Housing benefit to be scrapped for the under 25's

[tallybee]

The system does need overhaul, but the benefits, and those on full benefits, aren't the whole picture, just a part of a bigger problem IMO.

Housing costs rocketed with the whole buy-to-let boom that happened, rents became unaffordable for people on low-to-average wages so housing benefit topped it up. Which in turn helped keep the inflation of rent prices propped up, because it allows those high rents to be paid.

If wages (and housing costs) were at a level that mean people in full time work could actually afford housing, without help, we'd be in a better place. Being in work would be actually an attractive option to those who currently find they'd be worse off working.

 

[taylor197878]

i wonder how this will affect my daughter she is 16 and has her own flat its under blue traingle which help young people get flats and how to manage money and get jobs, amy has been looking for a job but there was nothng out there even in mcdonalds,

they do need to get more people into work i dont work myself i cant due to being ill i do get dla which helps out, but when i was 16 i worked full time and had amy i worked right up till i got really ill.


the amount off social money i get is alot i get more than some people get working full time its embaressing.

 

[isabelsmummy]

i think there has recently been some changes in people who are living in council houses larger than they require. My nana and grandad are in their 80s, my grandad is very ill and they live i na three bedroom house with the bathroom upstairs and he really struggles. They have had their names down to enter into sheltered hosuing for roughly three years now and NOTHING. The council is now charging them 20 pound a week for each empty room. So even though they want to move they now have to pay and extra forty pound a week rent. I know it doesnt sound much, but they are surviving on pensions.

I think the idea of charging for the spare rooms is actually a good one - but they need to take it on a case by case basis x

 

[Tasha]

i think there has recently been some changes in people who are living in council houses larger than they require. My nana and grandad are in their 80s, my grandad is very ill and they live i na three bedroom house with the bathroom upstairs and he really struggles. They have had their names down to enter into sheltered hosuing for roughly three years now and NOTHING. The council is now charging them 20 pound a week for each empty room. So even though they want to move they now have to pay and extra forty pound a week rent. I know it doesnt sound much, but they are surviving on pensions.

I think the idea of charging for the spare rooms is actually a good one - but they need to take it on a case by case basis x

That is awful. If they were refusing to move, I could understand it but they're not and it is out of their control if there is other property's avaliable for them to move into. I think that is a local council rule though, it hasnt been bought in here yet x

 

[Tasha]

isabelsmummy, I actually cant get over it. Have you thought about approaching their MP on behalf of them to see if they can help, in either getting them moved or getting the payment taken away?

 

[Emma&Freya]

Ive had to claim housing benefit.

I was in Uni and I was offered a job in Spain that I was going to take before finding out I was pregnant and finding out sister was ill.

Ive had to move out the family home as my sister could not deal with the fact that she couldnt have kids and I could

 

[isabelsmummy]

No I think they have pretty much accepted that thats the new rules and have their fingers crossed for somewhere new to open up pretty soon - I might actually suggest to them to question it because they probably havent even considered it.
I know my friend also had to move to a smaller home because she was rpivate renting a 3 bedroom house with her fiance and dd and her fiance left her and she had to go onto housing benefit and they wouldnt pay it for a private rented house that had more bedrooms than required.
My husband has gone bankrupt and I dont start my new job until september and we have no income coming in at all, we havent applied for any housing benefit because we live in a 3 bedroom house even though we have 2 children of opposite sex we wont qaulify for HB because our children are under 6 and therefore can share a bedroom. We dont want to move for the sake of a month or two when hubby should be back in work and then I will be working too.
I understand they need to take measures to save money and help people into work but I just feel like we are getting no support at all - we dont qualify for income support because im not a single mother and we applied for tax credits about 3/4 weeks ago and have heard nothing back - im lucky our parents are so supportive (although not exactly well off themselves!).
If they are going to go ahead with these plans maybe they should invest in building bigger council houses, like 6 bedrooms+ if they want children to live with parents until they reach 25 or earn enough to support themselves. Because at that age whos to say the children wont have children of their own and a partner who has to live in the parents house too? Maybe if their was larger houses available the scheme would be more workable?

 

[Sarahwoo]

But what about the people who own their own houses now? They don't all have six bedrooms houses! The point is that yes, someone might want to move in with their boyfriend and have a baby but they should wait until they can afford it rather than just go ahead and expect the state to pay for it.

 

[isabelsmummy]

I completely agree with you that people shouldnt plan for children unless they can afford it - but i mean accidents are going to happen. So do we tell oung woman who fall pregnant via failed contraception that they cant have a baby because they cant afford it? I honestly can not see a way out of the countries debt that doesnt affect someone negatively I just think these measures are hitting the most vulnerable of people. Not everyone on HB or any benefit for that matter is a lazy sponger, some just fall on hard times and need a couple of months of help

 

[Sarahwoo]

Yes there are accidents, but there are lots of planned pregnancies too. Maybe people would be a bit more careful if they couldn't fall back on the state?

I just think that benefits should be there for people who fall on bad times - and I think it would be better to properly support those people and encourage others to support each other / be more responsible.

I also think though that things like winter fuel payments for pensioners should be means tested - when I worked in banking I never heard one old person say oh thank goodness that's gone in I can put the heating on, they all said oh great, I'll start my Christmas shopping

 

[Harveysmum369]

I agree that the winter fuel payment should be means tested...all pensioners get that...so that includes Elton John,Paul McCartney..etc..x

 

[Tasha]

Me too. They say that means testing costs money, but if they did it alongside the pension credits then it would be no extra paper work, therefore no extra costs.

 

[Sarahwoo]

Exactly, it should just be for people on pension credit.

 

[kittycat18]

This is very stressful for me. I am 19, I was in full-time education (just finished and on a gap year now), I work part-time, my OH is in full-time education and he can NOT get a job. We rent a private house in NI which is £550 a month. We are struggling to get by and if they cut Housing Benefit then we will be on the streets. I can't go home with my daughter because I left as my mother was extremely controlling about what I was doing, where I was going etc. I have severe PND and she forced me to go back to college when my LO was 6 weeks old or I was told I had to move out. I was in a worse off position now.

Where is my family going to live if this happens?

 

[DanielleM]

Maybe they need to look at the housing benefit they pay to asylum seekers before looking at the next generation of the country.

 

[Sarahwoo]

Kittycat18 don't worry - it won't come in while we have a coalition government.

 

[Tasha]

Maybe they need to look at the housing benefit they pay to asylum seekers before looking at the next generation of the country.

But genuine asylum seekers need shelter from the things they are escaping from. My Mum's friend and her family had to leave behind their house, their belongings, their friends and their family because her Dad was a politcian and threats were made on all of their lives. I think they are every bit as deserving of help.

 

[Tasha]

Kittycat18 don't worry - it won't come in while we have a coalition government.

And after the coalition, it is likely that Labour will get back in and they wouldnt bring this in.

 

[kittycat18]

Kittycat18 don't worry - it won't come in while we have a coalition government.

That's what I said to my mum. We will only be on benefits for another year when we both start university so HOPEFULLY nothing happens this year

 

[Mamoosca]

The whole system is completely screwed. They expect people to get jobs when a lot of jobs available at the moment won't pay the bills but then you aren't entitled to much help anymore because you have a job.

Me and my OH got together 6 years ago at age 19 / 20, since then i've been made redundant twice and OH has been made redundant twice both from jobs that paid bare miniumum. It's unfair to penalise under 25's who work hard for a living who may then fall on hard times.