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Bedroom tax
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"Local Councils are facing tremendous pressure from central government, who seem intent on forcing them to undertake very unpopular tasks and programmes. They publically berate any council that attempts to increase Council Tax, and in the next breath tell those same councils that their funding from central government is to be decreased for the third year in a row. It's the perfect way to deflect public anger"  | |||
"My council introduce "bedroom tax" this year and its going to a nightmare. They want those underoccupying council homes to pay more money on bedrooms not used. Now this sounds ok on paper but they also admitted they dont have enough homes for those wishing to move to smaller properties. so what are those to do. To me , its just trying to squeeze more money out of those already struggling . its going down like a lead balloon. "take in a lodger ? | |||
"There are properties as there are a high rate of families that are in overcrowded properties..HA's are putting things into place to deal with this.. It will work with LA's with larger housing stocks who are able to transfer those that wish to be moved into smaller properties.. using the properties where familes are lacking 1 or more bedrooms.. Its trying to use best use of housing stock.. Of course those that are under occupying and don't want to move then they will have to pay the bedroom tax. Its a difficult thing... " I under occupy but have been trying for ten years to move. It would be ok if i wanted high rise.i dont and wont give up my home ive had for 30yrs to be stuck in a high rise flat. If i have to i will pay the extra and they can go jump.....regardless of those on the waiting list. | |||
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"it all councils hun ,,yes agree they just tryin 2 squeeze more cash 2 line the pockets ,,,,even tryin 2 make kids return home 2 parents as they not helpin them with rent or even housing benefit ,,,,,,disgusting ,,,,,,u r having to pay ten pound per room that is not occupied , "Its not about putting money in their pockets that is the thing they have no money due to central goverenment slashing the amount of money they get... | |||
"it all councils hun ,,yes agree they just tryin 2 squeeze more cash 2 line the pockets ,,,,even tryin 2 make kids return home 2 parents as they not helpin them with rent or even housing benefit ,,,,,,disgusting ,,,,,,u r having to pay ten pound per room that is not occupied , "It ain't about councils. This is straight from Whitehall. | |||
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"it all councils hun ,,yes agree they just tryin 2 squeeze more cash 2 line the pockets ,,,,even tryin 2 make kids return home 2 parents as they not helpin them with rent or even housing benefit ,,,,,,disgusting ,,,,,,u r having to pay ten pound per room that is not occupied ,
It ain't about councils. This is straight from Whitehall."Was going to body swerve this one, but can't ! When you say "their" pockets to whom do you refer ? these are councils elected by the public to serve the public ! with budgets to meet and books to balance ! not some tyranical mediaeval overlord imposing unjust taxes on the poor purely to fill his coffers ! if you can't support yourself outside the parental home ? why the hell should I support you ? stay home until you can ! I'm truly sick to my stomach of being a financial crutch to those that are patently unable or unprepared to pay their way, you think you're being penalised, get real ! | |||
" Was going to body swerve this one, but can't ! When you say "their" pockets to whom do you refer ? these are councils elected by the public to serve the public ! with budgets to meet and books to balance ! not some tyranical mediaeval overlord imposing unjust taxes on the poor purely to fill his coffers ! if you can't support yourself outside the parental home ? why the hell should I support you ? stay home until you can ! I'm truly sick to my stomach of being a financial crutch to those that are patently unable or unprepared to pay their way, you think you're being penalised, get real ! "You don't see a distinction between 'unable' and 'unprepared'? | |||
" Was going to body swerve this one, but can't ! When you say "their" pockets to whom do you refer ? these are councils elected by the public to serve the public ! with budgets to meet and books to balance ! not some tyranical mediaeval overlord imposing unjust taxes on the poor purely to fill his coffers ! if you can't support yourself outside the parental home ? why the hell should I support you ? stay home until you can ! I'm truly sick to my stomach of being a financial crutch to those that are patently unable or unprepared to pay their way, you think you're being penalised, get real !
You don't see a distinction between 'unable' and 'unprepared'?"YES ! I understand very clearly the difference between the two terms in question, i fully support the DHSS social support system for those who are UNABLE, but my critique was in the context of leaving the parental home (barring extenuating circumstances) and expecting everyone else to chip in & support you, which I find morally offensive to those who work hard and pay their way ! | |||
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"were not suppost to do aneything thats wot there counting on squeezeing us till we got nofing left the munnys gota cum from somewhere lol " ??  | |||
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The gov/local councils, sold off so many homes, dirt cheap which yes was great for the buyer and their income in those years; however now, they have no stock left, havent rebuilt and there is a massive void.
There is a huge difference in rent though, I do not think it fair on the tax payer paying £1000 a week per family housing benefit for a house in London where as the bill is only £65 a week housing benefit for a family in other areas of the UK.
Its such a minefield of complications, and no 'solution' will be fair. | |||
When I first applied for council housing nearly twenty years ago I was offered a three bed detached house! Then the policy was to try to move people who were working into the areas they had crippled by amassing care in the community people and problem people in.
So the only reason I over occupy is due to a previous local authority/housing/government policy.  | |||
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"Some houses aren't under occupied and still have to pay just because the rules that children of opposite sex can share til the age of 10. I recently got a 3bedroom house in the village I have lived in for my whole life, there is only 3 of us living in the house (a bedroom each) but no smaller houses to swap to. I never put in for the house but was given it following the rules at the time but now i will have to pay the £13 a week. My children could share a room but this should have been thought about before i was offered the house. i will not be giving up my house and moving to a town, I just hope this works and people can still afford to feed their families! N" This is different, this is wrong ...... This is just councils squeezing money out of folk | |||
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"Some houses aren't under occupied and still have to pay just because the rules that children of opposite sex can share til the age of 10. I recently got a 3bedroom house in the village I have lived in for my whole life, there is only 3 of us living in the house (a bedroom each) but no smaller houses to swap to. I never put in for the house but was given it following the rules at the time but now i will have to pay the £13 a week. My children could share a room but this should have been thought about before i was offered the house. i will not be giving up my house and moving to a town, I just hope this works and people can still afford to feed their families! N This is different, this is wrong ...... This is just councils squeezing money out of folk "Yeah money alot of folk have NOT got!!! | |||
"My council introduce "bedroom tax" this year and its going to a nightmare. They want those underoccupying council homes to pay more money on bedrooms not used. Now this sounds ok on paper but they also admitted they dont have enough homes for those wishing to move to smaller properties. so what are those to do. To me , its just trying to squeeze more money out of those already struggling . its going down like a lead balloon. "Many are offering to move to smaller property round here. If nothing suitable is available then tell them you are not going to pay as they are failing to provide a suitable alternative. Alternatively take in a lodger as you don't have to pay tax in a large part of what they pay. | |||
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"My Daughter and her husband and 2 kids live in a 3 bedroomed house and are going to have to pay this tax. Why.. Because one is 7 and the other is 4 so the Council say they should share. They are also not of the same sex so the oldest wouldn't get her Princess room and the youngest wouldn't get his Spiderman room. "If they appealed that they would win, especially if they say the 7 yr old has started to show signs of puberty it would not have to be proved. | |||
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"As someone who could have bought her council property but didn't because I believe social housing should never have been sold off I may now be penalized for it. "Well buy it now as you have seen how they treat people who put them first | |||
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"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes."
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks... | |||
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" They want those underoccupying council homes to pay more money on bedrooms not used. " Thats not quite true... It will only affect those in receipt of housing benefit... If you live alone in a 2/3 bedroom house and pay your own rent...it wont make any difference to you... | |||
"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes.
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks..."Housing associations are the worst affected as they have different allocations policies and tend to give kids that can share their own room so a person under the council who is entitled to a 2 bed will often get a 3 bed with the council..I reckon with the bedroom tax that their will be a rise in pregencies.. call me a cynic but who knows.. | |||
" They want those underoccupying council homes to pay more money on bedrooms not used. Thats not quite true... It will only affect those in receipt of housing benefit... If you live alone in a 2/3 bedroom house and pay your own rent...it wont make any difference to you..." that's what my council says, if you pay full rent they wont charge you for extra bedrooms they just pay less housing benifit to those claiming, it also don't effect people over working age | |||
"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes.
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks...
Housing associations are the worst affected as they have different allocations policies and tend to give kids that can share their own room so a person under the council who is entitled to a 2 bed will often get a 3 bed with the council..I reckon with the bedroom tax that their will be a rise in pregencies.. call me a cynic but who knows.."surely it would be cheaper to pay the £20 a week bedroom tax than have another kid? | |||
"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes.
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks...
Housing associations are the worst affected as they have different allocations policies and tend to give kids that can share their own room so a person under the council who is entitled to a 2 bed will often get a 3 bed with the council..I reckon with the bedroom tax that their will be a rise in pregencies.. call me a cynic but who knows.."there not their | |||
"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes.
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks...
Housing associations are the worst affected as they have different allocations policies and tend to give kids that can share their own room so a person under the council who is entitled to a 2 bed will often get a 3 bed with the council..I reckon with the bedroom tax that their will be a rise in pregencies.. call me a cynic but who knows..
surely it would be cheaper to pay the £20 a week bedroom tax than have another kid?"You would think... but I have seen it all when it comes to housing... | |||
"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes.
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks...
Housing associations are the worst affected as they have different allocations policies and tend to give kids that can share their own room so a person under the council who is entitled to a 2 bed will often get a 3 bed with the council..I reckon with the bedroom tax that their will be a rise in pregencies.. call me a cynic but who knows.."It is a bit cynical, as children of opposite sex only get own room if 12yrs and over.... But I know what you mean and sooooo hope it doesnt happen.... | |||
" it also don't effect people over working age" Not sure what that means.....Pensioners? | |||
It just a new calculation on housing benefit.... | |||
" it also don't effect people over working age Not sure what that means.....Pensioners?" yes I do home care and I look after a lot of old people who live in 3/4 bedroomed houses but only use one room, most of them have their bed in the living room and havnt even been up their stairs in years let alone used a bed room but the bedroom tax will not affect then | |||
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"please stop callig it a tax, its not, its a reduction in benefits." but that's what its called lol the council have named it the bedroom tax | |||
"There is a huge difference in rent though, I do not think it fair on the tax payer paying £1000 a week per family housing benefit for a house in London where as the bill is only £65 a week housing benefit for a family in other areas of the UK." I've just been involved in a very lengthy argument about housing benefits in another thread. Suffice to say that I was complaining about those of us who've worked for years, paid into the system, gone in for buying our own homes and are now having to claim benefits because we've been made redundant. Councils/DWP are paying massive rents for some and a pittance towards mortgage interest for others. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect the 'system' to pay ALL of unemployed people's mortgages, that would be like saying that taxpayers should buy homes for us, but when they are paying as much as several £100s per month in rent for someone and then less than £20 a week towards someone's interest payments, I feel the system is all wrong. After all, the interest payment is fundamentally the same as paying rent, ie, it doesn't actually mean that the property is ever yours, it's paying back the capital loan that does. | |||
"please stop callig it a tax, its not, its a reduction in benefits." We didnt make up its name.... | |||
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"It doesn't affect me, so haven't looked into it!" nor me but due to the nature of my job a lot of people I work with was worried about it so I went to the council to get all the info for them It only affects people of working age on housing benefit, if your a OAP or pay full rent you wont feel any difference at all | |||
"Glasgow has just announced plans to buy 300 one bedroom flats on the open market to try to satisfy demand for smaller homes.
Our local housing association had done a great job of moving people...seen nothing but removal vans the past 3 weeks...
Housing associations are the worst affected as they have different allocations policies and tend to give kids that can share their own room so a person under the council who is entitled to a 2 bed will often get a 3 bed with the council..I reckon with the bedroom tax that their will be a rise in pregencies.. call me a cynic but who knows..
It is a bit cynical, as children of opposite sex only get own room if 12yrs and over....
But I know what you mean and sooooo hope it doesnt happen.... "No HA have their own allocation policy for example if you are in a parlour type house the council will count that as a sleeping space however HA don't.. | |||
"iv a 2bewd flat , 1 room is my boys when he stay most weekends ,told me i shud down grade to a 1 bed , i ask were the hell do i sleep my boy at weekends and they said i can give him my bed and i can sleep on the sofa or vice verer or i can get a put up bed for him ,i said like fuck am i doing either , was told its because he dont live with me full time ,so its classed as room not in use , cheeky barsteads " Its not down to the councils its down to the Housing act 1996... | |||
" No HA have their own allocation policy for example if you are in a parlour type house the council will count that as a sleeping space however HA don't.." Parlour type house? | |||
" No HA have their own allocation policy for example if you are in a parlour type house the council will count that as a sleeping space however HA don't.. Parlour type house?" Those with a dining room and living room.. Council will consider one of those rooms a sleeping space where HA don't... | |||
" No HA have their own allocation policy for example if you are in a parlour type house the council will count that as a sleeping space however HA don't.. Parlour type house?" I think it means a house with a back room, some houses have like two downstairs room that they used to call a parlour, typically older houses | |||
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"just reading documentation from my council and nowhere does it say tax? says welfare reform update, non dependant reduction, under occupancy reduction, Bolton at Home who own the social houising in bolton are not calling it a tax, the only people calling it a tax are the ones who disagree with it." I agree with it and I still call it bedroom tax! Why? Because everywhere I see it, it says "Bedroom Tax"
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"It will only affect people on housing benefit, but there is a hope for people under occupying - there are discretionary top up payments available if you get in early and request them from your LA with good reason. EG 2 children opposite sex coming up to the age where they can no longer share - you can apply as moving to move again within a short period of time is pointless. Also, where you are on the list and making an effort to downsize, the discretionary top up should be paid, as long as you can prove you are doing what you can to enable a move (so phone the LA/HA weekly to check your position on the queue) There were a few other examples I can't remember too... but there is money there - so basically, if you think you might have a case for discretionary top ups, then get it in writing, and ask!" Discretionary housing payment is a very limited pot, and not just to cover those affected by the bedroom tax. It's another way they've found to get us all to squabble over the crumbs. | |||
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