Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramrod
True
---------- Post added at 19:40 ---------- Previous post was at 19:38 ----------
So if you had a flat that you were letting out and your tennant fell behind in their rent, you would be ok with that? 
H
---------- Post added at 19:43 ---------- Previous post was at 19:40 ----------
How has the govt allowed rents to rise? |
The Tories removed rent controls. This means that any landlord can charge whatever any tenant is willing (or has) to pay to secure a home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadking
Eligibility for Housing Benefit whilst employed does NOT RELY on the rent levels. It is assessed against income using something called the "Applicable Amount". Those amounts are set at benefits levels and therefore many who are earning even more than that can be eligible.
List of applicable amounts for 2015/16.
Eg Single claimant aged not less than 25 £72.40
4 kids would add 4x£66.33=£265.32
From DWP report of 2009(ie under LABOUR).
The local housing allowance rates set by LABOUR were too generous and have dropped(50% down to 30%) dramatically. That drop(and other policies) couldn't happen overnight in 2010 and would therefore have taken time to see any effect.
A major reason for the increase in numbers is due to moving from home ownership, where HB is NOT payable, to renting, where it is. Graphs in a report show that the rate of increases in HB expenditure and employed claimants are roughly the SAME as in 2008, ie UNDER LABOUR. The 2008/09 to 2009/10 figures show a big rise in HB expenditure. Who was to blame for that? The %age of employed claimants rose from 11% to around 15% between November 2008 and mid 2010. Who was to blame for that? Take a wild guess.  |
By 'rent levels' I assumed that you meant the contractual rent, as opposed to the LRR or LHA. The contractual rent is still needed, indeed the software that is used won't assess a claim without it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadking
Did you read the previous post to yours? The trends in increases started UNDER LABOUR.
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But the present Government said that they would be turning this around and reducing expenditure on benefits (including Housing Benefit). Instead they have managed to cause suffering to many vulnerable people AND increase the benefits bill AND are borrowing more money to pay for it. They are borrowing more in total than Labour and the actual portion of government debt apportioned to 'the defecit' has decreased mainly as a result of lower interest rates.