Ukip! Ukip! Ukip!

[vetran]

None of the above. I'm talking about long term commitments like 2 kids with a family sized grocery bill, rent or mortgage on a family house and associated utility bills, not luxuries that can easily be pared back.

£2k before tax wouldn't cover my rent for example, and I couldn't move to a smaller house as we'd not have enough space (we barely fit in this one) so the only alternative is leaving the area (and moving a long way out) which with rental contracts or needing to sell a house has the sort of lead time that means one could easily go under in the meantime. For a lot of people it would mean finding a new job. For me it would mean changing hospital and doctors. And then there are utility bills, groceries, car running costs and so on on top of that.

Bear in mind that as I am shuffling off soon and my family will be losing my income I am having to deal with this right now so I have some idea what I am talking about. £2k a month might be plenty to someone footloose and fancy free but it's only a smidge more than minimum wage on a 40 hour week and when you have a family and 2 kids it isn't going to go very far.

Minimum wage (£6.31) on 40 hour week, 48 weeks a year = £12,115.

We did 10 years ago live on that (£12K) with 2 kids. It was hard but doable.

we could live quite well on twice that now. This is in the south east with 3 kids. We do have a smaller mortgage than many's rental cost though.

Friends of mine do live on less with bigger families. But they are eligible for council houses or housing association.

Is there no government help for you considering your situation. I would think its worth investigating the last thing you need is money worries.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Nazism was a direct consequence of external control of post WW1 Germany.

That, above all else, should be the lesson but which is always ignored.

Responsibility for that whole horrible episode lies, arguably, at our own feet (well... not mine. I don't buy into all of this 'us' stuff).

[SpontaneousOrder]

BBC News - One third of Britons 'admit being racially prejudiced'

Oh look.

I would guess, with a high degree of confidence, that what they're admitting to is much more likely to be cultural prejudice, rather than racial prejudice. Whether they realise it or not.
Nothing wrong with prejudice in moderation. It's what keeps us alive.

[DimPrawn]

Indeed, it wouldn't even pay the rent.

5 bedroom flat to rent in One Hyde Park, London SW1, SW1X

For a day.

[SpontaneousOrder]

£2000/month is more a spoon-edge.

2k a month is an awful lot. I don't know many people, proportionally, that earn anywhere near that much.

[doodab]

Minimum wage (£6.31) on 40 hour week, 48 weeks a year = £12,115.

We did 10 years ago live on that (£12K) with 2 kids. It was hard but doable.

we could live quite well on twice that now. This is in the south east with 3 kids. We do have a smaller mortgage than many's rental cost though.

Friends of mine do live on less with bigger families. But they are eligible for council houses or housing association.

Housing has got a lot more expensive for those who didn't get in at the right time. That's the big problem facing London & the SE at the moment IMO, it's completely out of whack and that drives wages up as firms need to pay more to attract people, which means more people want to come here, which causes further escalation in the cost of housing. The bubble needs pricking, that's for sure.

Is there no government help for you considering your situation. I would think its worth investigating the last thing you need is money worries.

I was more arguing the point than anything else, we're more than OK while I'm alive and working as I can still generate a reasonable income and I qualify for a small amount of non means tested benefits.

Long term there won't be any help from the benefits system because ms doodab owns a couple of BTL properties that puts her well over the accumulated wealth threshold. She would basically have to sell those and live off the equity until it was gone before they will give her anything.

[DimPrawn]

Housing has got a lot more expensive for those who didn't get in at the right time. That's the big problem facing London & the SE at the moment IMO, it's completely out of whack and that drives wages up as firms need to pay more to attract people, which means more people want to come here, which causes further escalation in the cost of housing. The bubble needs pricking, that's for sure.



I was more arguing the point than anything else, we're more than OK while I'm alive and working as I can still generate a reasonable income and I qualify for a small amount of non means tested benefits.

Long term there won't be any help from the benefits system because ms doodab owns a couple of BTL properties that puts her well over the accumulated wealth threshold. She would basically have to sell those and live off the equity until it was gone before they will give her anything.

Disgusting, she will have to sell her BTL portfolio, villa in Spain, her new Range Rover and her collection of vintage furs before the govt will step in.

Vote UKIP! and put an end to this madness.

[doodab]

Disgusting, she will have to sell her BTL portfolio, villa in Spain, her new Range Rover and her collection of vintage furs before the govt will step in.

Vote UKIP! and put an end to this madness.

I doubt UKIP are going to extend housing benefit to cover people's BTL mortgages.

On a serious note if she didn't have the BTLs the combination of HB and whatever unemployment benefits would mean we would be better off. Obviously HB wouldn't be paid if we owned our house. Makes you wonder why people bother saving up and buying a house really doesn't it....

[craig1]

I thought it'd be useful to put this link here for people to see before it gets purged from Google's caches. The Grand High Poohbah UKIPpers have been deleting these policy documents from UKIPpery websites all over the country. Probably had the PR cleaners in recommending that they get rid of their dirty laundry from public view if they want to attract more people for the proper elections next year. Looks like they didn't do that thorough a job at clearing the evidence away first time round.

Section 3 was the bit that was most interesting.

[lilelvis2000]

indeed

Blackburn, England: Lancashire City Salary, Average Salaries | PayScale United Kingdom

Check average C salary in Blackburn, Lancashire | C salary information in Blackburn, Lancashire on totaljobs.com.

Interesting figures..though not entirely sure what those are based on.

Anyone would think 'hey wow, be worth living there' until you actually do and discover the place is a dump. Which is why I don't live there anymore.

Besides, DA declared me to be 'wealthy' - I'm no where near that. Mind you I still have those RMG shares.