Housing Association

[Linny1989]

If u have a spare room u have to pay extra for that room x

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[redbear]

My friend is in a private rented three bed with her and her baby, her mum and dad own the house and rent her it but they told her they where going to cut her housing benefit so her mum and dad are now making a bedroom an on-suite or walk in wardrobe... so stupid when she isn't taking up a house anyone else would be in because her mum and dad wouldn't rent to dss if it wasn't her!

 

[Linny1989]

Yea its silly but I think.u only have to pay the extra if ur on housing benefit

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[redbear]

Just messaged her it doesnt apply to private tenants... silly mare she is! x

 

[Jaxx01]

It applies to anyone receiving housing benefit. I rent privately but get housing benefit and it applies to me xx

 

[redbear]

ah well looks like she Will have to have a new wardrobe then i doubt there even going to go out and check. my mum and dad Will be putting a door in one of there properties bedroom too to make it one bed thank god for stud walls lol x

 

[redbear]

Ive just looked and in my area it is not applicable to private tennants because they already get 'bedroom tax' so to speak.

Local housing allowance (LHA) rates

We use LHA rates in our housing benefit calculations for tenants renting from a private landlord.
They represent the maximum amount of benefit we can pay.
The LHA rate we use to calculate your benefit isn't necessarily the same as the number of bedrooms in your home. You need to calculate how many bedrooms the government says your household needs to identify the LHA rate you're entitled to.


Basically if you apply for housing benifit to go private they look how many people there are and say your entitled to x amount., its then up to you to find a house for that price and if it has more bedrooms but is in that price range thats fine, if its cheaper they will only pay the amount of rent it is, and if its more expencive then they expect you to find the rest yourself. my friend has called them up i would call yours too and check. i didnt think it made scence because landlords will just change the tennancy agreement to say its a smaller house (made open plan or whatever) to get the same rent. xx

 

[KirstyL]

Kirsty if you don't mind me asking, how are you eligible for 3 bedrooms if you've got two girls? Xx

Sorry, lol I meant I've got a 12 year old girl and 18 month old boy,xx


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[KirstyL]

Yeah it's bedroom tax if you are in social housing and claiming any housing benefit, or LHA if you are in private renting claiming any housing benefit

It's all a bit silly and pointless tbh for a start there aren't enough smaller houses for all these people to downsize too, and if they can't afford to pay the tax, what are they meant to do?!

Xx


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[CeeCee]

I've noticed a lot of people on housing exchange websites (home swapper for example) are really eager to downsize. I'm in 1 bed atm. Will eventually need 2 bed and am on a home swapper. I've had a lot more messages recently. Guess it's due to the bedroom tax. OHs mom has a 3 bed but she doesn't want to downsize :S don't get why & my grandad lives in a 3 bed but from what I can gather he's exempt from it because of his age.

 

[tambo1976]

I had this discussion not long ago with my housing association. They were harping on about the new laws regarding bedrooms and I actually commented that I was glad the law was being changed because so many elderly people in my area are living alone in 3 bedroom houses and family's crammed into flats and she told me "actually over 65's are exempt from the new bedroom tax".

Now don't get me wrong, I'm no pensioner hater but seriously WTF is that all about?! Surely the whole point of this new law is so people are not under occupying housing? It is feckin ridiculous to exempt the very people who are really the main cause of the problem!

I know a lot will say "but they may have lived in that house for umpteen years and the stress of moving could be horrendous for them" but I seriously disagree!. My Nan lived in a 3 bedroom council house for over 50 years, when the house was being demolished she got offered a one bedroom bungalow. She had a moan about it but accepted there was no other option. She basically lived downstairs in the house, arthritis stopped her from using the stairs and she slept on the sofa for years. After living in her bungalow for about a year she admitted she loved it, she said it was more cosey and far cheaper to heat.

That is the way the system should work. Older people, or couples, who's families have grown up and moved away should live in the flats and bungalows NOT young couples who have families, and are on housing lists for years squashed into flats where there children don't have gardens to play in. It is so fucked up, it actually makes me angry. Some will also say that these young families should buy if they want the luxury of a house and a garden but it isn't that easy in today's economy to even muster up enough for a deposit let alone be able to actually afford a mortgage.

/rant over off to sleep nn

 

[redbear]

I had this discussion not long ago with my housing association. They were harping on about the new laws regarding bedrooms and I actually commented that I was glad the law was being changed because so many elderly people in my area are living alone in 3 bedroom houses and family's crammed into flats and she told me "actually over 65's are exempt from the new bedroom tax".

Now don't get me wrong, I'm no pensioner hater but seriously WTF is that all about?! Surely the whole point of this new law is so people are not under occupying housing? It is feckin ridiculous to exempt the very people who are really the main cause of the problem!

I know a lot will say "but they may have lived in that house for umpteen years and the stress of moving could be horrendous for them" but I seriously disagree!. My Nan lived in a 3 bedroom council house for over 50 years, when the house was being demolished she got offered a one bedroom bungalow. She had a moan about it but accepted there was no other option. She basically lived downstairs in the house, arthritis stopped her from using the stairs and she slept on the sofa for years. After living in her bungalow for about a year she admitted she loved it, she said it was more cosey and far cheaper to heat.

That is the way the system should work. Older people, or couples, who's families have grown up and moved away should live in the flats and bungalows NOT young couples who have families, and are on housing lists for years squashed into flats where there children don't have gardens to play in. It is so fucked up, it actually makes me angry. Some will also say that these young families should buy if they want the luxury of a house and a garden but it isn't that easy in today's economy to even muster up enough for a deposit let alone be able to actually afford a mortgage.

/rant over off to sleep nn

I actually agree, i know it sounds horrid but older people get attachment to houses that don't belong to them and sometimes need a push to better there life, bungalows for OAP's are much better for them, my grandma lives in one and loves it because all her neighbours are OAP's, there is a special bathroom that she can use (bad hips) and no stairs. There really is no need for them to stay living in a three bedroom house, when the council has to spend a fortune trying to adapt it when a young family could make good use of the room.

 

[CeeCee]

My grandad is 84 and loves his house because he has his own garden. He doesn't need extra help so I suppose he's very lucky: he would move if he was given the option but being exempt he's left where he is: I really think he'd appreciate the move & another family could definitely appreciate his home! X

 

[redbear]

Ill just add my grandmas bungalow has a lovely size garden and all the neighbours do there's so the little cudesac looks really lovely, better than living near some younger people that would ruin it for them.

 

[KirstyL]

I agree that the OAP's shouldn't be exempt either, it makes no sense whatsoever to me. All I hear is 'oh but they shouldn't be made to move, the stress could kill them' or 'but it's their family home, why should they be forced to moved out so some benefit scrounging family with loads of kids can move in and trash it' - yep, that was actually said firstly OAP's don't need big houses, and assuming they are given help to move, I think they should do, secondly not every family living in council housing is 'a benefit scrounger' (personally I hate that term)!

The government have gone about this the completely wrong way unfortunately, apparently I heard today that even people paying full rent, so not directly hit by benefit tax, are having their rent increased by around 5% per week
It's rubbish, we'll be in a situation soon like back in the 80's, we'll have absolutely nothing, because food/fuel/everything really is increasing but wages aren't, it's a mess




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[tambo1976]

I agree that the OAP's shouldn't be exempt either, it makes no sense whatsoever to me. All I hear is 'oh but they shouldn't be made to move, the stress could kill them' or 'but it's their family home, why should they be forced to moved out so some benefit scrounging family with loads of kids can move in and trash it' - yep, that was actually said firstly OAP's don't need big houses, and assuming they are given help to move, I think they should do, secondly not every family living in council housing is 'a benefit scrounger' (personally I hate that term)!

The government have gone about this the completely wrong way unfortunately, apparently I heard today that even people paying full rent, so not directly hit by benefit tax, are having their rent increased by around 5% per week
It's rubbish, we'll be in a situation soon like back in the 80's, we'll have absolutely nothing, because food/fuel/everything really is increasing but wages aren't, it's a mess




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Omg don't get me started on the price of fuel either! I used to work in a petrol station when my Daughter was 2, I was there about 3 years, and I remember unleaded always hovered around 76-79p a litre. Loads of customers used to complain and say they would stop driving if it ever hit 80p a litre! OMG how I wish it was now 80p a litre lmao

This bedroom tax really is one of the most absurd things they have ever bought out, purely because they have exempt over 65's though. If everyone was treated equal this new system could have actually helped elderly get into smaller, more affordable and easier to manage homes (i.e flats and bungalows) and also helped families get into houses with 2/3 bedrooms and gardens. The Goverment are as thick as pigshit, but once again it proves that they haven't introduced this system to genuinely help, it is purely a way to once again save more money by crippling the already poor.

Another case of, the rich getting richer and the poorer getting poorer.

 

[littlemiss83]

It might be different in Scotland, but here, if you live in a one bedroom house and have a baby, its fine for some many years, as the housing benefit says that baby can sleep with parents and doesn't require its own bedroom. Here its the same no matter wether its a council house or a private let. Its the housing benefit that is changing, its not a bedroom tax, its a reduction in housing benefit.

If you have a 2 bedroom house (council house), and you have 1 LO, then you have another baby, you wont qualify for a 3 bedroom house until that new baby is a couple of years old (either 1 or 2)

Anyone saying this doesn't apply to private tennants - it does. I had a letter a few months ago about a reduction in HB, luckily I now earn more in my job and dont get any HB so they can shove it.

 

[redbear]

Strange none of my dads tennants have had a letter? unless its only people with say two children who will now be able to share for longer will get less or something, like i said most landlords will just stop accepting dss or 'knock through' the bedrooms x

 

[littlemiss83]

Yeah

I was suprised about it being for private letts too.

But, if you think about it, its a drop in housing benefit, for anyone that receives it, it kinda makes sense.

Perhaps your dads tennents haven't told him, there is no requirement to do so!!

Basically anyone who gets housing benefit, if they have a spare bedroom they will get less HB, and children are made to share. Unless they are over the age of 11.

 

[redbear]

No one is my bil so he would have said and the money goes direct to my dads account, but if you private let they give you the amount based on what your entitled to not the size of the house ifykwim? x