Social housing tenants benefit trial starts (From Oxford Mail)

How many will be late with their rent now?

Hmmm... while I'm sure some social housing tenants are very capable of paying their rent honestly and promptly, I do worry that the minority will spend their cash payments on other, less important things. A dangerous trial.

And the benefit of this scheme would be...?

Lady Penelopee wrote:
And the benefit of this scheme would be...?

We the Tax payers will have to pay twice. On the plus side though, the pubs and clubs will see a nice increase in turnover !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!

My HB/CTB was filled out by the Barclays’ Customer Service branch on Cornmarket. I cannot write and have severe disabilities, and they were helpful. I then went to the OCHA offices on St Aldate. I returned the postage envelope to save the Council money, and gave the required paperwork, to make sure all was correct. I am grateful to both Barclays and OCHA for their understanding and assistance.

camden wrote:

Lady Penelopee wrote:
And the benefit of this scheme would be...?

We the Tax payers will have to pay twice. On the plus side though, the pubs and clubs will see a nice increase in turnover !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!

This is a discriminatory statement. Being disabled is horrible, but Disablism is worse. I am chronically disabled with Movement Disabilities. I do not drink. The only drugs I take are my 32 pills a day, and I have become worse. I worked hard until this happened.

Cheats deserve to be punished to the fullest extent possible, but please do not make fun of me and my voice, my tremors, my vision and excruciating pain, because I’m not a cheat.

gans shakes wrote:

camden wrote:

Lady Penelopee wrote:
And the benefit of this scheme would be...?

We the Tax payers will have to pay twice. On the plus side though, the pubs and clubs will see a nice increase in turnover !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


!!!!!!!!!

This is a discriminatory statement. Being disabled is horrible, but Disablism is worse. I am chronically disabled with Movement Disabilities. I do not drink. The only drugs I take are my 32 pills a day, and I have become worse. I worked hard until this happened.

Cheats deserve to be punished to the fullest extent possible, but please do not make fun of me and my voice, my tremors, my vision and excruciating pain, because I’m not a cheat.

I don't see anyone making fun of you?

What I do see are some concerned people who worry that feckless and ill-equipped benefits claimants will take the money they are given to pay rent and council tax, and spend it on cigarettes, alcohol and other items for which it was not intended, and then will require further taxpayers money to enforce rent arrears, provide advice and provide alternative accommodation etc.

I feel strongly that this trial could go wrong, because unlike you, a minority of people ARE cheats or are simply too stupid to manage their money.

gans shakes - I don't see Lady Penelope pointing the finger at any disabled people receiving benefits and I don't see any reference to disabled people in the story. Disability is indeed a terrible thing to have to live with and people such as yourself deserve all the help they can get but the concern is that the majority of people are probably not disabled and paying the rent will come a poor second to buying food/fags/sky or whatever. Also, surely it would be easier and more cost effective for the council to continue paying whatever the total payout is to the housing association rather than sorting hundreds of individual payments. Seems like change for the sake of it to me but time will tell.

gans shakes wrote:

camden wrote:

Lady Penelopee wrote: And the benefit of this scheme would be...?

We the Tax payers will have to pay twice. On the plus side though, the pubs and clubs will see a nice increase in turnover !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

This is a discriminatory statement. Being disabled is horrible, but Disablism is worse. I am chronically disabled with Movement Disabilities. I do not drink. The only drugs I take are my 32 pills a day, and I have become worse. I worked hard until this happened. Cheats deserve to be punished to the fullest extent possible, but please do not make fun of me and my voice, my tremors, my vision and excruciating pain, because I’m not a cheat.

No one is pointing the finger at genuine disabled people whatsoever.

I know of two people getting housing and CT benefit who are wholly undeserving and don't NEED it, who I am quite sure will also mis-use this trial.

(and yes, I have reported one of them who lives with their high earning partner who they conveniently claim lives elsewhere...)

Just to add to the dicussion this is part of the Government's plans to introduce housing payments into what is described as Universal Credit and which comes in I think next year.
Social Housing tennants who are now receiving Housing Benefit will receive this as part of CU to pay to the landlord. What I understand will happen is that if they have one bedroom spare then the housing element will be reduced by a set percentage and a further percentage for a second empty bedroom etc. The tennant will have to meet the short fall from the rest of their UC. The aim is to get people from larger properties into smaller ones. Problem is there is already a shortage of one bedded properties to meet current demand.
Recipe for another disaster.

Or people with a spare room can take in a lodger / housemate to make up the shortfall, like people have to do in the private rented sector (i.e. most rented homes that aren't families have one person per bedroom)? I don't know the legality of lodgers and similar for social housing tenants, but it seems like a sensible idea.

I understand that the proposal is based on approved occupants and that sub letting is not permitted.

Ah, thanks Kenner. That's a shame - I'm sure lots of people would be happy to rent a room in shared house.

Lady Penelopee wrote:

gans shakes wrote:

camden wrote:

Lady Penelopee wrote: And the benefit of this scheme would be...?

We the Tax payers will have to pay twice. On the plus side though, the pubs and clubs will see a nice increase in turnover !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

This is a discriminatory statement. Being disabled is horrible, but Disablism is worse. I am chronically disabled with Movement Disabilities. I do not drink. The only drugs I take are my 32 pills a day, and I have become worse. I worked hard until this happened. Cheats deserve to be punished to the fullest extent possible, but please do not make fun of me and my voice, my tremors, my vision and excruciating pain, because I’m not a cheat.

No one is pointing the finger at genuine disabled people whatsoever.

I know of two people getting housing and CT benefit who are wholly undeserving and don't NEED it, who I am quite sure will also mis-use this trial.

(and yes, I have reported one of them who lives with their high earning partner who they conveniently claim lives elsewhere...)

"Cheats deserve to be punished to the fullest extent possible, but please do not make fun of me and my voice, my tremors, my vision and excruciating pain, because I’m not a cheat."

Lady Penelopee, camden, and Major Rhode-Werks:

I owe you all an apology. It is so difficult when I go out in my mobility scooter, with children laughing at me and I was blocked trying to leave Clarendon Centre onto Cornmarket and a man spat on me, calling me ’Scrounger Scum’.

I am 45, lost my fiancée, friends, family, and a sense of hope. On 27 November 2007, I began an almost 5-year-descent, when my larygnx went paralysed and went into a series of neurodegenerative disorders that almost destroyed my hope in life. It is hard asking for help. It is frightening when I had to start from scratch, unable to do things for myself, and seeing the stares and hearing the whispers. It makes a man lose all sense of pride while fearing that some outsourced organisation has one goal: to eliminate every working-age disabled person off of Benefits. I go without meals so I was able to save for an awning to be installed, when the cost was dropped on offer by two-thirds. It is in my back garden, and I fear it is rusting because I can’t get it installed.

I am sorry about doing the very thing I have been through: tarring you with the same brush. Please accept the apology from a humble man with Generalised Dystonia-Parkinsonis
m that counts his two cats as his friends.

Kenner wrote:
Just to add to the dicussion this is part of the Government's plans to introduce housing payments into what is described as Universal Credit and which comes in I think next year.
Social Housing tennants who are now receiving Housing Benefit will receive this as part of CU to pay to the landlord. What I understand will happen is that if they have one bedroom spare then the housing element will be reduced by a set percentage and a further percentage for a second empty bedroom etc. The tennant will have to meet the short fall from the rest of their UC. The aim is to get people from larger properties into smaller ones. Problem is there is already a shortage of one bedded properties to meet current demand.
Recipe for another disaster.

You are correct. It took three bids for my placement into an adapted one-bedroom Sheltered Tenancy. To many its just a bungalow, but to me it is a castle, and I am humbly grateful for it. For others that are severely disabled and waiting for an appropriate accommodation I sincerely hope (in vain, I fear) that the needs with one-bedrroms are met.

Gans shakes - I bet you'd still receive nil point on the ATOS test but then Stephen Hawking would too. A massive cull to pay for the greed of bankers who haven't lost a penny. We all know dole cheats but they are truly insignificant
compared to the almost legalised theft from our tax system by large companies and Jimmy Carr.