In-work benefits reform, the way to incentivise employment

[Guest]

It was tried in Germany in the 1930s wasn't it?

 

Yes, and it worked - Hitler took over a bankrupt nation with hyper inflation (100%) and unemployment at 33%.

From this he built up Germany to be one of the leading industrial and most powerful nations on earth.

Had he won WW2 he wouldn't even have bothered to pay back his foreign debts either.

 

Borrowing money is a risky business at times like the present but without doing so, how do you get people off benefits and into work.

 

Cameron's trying to put the cart before the horse.

[Guest]

I thought councils were strictly prohibited by the original legislation from using the money from council house sales to build more houses.

 

They were and that explains the shortage of social housing - even an idiot should have been able to predict that outcome.

[taxman]

They were and that explains the shortage of social housing - even an idiot should have been able to predict that outcome.

 

Seeing as the Tories sought to destroy social housing it seems the plan worked.

[Guest]

Seeing as the Tories sought to destroy social housing it seems the plan worked.

 

Yes, just shows how they only look at the short term.

Unfortunately, Labour do the same.

[Ms Macbeth]

They were and that explains the shortage of social housing - even an idiot should have been able to predict that outcome.

 

I wish you'd been working in housing 10 or so years ago, they couldn't give keys away. People were buying houses at affordable prices, no-one could forsee the huge rise in house prices that forced people back onto social housing waiting lists. It was costing northern councils, including Sheffield, a fortune to keep empty houses boarded up - no rents and vandalism.

 

Young single people need to be prepared to share accommodation if they can't afford to pay their way. How does someone on a very low income afford to not only take on a flat, but pay for all things needed to go in one? Students often have less to live on than people signing on, as they aren't entitled to HB, so have to find the cheapest accommodation, ie sharing or renting a room in a house.

 

I do believe that work needs to be worthwhile, and for most singles or couples it will be, its families with children where the benefits are an encouragement not to work. The more children in a family, the more money they get in benefits. People don't get increases in salary when they have more children. Its a dilemma.

[Guest]

I wish you'd been working in housing 10 or so years ago, they couldn't give keys away. People were buying houses at affordable prices, no-one could forsee the huge rise in house prices that forced people back onto social housing waiting lists. It was costing northern councils, including Sheffield, a fortune to keep empty houses boarded up - no rents and vandalism.

 

Young single people need to be prepared to share accommodation if they can't afford to pay their way. How does someone on a very low income afford to not only take on a flat, but pay for all things needed to go in one? Students often have less to live on than people signing on, as they aren't entitled to HB, so have to find the cheapest accommodation, ie sharing or renting a room in a house.

 

I do believe that work needs to be worthwhile, and for most singles or couples it will be, its families with children where the benefits are an encouragement not to work. The more children in a family, the more money they get in benefits. People don't get increases in salary when they have more children. Its a dilemma.

 

I know a crystal ball would come in handy for dealing with these problems but, when you look at our highly educated recent Prime Ministers and cabinet members, together with all the highly paid special advisors, you would think they could do better when muppets like me seem to have the better predictions. The only thing they seem to know is that it'll either rain or go dark before morning.

[Ms Macbeth]

Seeing as the Tories sought to destroy social housing it seems the plan worked.

 

But many Labour voters won't have considered that they were helping to destroy it in their rush to buy their council houses at knock down prices. And some of them now complain because their kids can't get a council house. The people who exercised their right to buy can't have all been tory voters surely?

 

Many of us who worked in housing hoped the last government would take some action to at least remove the Right to Buy in areas where there were shortages, but they didn't. I just hope when new ones are built they are kept for future generations to rent. Affordable rents are necessary when wages are low - but above the benefits threshold. I've seen quite a few ex local authority homes advertised for private rental recently, at about twice the cost to those still owned by local councils.

[espadrille]

But many Labour voters won't have considered that they were helping to destroy it in their rush to buy their council houses at knock down prices. And some of them now complain because their kids can't get a council house. The people who exercised their right to buy can't have all been tory voters surely?

 

Many of us who worked in housing hoped the last government would take some action to at least remove the Right to Buy in areas where there were shortages, but they didn't. I just hope when new ones are built they are kept for future generations to rent. Affordable rents are necessary when wages are low - but above the benefits threshold. I've seen quite a few ex local authority homes advertised for private rental recently, at about twice the cost to those still owned by local councils.

 

They certainly were not all tory voters. There were many in labours heartland who took the chance to get on the property ladder and some have benefitted enormously( and why not) and when they die will pass this on to their children.

You really cant have it both ways, but there does seem to be a need for investment in social housing but where will it come from now?

[taxman]

But many Labour voters won't have considered that they were helping to destroy it in their rush to buy their council houses at knock down prices. And some of them now complain because their kids can't get a council house. The people who exercised their right to buy can't have all been tory voters surely?

 

Many of us who worked in housing hoped the last government would take some action to at least remove the Right to Buy in areas where there were shortages, but they didn't. I just hope when new ones are built they are kept for future generations to rent. Affordable rents are necessary when wages are low - but above the benefits threshold. I've seen quite a few ex local authority homes advertised for private rental recently, at about twice the cost to those still owned by local councils.

 

It wasn't the people who exercised their right to buy that were the problem, it was the law put into place to prevent councils from using the receipts from the sales to build new houses.

[Ms Macbeth]

It wasn't the people who exercised their right to buy that were the problem, it was the law put into place to prevent councils from using the receipts from the sales to build new houses.

 

It would only have replaced a fraction - the receipts from a discounted house wouldn't pay for a new one. It would have increased the stock though - but in the late 90s early 2000's most northern councils had surplus stock anyway. The hike in house prices/the recent recession has seen more people chasing the reducing number of properties.

 

I knew a lecturer in trade union studies who was a council tenant in another town. He could have bought his council house easily, but it was against his political principles. He was active in trying to improve his estate and believed in social housing. Not many like him though.