I was bloody furious in the newsagents today when I saw the headline screaming from the Daily Express.  If you have not read the story and have a dodgy heart or are of a nervous disposition, please sit down.  NEARLY two-thirds of council housing tenants get all their rent paid by the taxpayer….yes that’s right.  Just where is your incentive in life to work if you get everything provided for you?  This is a National Scandal in times of economic deprivation and mass economic debt.

There will be riots on the streets soon as the working population see their take home income shrink, whilst seeing others in society, enjoy a good standard of living, relatively stress free, (financially), as they get housing, unemployment and other welfare benefits lavished upon them.

Incentivising Council House tenants to buy their houses was a jewel in the crown policy for the Thatcher Governments….an election winning policy.  Fast Forward to today and Council House Tenants are today acting as a drain on the national resources.  How times change.  Thatcher must be horrified.

So this MASSIVE STATE subsidy – mostly to households where no one has a job – is forcing hard-working middle-income families to dip their hands in their pocket to pay a total of £10billion a year.  That is the equivalent of £476 every year for every privately-owned home in Britain.  How do you feel paying £476 of your money to this cause?

This is all part of Labour’s legacy — the creation of a welfare dependent society.  A society that can survive on benefits and have no need to work.  That is morally reprehensible.

The Express reports that average incomes of council tenants have dropped like a stone since the early 1980s when the majority of people living in local authority accommodation were in low-income jobs and paid their own rent.  Between 1981 and 2006, the proportion of social housing tenants in full-time employment fell from 67 per cent to 34 per cent. 

Labours benefits policy has destroyed incentives to work for many families living in deprived areas.  Why work?  Labour has left people dependent on handouts and public housing. Around five million households are now living in social housing, with about half in council housing and the rest in housing association managed properties.  In most cases, housing benefit accounts for up to 90 per cent of rent with any shortfall made up by other benefits.

To cap this all off, Social rents are due to be slashed next month.  This is because they are linked to the Retail Price Index measure of inflation. The RPI has been negative in recent months, and latest figures show it at – 1.4 per%.  Housing associations are now readying for a rent cut of around 2%.   What does this mean in effect?  Well, under the formula, social housing rents are expected to be cut by an average of £1.36 a week in September for the coming year.  The average housing benefit payment is about £76 a week to each household, equivalent to a £4,000 annual charge on the taxpayer for each household in social housing.  Wowsers!

Boy….are tax payers being taken for a ride?  Are you happy paying this money out from your earnings?

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

3 Responses

• Nils Boray

  I’m starting to think that you’re just trolling for daft replies from Labour here TB because this is just daft.

  Surely you can do better than recycle a headline from the Express – I mean “I was bloody furious in the newsagents …” – it’s like Mr Angry or someone off Kenny Everett’s old show.

  Just assuming for a moment that the Express’s figures are accurate (and I’m always sceptical about press figures – especially the Express & the Mail), does it occur to you that many people in council houses have bought their properties – (and yes I know – Thanks Mrs T !) – leaving those with least money, and most likely to fall into a position where they are unable to pay their rent in the remaining homes ? So it’s likely there will be a higher proportion there than in the private rented sector.

  I was in the unfortunate position in the late 80’s of having effectively no income for 12 months and being dependent on my partner, who due to an administrative cock-up ended up unemployed for 12 weeks – during which time we were very grateful to have our rent paid by benefits. Our Landlord was pretty pleased as well actually. Again Thanks Mrs Thatcher – for it was her Government that did this sensible thing.

  SO if you’re asking how do I feel about paying £9.15 a week to help people who are experiencing more difficulty than I am, out of my £77,000 per annum pay packet, then I feel OK. Actually more than OK – I feel very proud to be able to do this, and to live in a country which protects people in vulnerable situations, and makes sure that they have a roof over their head.

  I grew up in a council house by the way.

• grassroots

  Hey Nils. Firstly, thank for your replies. I value your contribution. You always have sound advice and insight.

  Being compared to a character from Kenny Everett is a first for me….but I get your drift….I remember Kenny Everett well…preferred his character Sid Snot.

  Certainly was not trawling for Labour anger. FYI, like you, I grew up in a council house. Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, having to work to be successful has been a great value, because I certainly did not have it all on a plate from an early age. Hence I have my parents to thank for their efforts. They, like many others were persuaded to buy their council house. And. despite the recession, this has been a sound investment for them, given purchase price v today’s value. I have also seen my father be out of work for a long period of time and watched how it eated at him and how he did everything he could to find work and the lengths he went to….and was successful. So I am not your average Etonian / Oxbridge set Conservative.

  I agree, we need to help vulnerable people. But I am also worried about the huge debt stockpiling up on us and our children. We need to incentivise and create employment. I am worried that those in work will have an intolerable burden, paying for the massive expenditure we are now seeing. On this site I regularly call for tax cuts….even now…because past history shows an increase in exchequer revenue…even in recessions. This creates the conditions for investment, risk taking and new business set up, (when the banks are lending as well). But this is a message not in vogue. raising taxes is the talk of the town….and look what happens with the £150,000 50% rate and earners either looking to relocate their money, or move aborad, or use accountants to find loopholes, hence projects show this could be a negative tax raiser!

  What I do see canvassing, as I spend a lot of time doing, is that there is a bedrock of people happier not to work and to claim benefits. That is not in your or my mentality…or a large proportion of people in the population. We have to incentivise those who are not in work, to do all they can to get into work. The state has a role to pay, as well as the individuals.

  Nils, again, I love your contributions on this site. Keep it up. I will try to be less Kenny Everett!

• john Laity

  It was “All done in the best PAH-SIBBLE taste!”

  We already have a benefits culture, in the main created by a Spin Culture of announcing big numbers!

  When asked what they will do to improve waiting lists, we are invariably greeted with a huge £ figures. The answer to the credit crunch was to spend £ billions. The answer to unemployment is to spend more on Modern Apprenticeship and Training…Oh how I can’t what until June 2010 to show how bored I am with it all!

  I guarantee that if you think of an issue, then the Labour party has a vast spending solution to prevent you from ever understanding WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING TO BE DONE.

  It is “All done with a huge amount of impressive £ notes!”

  Social Housing and Poverty in the UK is a serious and REAL problem. Our communities are failing and there are areas of the UK where almost three generations are out of work. Young people in these areas have no prospects and no aspirations. Having watched there own parents struggle uncomfortably on benefits for over a decade, they can turn to crime or drugs or vandalism …Each is something to do, to alleviate the complete lack of hope!

  This problem isn’t a matter of not enough social housing or places on the new deal. Nor will extra places on Modern Apprenticeships solve things. Communities need localised investment to create employment opportunities and to improve the community.

  The template for success already exists! http://www.princes-foundation.org

  The foundation for the built environment shows that you can create places that people are proud to live in:

  - Communities where you will help your neighbor and where you will have things to do.
  - Communities where people can live and work with respect for others and the environment in which they live.

  Simply starting such projects creates jobs! They also create a low crime environment that attract business and commerce, which equals more jobs and less need for a benefits culture based on social housing.

  What this article really shows is that 60% of Council Tenants are suck in a poverty trap of ALL OUR making!

  It is far more expensive to fund anti-crime, anti-social behavior and benefits, than it is to transform communities in the right way!

  However, such projects take time…

  …which is not good when you are looking for headlines in the press.

  01 Engender Social Interaction
  02 Make Places
  03 Allow Movement Logically & Legibly
  04 Sustain Land Value
  05 Design Using Natural Harmonics
  06 Build Beautifully

  ————————————————————-
  Foot note:

  HOW COOL TO BE COMPARED TO KENNY EVERETT !

  http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4948/hingebracket.jpg

  http://www.kennyeverett.co.uk/

  Lets face it:

  “Round ‘em up, put ‘em in a field, and BOMB THE BASTARDS!”

  …covers a multitude of evils!

  If we were all a little more like Kenny Everett and Billy Connelly, the world would be “Tickety Boo!”

Leave a Reply