CUK Rant Bait

[Robinho]

Housing benefit is stupid really because the money just goes strait to the landlord. The more you throw at it the more they take.

People just need to live in smaller houses/rooms.

[The Spartan]

Housing benefit is stupid really because the money just goes strait to the landlord. The more you throw at it the more they take.

People just need to live in smaller houses/rooms.

Or live in areas that are less expensive perhaps? according to emptyhomes.co.uk there are at least 710,000 empty homes in the England alone

[Sysman]

Only 47". And I bet it's not plasma.

Amateurs.

Weekly outgoings include £60 on food, £22.50 on TV, £3.50 on their TV licence plus utility bills, which the pair say they receive no help with.

Is that £22.50 the repayments on the telly or for Sky?

It seems an outrageous amount for someone on a low income to me.

[Robinho]

Or live in areas that are less expensive perhaps? according to emptyhomes.co.uk there are at least 710,000 empty homes in the England alone

Or that. Although these areas are often cheap because there's no work there which kind of defeats the point.

[sasguru]

The benefits bill is not what busted Britain.
It was the vast amounts paid to bail out the too-big-to-fail financial system.
As such I would rather sort that out so it never can happen again as a priority.
Then we can discuss the benefits system.
There are people sitting in vast mansions in Cobham and Guildford who've in effect taken millions from the government. They annoy me more than some chav taking relative peanuts.

[Sysman]

With all this housing benefit floating about no wonder we had a BTL boom. If they stop paying it there will be a lot of landlords going under.

Yep. I looked into BTL-ing in the mid nineties and the rents for the flats I was looking at were entirely based on what the DSS would pay a single mother.

[doodab]

Or live in areas that are less expensive perhaps? according to emptyhomes.co.uk there are at least 710,000 empty homes in the England alone

This would work if the empty homes were where the jobs were. The reason rents are so high and hence unaffordable in some areas is because that's where the work is.

This is fundamentally a result of free markets being left to their own devices when government action is required to promote growth in the regions. Blaming the consequences of massive failures on the part of succesive governments on the people caught up in it, especially when many of them have moved to get work as politicians are keen to urge them to do, is ******* silly.

[Sysman]

After being in Zurich I now realise just how cheap food is back there, working people here can't afford to spend their money with abandon when it comes to food and if you like red meat you might as well sell a kidney to pay for it.

Get thyself signed up for the emails from Denner, Coop, Migros etc. and you will find good bargains in your inbox regularly. Often the offers are just for stuff like washing powder but some weeks there are good deals on meat.

I am told that Aldi do some good quality meats at a reasonable price.

Or nip across the border to Germany. Do observe the duty free limits and keep your receipts though, to avoid getting stung on import duty.

[Robinho]

This would work if the empty homes were where the jobs were. The reason rents are so high and hence unaffordable in some areas is because that's where the work is.

This is fundamentally a result of free markets being left to their own devices when government action is required to promote growth in the regions. Blaming the consequences of massive failures on the part of succesive governments on the people caught up in it, especially when many of them have moved to get work as politicians are keen to urge them to do, is ******* silly.

The free market was not left to its own devices. It was actively stoked by government monetary policies.

That's why we had a big housing boom, and that's why houses are now ridiculously overpriced. They have also not fallen in the crash as they should have done because el gov printed a load of money.

Also to add, promoting growth in the regions is futile. Regions "die" because they are no longer in competitive locations. However they will always serve some purpose as the prices of property etc will decline in these areas, meaning people will always live there and there will always be some business. They'll just be suited more to retirees etc.

[Sysman]

I am not an expert in these things as I make it a specialty to be utterly oblivious to things around me however, is there a reason why people who have no job and are on benefits could not be found something - anything - to do for the hours of 9-5.30 with an hour for lunch. Even if it is literally painting council fences light grey and then repainting them dark grey again. Anything which keeps them in the habbit of a working day - perhaps only one adult out of the two if they have kids or something. Part of their benefit could be linked to them doing this work to an appropriate standard.

That hour for lunch can be a bastard if you are on the poverty line. Yes you can make your own sarnies, but I tried that when I was a permie and it doesn't last.