Bedroom tax, new thread !

[thered]

The majority of houses for social rent are owned by Housing Associations, which in turn, are owned by the banks. Long gone are the days that the local councils have the housing stock.

Housing Associations cannot sell off houses becuase the government tell them as the income from each unit is taken into account in the Business Plan.

Here is a little calculation so you can see how the impact of 100 units (houses) can make on a HA.

80 (average rent per week) x 52 = ?4,160 per annum.

?4,160 x 100 houses = ?416,000 per year for 100 houses.

If you take that over a 30 years business plan that equates to ?416,000 x 30 is in excess of ?12m and that is at todays money - I haven't bothered doing the future value which is way higher as the rent will compound at around inflation + 1% each year.

As you can see, Housing Associations cannot even afford 50 properties to be taken out of their business plan. The average size of Housing association is around 7000 units.

This will not force tenants into private rented accomodation as they face the same principles. The rent is not free range, it is based on a complex formula the same as a housing association, and there is a maximim upper limit.

We have housing associations who run their own homes, we have council houses that are ran by an arms lenghths government agency

the deal is the council houses are self funded and not for profit organisation, they take the rent of paying tenants and the rent from housing benefit

this basically funds staff ,maintenace new windows ect

the housing benefit is just claimed like paying a private landlord anyway

whats the difference?

[flyingpig]

There aren't many councils that have their own housing stock. There are some but not loads. Most have been sold off to Housing Associations, or as you say, ALMO's.

With an arms lenght organisation they take the houses off the council, and maintain the hosing sock for a fee which is paid to the ALMO by the council.

I have worked for councils, almo's and housing associations, as well as consultancy for individuals who own large amount of properties.

[thered]

The work programme is a joke, I take a couple of clients to 2 different providers,
G4S, are a complete waste of time, they have not offered any help whats-so-ever,
Seetec, are slightly better, but they are both just completing a box ticking exercise,

what some people may not realise, that once on the work program, you no longer have to sign on at the job center,
once a fortnight DWP send out a slip to the claimant, they sign it, and drop it in a box near to the door at the job center, with no need to see anyone.

The work programme providers dont have to push the unemployed to find a job, because they get paid regardless,
yes, they get paid more if they find someone a job that lasts longer than 6 months,
but from what I've seen there only interest is people come in to there offices once a fortnight and sign a form,
A 3.5 per cent success rate of people finding a job, on the work programme backs this up,
compared to a 5 per cent success rate for those not on the work progamme

and the cost for this: ?500 million.

They been doing schemes like this since the i can remember, the people on them used to be forced to go but only for a week or so, the dole squad are uninterested but used to do it to keep money and the trainers dont care either


Its a box ticking excercise, to make it look like they are making an effort

[thered]

With an arms lenght organisation they take the houses off the council, and maintain the hosing sock for a fee which is paid to the ALMO by the council.

Do they not get the rent then?

As its them who chase daughter for arrears, its also them who set rent prices, its them who you pay rent too and its them who you apply for house with

As far as i was aware the council still own the houses but everything regarding rent and maintenance is controlled by them

Thats what i was told anyway when they transferred over.

Tbh the houses are looked after much better now, but rents have shot up in the last few years

[flyingpig]

An ALMO will collect the rent and they get a fee for the collection, but they dont get the rent. That goes to the council, but the council pay a management fee, which is the rent in essence. It is contractual and means that the council will retain the housing.

Not a lot of authorities want to keep the housing as they see it as a drain.

[thered]

An ALMO will collect the rent and they get a fee for the collection, but they dont get the rent. That goes to the council, but the council pay a management fee, which is the rent in essence. It is contractual and means that the council will retain the housing.

Not a lot of authorities want to keep the housing as they see it as a drain.

I get that its a money pit thats why they wanted us all to buy the ****ers.

I understand the council keeps control of the housing stock, to keep control as if the management **** it up they can give it to another firm

Dont get what your saying though, you say they dont get rent but in essence they get the rent?

My understanding from ours is they keep whatever is in the pot, the rents are adjusted to suit and whatever/if anything is left over is put back into the stock

Its just happened round our way the secured a loan to pay for so many homes in an area to have new windows and gutters

[allycoops]

Yip!! "We're all in this together."


MPs get another ?100 to help run their second homes - Telegraph

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said the sum MPs can claim was increasing for ?associated expenditure? on their second homes ?to reflect inflation?.

The cash takes the total amount that can be spent on rent and bills from ?20,000 to ?20,100 from April 1 this year.

Ipsa said the cash was to help MPs pay for increases in the cost of Freeview television, gas and electricity bills and insurance.

Other costs covered by the increase were council tax bills, service charges, contents and building insurance, phone line rental and bills and burglar alarms.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that household bills have risen four times faster than average earnings since the credit crisis began, leaving many families fearing worse to come from Budget 2013.

Ipsa also announced that the amount of money MPs can claim for the cost of running their offices was also going up by 2.4 per cent.

Ipsa decided on the increases after it had ?sought the views of the public, MPs and other interested parties about any possible amendments?. It added that it considered that the MPs' expenses ?scheme is working well and that only minor adjustments were necessary?.

Ipsa has also decided to publish as a matter of routine the names of any MP who is a tenant or landlord of another MP.

Last year Ipsa decided to publish the information after a request under the Freedom of Information Act despite protests from Commons speaker John Bercow and other MPs.

Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers? Alliance, said: ?Whilst the 0.5% increase in the amount available for running their second homes is modest, MPs must not be insulated from the impact of the rising cost of living.

"Our politicians must also not be allowed to forget that when it comes to things like fuel and energy costs, it is their policies which are directly responsible for the higher bills landing on everyone?s doormats.?

It also emerged that Lord Hanningfield, who was jailed for his expenses claims, has started claiming Lords allowances again. Latest figures show that he claimed ?4,800 in October 2012 alone, plus ?383 travel costs.

That brings his total claims in the first five working months since he was allowed back to ?15,900 worth of allowances, plus ?1,329 travel costs. Lord Hanningfield has not spoken in the House of Lords since he was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2011 for fraudulent claims.

[tornado]

How about this they can have there second homes but when they are sold or rented out the tax payer gets the money and not them,the work programme all u ever here from them is it payments by results but when u first get put on it they get up to 600 notes then they put u on a course they get around 2000 pound per person for each one by the way there in house and there not even good ones that will help u get work and to top it off if u find work yourself and keep it with out there help they can get 16.000 pound.To end this if they dont think your get a job they just park u and forget about u and this is what there getting away with every day,just like bedroom tax a con.

[flyingpig]

I ran this past the local authority earlier and it makes a mockery of the underoccupancy subsidy.

If in a house there are 2 parents with 2 children over the age of 18, in a 3 bed house, they wont face any ""tax"". If the 2 kids go to stay at the auntie and uncles and the auntie and uncle will charge for rent, the social will pay around ?110 p/m p/p so that will mean that auntie and uncle have that money coming in.

If the auntie and uncle have 2 kids that are over the age of 18, and they stay with their auntie and uncle, again the social will pay ?110 p/p p/m.

So that means that both familes would actually face a subsidy of say ?80 a month, but would make ?220 a month from the social in lodger payments.


Now I cant see anyone who would abuse this system and say they were lodging with aunti and uncle, and not actually do it, becuase that would be fraud - but it could happen, and most probably will.

What the social said was that families could start swapping kids and it would cost them a fortune and there is nothing they could do about it.

[Snowy79]

I'm pretty sure any income Aunty and Uncle receive they will have to declare when on benefits. Chances are this will be taxed or their benefits reduced accordingly. Also I'd have thought the Government would only pay a set amount per property and the council charge a set amount per property.

I've been out of the frame for renting properties but I used to rent out a flat in Edinburgh. The council would pay a set amount depending on the property and postcode. They never even visited the property. Basically if I rented out a 3 bedroom in say EH14 postcode the max the tenant would get was ?574. If the rent was only ?400 the tenant pocketed the rest no questions asked. I queried this and they said it saved on administration costs just to have a set fee per poscode and property type. They wouldn't tell me how much the tenant received but luckily the tenant was a good mate of mine and he told me. It was a joke at the time as my property was brand new and in a great area, yet 500m away in the same postcode you could rent a 3 bedroom for about ?450.

[flyingpig]

Snowy, you would think that wouldnt you and that is what I thought..... The benefits people I was talking to today said there was little or no chance of that ever happeneing as it would be going towards rent, food, services, and there would be no profit. But we all know the most of it would be profit.

It is scary what you can learn. This is most probably happening, and that is why people can afford to have a 50" plasma and a saab convertible taxed and mot'd on teh drive yet they are moaning about paying ?11 a week for b edroom subsidy!!

[scottie59]

bedroom tax is a wierd one if you look at it for example one person living in a 2 bedroom house is going to be penalised, what are the alternatives they pay or they have to move out but the situation is where do they move to if no 1 bedroom properties are available, means they would have to move into a private let which in long run could work our more expensive than the 2 bedroom house currently occupied, as person is in reciept of housing benefit that would be paid for by government. could also be a strain on nhs as well because this will effect peoples minds and health eg leading to anxiety and depresion for people involved on top of the hard hitting recesion thats already here, its ok for them ministers who live in their 6 - 10 bedroom houses, just hit the poor , its about time they took from the bankers cos it was them who put us all in this situation with their greed.

the other point is why should they be forced out because that house could hold many memories for that person as
well, this is camerons poll tax, does not effect me but have to say i am in disagreement with it

[shortarse62]

Just the thin end of the wedge
WIth so many people strugling in these times of hardship what happens to those in real need when their family and friends dont have a spare room to put them up in when they get evicted.
What about those grandparents that try to help their grown up kids by having the grandchildren over where will they put them.
What happens to the family that has young male & female children that supposedly can share a room but have not had too in the past.

All this will just create so much bad feeling may be back to the pole tax riots.

My ramblings but food for thought eh!

[TULGEYWOODMAN]

I would like some feedback on how people feel about the bedroom tax and ONLY the bedroom tax, I notice the other threads tend to drift from one thing to another, but I wish to keep this to the bedroom tax ONLY !

Please tell anything you want, your problems, the amount of money its going to cost you, how many rooms etc, only if you want to that is.

I am gathering evidence and this would be handy as I will and am taking my council to court by doing it the proper way.

I.E - keeping the money aside until it is needed if my case fails, if it does then I dont care, but its worth a try.

The money will be there to cover it and the court fee's will be sorted too.

The more info I have the better, I know there is many protests going to happen thats already well known, but I need to know more about the legal in's and out's. Thats all.

If your just going to post silly posts please dont, I say that with respect.

I have a couple of properties but this is a rented one with 1 spare room I refer to and they want ?50 per month just for that, even though the room is a gym and not a bedroom, but that doesnt matter, I know all the stuff about this but want the publics feeling on this and anything else they can add.

Thank you for your time if you wish to comment.

My opinion is that its ok.

You asked.....I answered !

[jackthelad1]

Seems they are taking the money straight from your claim..both room & council tax,so you have to pay it,no choice..that`ll give us 6 month to get use to it,before they start paying monthly..I`ve to find ?46 a fortnight..no way can i move into a 1 bed flat with my misses..being a schitzophrenic,her life would be at risk..i need a bit of room to move.