Impact Of Housing Benefit Changes 'worse Than Feared'

[tomandlu]

From the Beeb...

Ministers say this is starting to happen but two housing associations have told BBC News that since the welfare change, they have large family homes lying empty because tenants cannot afford to move into them.

Hmm... there must be some way to make these rents affordable without a government subsidy, but I can't imagine what it could be...

[Bloo Loo]

From the Beeb...

Hmm... there must be some way to make these rents affordable without a government subsidy, but I can't imagine what it could be...

stumped as well.

[porca misèria]

I guess sharing is beneath the dignity of housing association tenants? Only for the taxpaying scum who fund them.

[Bloo Loo]

I guess sharing is beneath the dignity of housing association tenants? Only for the taxpaying scum who fund them.

nonsense, they are entitled to ensuite bathrooms.

[mikthe20]

two housing associations have told BBC News that since the welfare change, they have large family homes lying empty because tenants cannot afford to move into them.

We have perfectly good, three-bedroom homes that people are telling us they can't afford to live in”

"Must.....not.........reduce.........rents.......".

[interestrateripoff]

So what this story is saying is that demand for smaller properties is going to go up whilst larger one's remain empty?

[erat_forte]

From the Beeb...

Hmm... there must be some way to make these rents affordable without a government subsidy, but I can't imagine what it could be...

Well, perhaps they could come up with some kind of dodgy behind-the-scenes rigging of the market, perhaps they could roll out a "part rentership" scheme ("Help to rent") where the government rents half your house and your housing benefit claim pays for the other half. It would not be a "subsidy" and could be moved off balance sheet, perhaps they could set up a new bank to package and monetise the government's side of the deal and sell it on to pension funds for a nice short term profit? I'm sure those clever chaps in London will think of some way to save us all!

Edited July 1, 2013 by erat_forte

[tomandlu]

So what this story is saying is that demand for smaller properties is going to go up whilst larger one's remain empty?

Depends whether you mean 'demand' as in 'supply and demand' or 'demand' as understood by Joe Bloggs. People want larger properties; they just can't afford them.

[SarahBell]

"Ministers say this is starting to happen but two housing associations have told BBC News that since the welfare change, they have large family homes lying empty because tenants cannot afford to move into them."

So they're saying either EVERYONE is adequately housed or they have too many big houses that could be turned into well run shared accommodation.

It might mean they need to advertise to families in private rented sector that social housing isn't a million year wait anymore.

Edited July 1, 2013 by SarahBell

[thecrashingisles]

Ministers say this is starting to happen but two housing associations have told BBC News that since the welfare change, they have large family homes lying empty because tenants cannot afford to move into them.

Is it the large house they can't afford to pay for, or the salaries of the housing association management?

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

If no one can move into the larger homes because of HB cuts why don't they just lower the rents to reflect the current reality until people can move into them?

Or is there some expectation that landlords can just put any price they fancy on a property and have the State honour it? Surely not.

[Bloo Loo]

If no one can move into the larger homes because of HB cuts why don't they just lower the rents to reflect the current reality until people can move into them?

Or is there some expectation that landlords can just put any price they fancy on a property and have the State honour it? Surely not.

DOH!

[MongerOfDoom]

"We have perfectly good, three-bedroom homes that people are telling us they can't afford to live in, because of the bedroom tax," says managing director, Alan Rogers.

Presumably, people who work could afford that very easily indeed? Don't they have a waiting list for social housing in that part of the country?

[Tired of Waiting]

From the Beeb...

Hmm... there must be some way to make these rents affordable without a government subsidy, but I can't imagine what it could be...

+ 1

Last week Newsnight showed a clip where a woman told how she felt the day she got a house large enough to accommodate her family: "It was like Christmases all in one". But now that a grown up daughter has moved out she doesn't want to downsize. I'm not sure if she really can't see that the house will be as useful for the new family as it was for hers!

17 min 30 sec in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03674zp/Newsnight_27_06_2013/

Rationing is painful, of course, but the only way to avoid it is to allow more house building.

.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Tired of Waiting

[easy2012]

Presumably, people who work could afford that very easily indeed? Don't they have a waiting list for social housing in that part of the country?

I think those working 60 hours will be able to - until everyone else also working 60 hours..

[@contradevian]

So what this story is saying is that demand for smaller properties is going to go up whilst larger one's remain empty?

I think the problem is they can't let the smaller flats because due to inflation busting rent rises, in certain parts of the North social housing now costs more than private housing.

Of course the solution will be to knock down the empty houses rather than reduce rents in order to create more false scarcity in the housing market.

Which is what they are doing in my town. A 60's block of council flats is being demolished for Tesco.

We have profoundly evil captured rentier government in the form of LibLabCon" and I don't know what the solution is apart from some kind of deranged Mad Max solution and I don't look good with leather chaps or a mohican.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Secure Tenant

[winkie]

Hmm... there must be some way to make these rents affordable without a government subsidy, but I can't imagine what it could be...

A three bed house can be used to house young disadvantaged single people working on minimum wage, people who are not entitled to any benefits or housing benefits because they don't have children.....let them use it as a house/flat share....make it useful, work for itself.

[Bloo Loo]

A three bed house can be used to house young disadvantaged single people working on minimum wage, people who are not entitled to any benefits or housing benefits because they don't have children.....let them use it as a house/flat share....make it useful, work for itself.

good target for rape gangs too.

[winkie]

good target for rape gangs too.

......

[mfp123]

Coast and Country Housing, which owns more than 10,000 properties on Teesside, says it is struggling to rent out some properties.

"The numbers of empty homes we've got to let are increasing significantly," says Iain Sim, chief executive of Coast and Country.

Across the country in Merseyside, it is a similar story. Cobalt Housing, which owns nearly 6,000 mainly family homes in Liverpool, says the benefit change is putting "terrible pressure" on tenants.

"We have perfectly good, three-bedroom homes that people are telling us they can't afford to live in, because of the bedroom tax," says managing director, Alan Rogers.

the impact of a bedroom tax is that it is shock horror freeing up space.

the last quote is a classic.

[nnails]

Good . if they cant rent them . they will either have reduce the rent or sell them.

do they still get charged council tax if empty?

[Tired of Waiting]

Coast and Country Housing, which owns more than 10,000 properties on Teesside, (...)

It's a limited company. http://corporate.cch-online.org.uk/

"Not for profit", you understand, though I wonder if the directors' salaries are public knowledge.

(...) a similar story. Cobalt Housing, which owns nearly 6,000 mainly family homes in Liverpool (...)

Even less clear: http://www.cobalthousing.org.uk/about-us/

[Self Employed Youth]

Good . if they cant rent them . they will either have reduce the rent or sell them.

do they still get charged council tax if empty?

The rent is set by the government.

The bedroom tax is not a very good policy. In some areas, properties are hard to let, so now you have lots of empty 3 bedroom properties. Whilst in others, people are desperate for property, so people let individual rooms and have shared kitchens & bathrooms.

The hard to let properties will end up being demolished, then there will be a shortage of family housing in those area in due course.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, instead of new housing being built to meet demand, more and more will be forced to rent single rooms in tenements.

[Bloo Loo]

Coast and Country Housing, which owns more than 10,000 properties on Teesside, says it is struggling to rent out some properties.

"The numbers of empty homes we've got to let are increasing significantly," says Iain Sim, chief executive of Coast and Country.

Across the country in Merseyside, it is a similar story. Cobalt Housing, which owns nearly 6,000 mainly family homes in Liverpool, says the benefit change is putting "terrible pressure" on tenants.

"We have perfectly good, three-bedroom homes that people are telling us they can't afford to live in, because of the bedroom tax," says managing director, Alan Rogers.

the impact of a bedroom tax is that it is shock horror freeing up space.

the last quote is a classic.

Entitlement is strong in this post.

[Self Employed Youth]

A three bed house can be used to house young disadvantaged single people working on minimum wage, people who are not entitled to any benefits or housing benefits because they don't have children.....let them use it as a house/flat share....make it useful, work for itself.

Increasingly, single working people in social housing are becoming entitled to housing benefit as rent rises exceed wage inflation.

A single worker cannot always pay the rent on a social flat and increasingly requires state benefits to help pay his rent.

Social housing isn't exactly cheap.

With truly affordable housing, a single worker should easily be able to afford to rent a 3 bedroomed property without help from the state. But even our 'affordable' housing isn't affordable.