I Don't Believe This Story For One Minute....

[trt]

They say they move around the airport, to not draw attention then tell or sell their story with photos.

And they cant manage on the pensions & benefits they receive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943251/Homeless-Heathrow-look-holiday-truth-middle-class-couple-living-airport-losing-500-000-home.html

[237SJ]

They don`t seem to have much sympathy from the comments underneath. Mind you, nobody gets sympathy from the comments on the Mail website. I don`t know why they don`t just rent somewhere - the could save £300 pm straight away on their furniture storage.

[Baldric]

///Neither can they rent in the private sector — where even a modest flat costs £800 a month — because, although they would be eligible for housing benefit if they already had a home, they cannot hope to get one without funds for a deposit and a month’s advance rent.///

[237SJ]

Well, there are places in the SW where you can rent a house for £500 pm so I don`t know where they get the £800 figure from. Maybe they are being too fussy.

[Gromit]

At 58 he took out a £170,00 mortgage.

That wasn't bad luck, that was crass stupidity.

[AlwaysConfused]

//Neither can they rent in the private sector — where even a modest flat costs £800 a month//
Yet they pay £400 per four weeks for a b&b (plus bus fares to get there)
They are being fussy. Snobs, martyrs. All or nothing. They could get a small bedsit or even a double room in a house for under £600 per month in that area.
They cannot be 'family people', else they would have been rescued by their nearest and dearest, so maybe they could relocate to somewhere cheaper to live?

If they cannot get any help with their housing costs, then there must be a reason.

[Gromit]

None of this makes any sense financilly, just a publicyry stunt imho.

// In 2006 they sold up — releasing equity of £190,000 — and downsized to a small £900-a-month rented flat. //

8 years rent at £900 = £87,000
They had £103,000 after their accommodation costs to live on for the next 8 years which is over £1000.
His earnings and benefits are nearly £1000 per month.

I am sure there are very many people lcoping on a lot less than £24K per year and they do not resort to squatting in Airports.

[LyndaB]

Well you have to hand it to them. Getting your faces splashed all over the press and the internet is a fantastic way to stay faceless and anonymous! My wotsit!

[AlwaysConfused]

at least there's not likely to be any cctv in an airport, Lynda :)

[boxtops]

The could pay less than £500 a month rent here in Dover.

[bednobs]

i can't believe his two daughters wouldn't save up and lend them the deposit for a flat

[Svejk]

Aww, donated.

[ladybirder]

They could save £400/month on hotels and £300/month storage if they rented in a decent area for £700/m. And there are plenty of nice placed in the UK you could get good property for that amount and for even less. They could ask their family in Canada to loan them the deposit and they could also renegotiate their loan and spread it over a longer period if necessary - not something I would usually recommend but in their situation it's worth considering.

[trt]

boxtops,

How long have you lived in Dover?

[-Talbot-]

They should have downgraded years ago when it all started to go Pete Tong.
But they were obviously too up themselves to go and live with the plebs.

No sympathy whatsoever.

[Gromit]

They must have been cery silly with their money for many years.

He was earning £80K a decade aho when he took his £170K mortgage. That mean't he was on £6,500 a month with a £900 monthly mortgage repayment. They should have been putting a huge dollop of their £80,000reducing their mortgage.

Yet it seems they didn't save anything for their retirement, did not have an adequate private pension

[Dizmo]

Heathrow is luxury compared to where most homeless people have to sleep.

[-Talbot-]

oooh fantastic..........a prompt to start the Monty Python sketch!

[ladybirder]

What were they hoping to gain by this article. Did they get paid? Are they hoping a wealthy sympathiser will offer to set them up and pay off their loan? They're not really very bright are they.
And they've blown their cover at Heathrow now ... they'll have to downgrade to Gatwick:-(

[Dizmo]

Talbot: I refuse to bite!

[Retrochic]

I would bet this all turns out to be some Social Experiment to see if people are more willing or less willing to give to 'respectable' people in need. The sums just don't add up. If they took the £300 storage costs and the £400 B&B costs they could rent somewhere.As for the Bank loan - they have no fixed abode -how would the bank find them if they stopped paying? Finall;y I really do not think any 'middle class' person would want thier faces spread all over the paper 'what would the neighbors think?'