing anything to address inflating rents for sub standard properties and b) this looks very much like it will simply lead to creating ghettos that will become even more self perpetuating than those we presently have.

I'm not actually arguing that better allocation of benefits is a bad idea, but a crude cap doesn't appear to be a good way of doing it.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:49, Reply)

Who knows? The rental sector at the moment is a mess.
I think with only 67,000 homes affected it won't make a massive difference. I think a total revisiting of housing benefit would be for the best.
Not necessarily focused on reducing the cost, but a combination of that and increasing the standard of housing to a fit if basic state for a family on benefits.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:56, Reply)

A crude cap, earlier:

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:57, Reply)

I hope you own one of these.

( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:06, Reply)

It probably includes things like
housing benefit, child benefit, council tax benefit, free prescriptions, dental and eye care, free school meals, school uniform allowances, additional child credits for means tested benefits... and so on.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:46, Reply)

So once almost all of life's bills are paid for you,
you then get £67.50 left over? That's £67.50 a week more than I get.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:47, Reply)

You owe me £67.50, btw.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:48, Reply)

He owes it to me first.
I bought him a beer before christmas and he never sent me a thank you card and with the interest payments it quickly mounted up.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:50, Reply)

*gasses self*



*realises gas has been disconnected*
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:51, Reply)

You should drown yourself
they can't cut your water off.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:52, Reply)

There's always Wonga.com
Very reasonable pay day lending rates.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:52, Reply)

I have 6p to last me til Friday.
Lunch today was two wholemeal pitta breads and butter. I had to borrow the butter.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:53, Reply)

78p worth of buns from Sainsburys and a cuppasoup
*sobs*
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:57, Reply)

I shall be having seared scallops followed by loin of roe deer for dinner
Student food, innit.
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:04, Reply)

Hahahah

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:07, Reply)

No food or travel on the dole.
Honestly it's fucking hard.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:49, Reply)

This.
If you're single, on the dole and have no kids, you're knackered really.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:52, Reply)

Yeah, but if you have a mortgage, then you're basically fucked.
The last I knew, you had to wait 40 weeks before you got help on just the interest alone.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:50, Reply)

If I lose my job I think it's fair enough that I'll have to sell my house to pay for my life, to be honest.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:52, Reply)

Assuming you could sell it quickly I'd agree.
Not always the case, though.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 13:54, Reply)

Despite it needing work
I could sell mine in days, I suspect. My brother (who is up for redundancy) is not in the same boat, poor cunt.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:00, Reply)

We live in an area of town that is generally highly sought after.
Properties tend to go on the market and get snapped up more or less immediately. Our neighbour's put their place on the market about three years ago and didn't even get a sniff of an offer, whilst other properties around the estate were proudly displaying 'Sold' signs. No idea why.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:03, Reply)

Maybe they were only renting it.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

I reckon the fact that it reeked of brown ale, gravy, coal and despair
is what put the potential buyers off.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:06, Reply)

haha

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:08, Reply)

That reminds me
when I next go to Davros' house I want one his gravy sandwich things from the shop near his house.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:11, Reply)

That and the neighbours were cunts.

(PsychoChomp, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:11, Reply)

10/10

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 23 Jan 2012, 14:13, Reply)

:(

( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 23 Jan 2012, 15:22, Reply)