"bedroom Tax" - Why......

[ToraToraTora]

....has it picked up this annoying and innacurate name? It's not a tax is it?

[Mamyalynne]

I admire those who have done just that , for they have worked hard to get on the property ladder.

I have no grumbles on a personal level , I pay my rent and get on with it.

[naomi24]

Mikey, //as this is coming from a Government that has sacked most of the disabled people who used to work for Remploy//

You sure this government is wholly responsible?

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=14350

[Mamyalynne]

LB I am the same surrounded by folk of all different ages, love it here - lucky for me I chose a ground floor way back in the seventies, glad of that now.

[mikey4444]

naomi...never thought I would read a link to the Socialist Worker from you !

But you are right of course. Its disgraceful who ever does it. But the Tories are back in power, so the present blame must rest with them.

[ladybirder]

Mine was a new build and unfortunately all the GF flats were gone but if I get the chance I will move again to one with a garden within this building.

[Mamyalynne]

Good thinking :-)

[naomi24]

mikey, ha ha! Bit of a turnaround there, eh?

[ladybirder]

Bulls Eye Naomi!

[naomi24]

Ladybirder, //All these young men keep me young,//

I like that a lot. Not that you're old enough to be my mum, but it reminds me of something my mum said when I suggested she join a local club for seniors. "Why would I want to mix with all those old people?" She was 70. :o)

[annieigma]

I have struggled to buy my house, been more broke than you can imagine, but, i know council house tenants who have re decorated their homes, made them them into really nice places,been there many years, and suddenly, good old dave wants them out, as their children have fled the nest. My friend is an ambulance person, paid a poorish wage for the hours and trauma he suffers ( and i can assure you, dragging dead children from a wreck has life changing implications) and the council house is all they can afford. So, lets throw him out, put him and his wife into a rundown hovel, and give some undesireables his lovely home. There are two sides to all stories, and Mr. Cameron thinks all council tenants are the same as " Shameless".

[ladybirder]

Well I don't think of people as old until they get into their 80s nowadays so I agree with your mum. X

[sebhfhion]

annieigma no one is throwing anyone out. . Why do you say he will be 'moved' into a hovel? don't tenants have a choice? If your friend is an ambulance person he will be on at least £18,000 per annum and will not be receiving housing benefit so I can't really see the point of your post

[naomi24]

Ladybirder, I know teenagers who are old and a proverbial pain in the bottom, and 80 year olds who are young and a joy to be with. :o)

[emmie]

when this comes to your door, when they decide that all people who rent a place that is too big for them, watch out. I have heard that pensioners may well be on the hit list, so don't count yourselves immune from this, as to bedrooms, who wants to really live in a small one bed, where do you put your possessions, a lifetime of memories. no one wants to put up grandchildren, children on the sofa. not to mention a shortage of smaller properties, which the councils are aware of, as our council housing reps told us so.
The anomaly is this, rent a smaller property and they will pay the full housing benefit, even if it more than the property you are in. The catch is that there is a cap on housing benefit now, so your chance of finding a suitable smaller property that is actually affordable for you and for the council is slim, i am specifically talking about here, as i don't know about other councils, or out in the sticks.

[magsmay]

em10; people have had things too good for too long to remember how people used to manage in small houses . You have no room to put your memories? Oh dear: some of my generation grew up with 7 children in two up two down terrace housing. The farm cottage I'm in at the moment has two bedrooms and for 20 years, previously to me moving in, housed a family with four children! People who are getting a rent free house (or near as damn to) should be glad they are getting a roof put over their heads paid for by
Tax payers, and stop moaning that they have 'no space'.

[ummmm]

My Dad is one of 13 all brought up in a tiny two bedroom cottage.

[sebhfhion]

I live in a small cottage with only two bedrooms and my grandson LOVES to come and stay and sleep on the couch. He could bunk down in the second bedroom but its full of my Art stuff and he prefers to sleep on the couch. people really do expect to much for nothing and would be surprised to see how people in other countries have to cope with no help from the government.

[ummmm]

The younger generation will sign their council house tenancy knowing they will have to move out. That's fine when you're well informed.

This 'bedroom tax' (which isn't a tax) has been a bit rushed.

[whiskeryron]

Am I correct in thinking that it will NOT affect all council tenants but only those who are receiving housing benefit ?

WR

[factor-fiction]

Yes, WR- it's a reduction in housing benefit to those who receive HB but have more bedrooms than are deemed to be neccessary