Bedroom tax

spankingtexan said:
Please tell me you're the girl holding the sign with the green fist. :D
I think sceens like this are going to be common place while these scumbag Tory ******s reside at no 10.
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Unfortunately not.

As for protests, I would say they aren't exclusive. The biggest march I've ever seen was the Stop The War march when Tony Blair launched an illegal invasion against the will of millions.
 
bedroom tax song,

didn't know the government get food allowance of £200 a week now there something moan about taxes being spent on, should bloody feed them self s most are millionaires.

http://youtu.be/Bik9299kA0c
 
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They should have started with those who have 2+ rooms available to make it easier to get things moving. The mind boggles at why people call it a tax though, it isn't even their property?
 
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Biohazard said:
It's the equivalence, it's really a spending cut protest but inverting it to a 'tax' is how many feel about it.
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Still it isn't a tax, no one is being taxed and the cut is actually just readdressing an imbalance between the private and social sector regarding how benefit is assessed.

Benefit should be always based on need and while this readdressing is possibly flawed in its implementation, it is still addressing an inequality. It should also be pointed out that Social Housing rents are somewhat cheaper than their private counterparts in the first place, so they are still receiving an increased subsidy in their accommodation. The only different thing I would say was necessary was means testing social rents so that those in social housing on higher salaries/incomes pay the market rates, then perhaps that money could be used to subsidise those who really do need help in finding the £14 a week they will no longer receive from the taxpayer, whether they are in social or private accommodation.
 
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I never said it was? There is a problem when those sectors are comprised of different stock and demographics, this isn't just renting it's housing that it'll effect. It is trying to address a problem by ignoring a multitude of others and in some cases worsening them. The implementation is blunt and appears to be ideologically driven, and is about to cause significant harm and disruption to sections of our community that is ill equipped to deal with it. We've got councils and their umbrella executive publicly disowning it, while implementing measures that reclassify bedrooms. Housing associations have voiced serious concerns about arrears, and ultimately the cost of eviction and temporary accommodation would appear to in many cases outweigh the benefit of punishing people for poorly managed housing stock.
 
My old nan is going to be hit by this.

She has lived in the same 3 bed council house pretty much all of her life but now its just her and my aunt.

The thing is they have been on a waiting list for a smaller property for several years now but the council can't find one and now they're being punished.
They'd love to move out as its far too big for them and expensive to heat but they have nowhere to go!

Just doesn't seem like this policy has been thought out at all.
 
I'm really struggling with this one. On one hand I am 2 years into a very expensive mortgage on a house with 2 spare bedrooms. I have had to make sacrifices to pay for these rooms. I have also delayed having kids until I am confident I can afford it (wife now 4 months pregnant, probably delayed three years to get ourselves more settled financially). Why should anyone on benefits be able to avoid these difficult decisions?

On the other hand I think in reality this policy does not have the back-up required. Eg if a tenant decides he no longer needs his spare room, what will the council do to facilitate the move?

A private sector person would probably have to share a flat in their youth, so why should council tenants be any different? However, again this would have to be facilitated to make sure nobody ends up living with criminals etc.

I grew up in a council house, although not on housing benefit. If I had been on housing benefit my decision to move out would have been complicated by the knowledge that my parents would be £14pw worse off the minute I left. Difficult.
 
Biohazard said:
There is a problem when those sectors are comprised of different stock and demographics, this isn't just renting it's housing that it'll effect. It is trying to address a problem by ignoring a multitude of others and in some cases worsening them. The implementation is blunt and appears to be ideologically driven, and is about to cause significant harm and disruption to sections of our community that is ill equipped to deal with it. We've got councils and their umbrella executive publicly disowning it, while implementing measures that reclassify bedrooms. Housing associations have voiced serious concerns about arrears, and ultimately the cost of eviction and temporary accommodation would appear to in many cases outweigh the benefit of punishing people for poorly managed housing stock.
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I agree the implementation is flawed, however it is a bit rich make accusations of it being ideologically driven when much of the protest is also being ideologically driven and such claims do not do anything to help either side.

It seems that many political groups are taking advantage of others misfortune to give a soapbox to another agenda instead of actually offering constructive alternatives or helping those in need.

There is a Discretionary Housing Payments system being put in place so that Councils can give support to those in real need or cannot move and have lost benefit, yet nothing is said of this, many people don't even know about it, and it is incumbent, not only on the Govt and the Councils themselves to make sure that those who qualify get that help, but also on the Political Groups who are so willing tom take advantage of unpopular Welfare reforms.

Wales for example have also set aside money so that those in need can get help if they also qualify, I don't know whether the Scottish Govt has also...

However, it is a Welfare reform, it is not a tax and that rankles me a little, even if I don't agree with the imposition on the poorest in our communities and that there are better, fairer ways to deal with the issue.
 
big_white_dog84 said:
I grew up in a council house, although not on housing benefit. If I had been on housing benefit my decision to move out would have been complicated by the knowledge that my parents would be £14pw worse off the minute I left. Difficult.
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They would have been better off, because if you are of working age their benefit would have been reduced by your living there, even more than the reduction in benefit caused by your moving out.
 
big_white_dog84 said:
A private sector person would probably have to share a flat in their youth, so why should council tenants be any different? However, again this would have to be facilitated to make sure nobody ends up living with criminals etc.
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Council tenants often do end up in flat/house shares. There's no safeguard that the other people aren't criminals. Obviously it's a bit different if it's a family looking for somewhere to live.
 
Biohazard said:
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Scrap the Tax marches and demonstrations taking part this weekend all over Scotland, there are rallies for the CND to coincide.
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I can tell by looking that 95% of those people are living on benefits and in 3-4 bedroom houses with 2+ spare bedrooms.
 
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