| Homelessness this year 13:55 - Dec 11 with 1932 views | Mullet |
It's been a massive issue for about a decade up here due to a load of shelters closing at once, not sure how the national picture has moved since the pandemic. However, a student of mine was evicted with her mum this week. It was -4C or so that day and luckily they seem to have got emergency shelter.
Typically they're a model student too and if it's crass to judge, then it feels way worse that it's happening to someone who works so hard to better their lot.
However, they've become one of a few families we have that are homeless suddenly this year. Kids sofa surfing and bouncing from shelter to B&B etc. whilst trying to get on with life.
I fully accept to be evicted rent presumably wasn't paid for months, but is there no mediation for tenants and landlords before that stage? It seems immoral to me to throw people out when the weather is so cold and they are vulnerable.
In stark contrast at roughly the same time, a friend had their house move nearly fall through the day before over a grand or so, which is barely small change given the amounts changing hands. Do we simply need a massive reversal towards council homes or is the country too far gone? |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 17:58 - Dec 11 with 1781 views | DJR |
The problems all started under Thatcher, with the abolition of rent controls in the private sector, the abolition security of tenure (except for some in council houses), the sale of council houses and the effective ban on their replacement.
The transfer of responsibility for housing from local authorities to housing associations has not helped the situation at all, and we have now ended up in a situation where so called affordable rents are nothing of the sort.
What is particularly tragic is to hear of people who are retired or close to retirement, who are being turfed out, or are having to flat share in HMOs.
The following passage shows the reason for the imposition of rent controls but heaven-forbid a government would do something similar these days to prevent landlords from profiteering.
"Rent control in the UK was first prompted by housing shortages during WWI. The Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act 1915 introduced rent control whereby rents were restricted to their August 1914 level. The Act was designed to prevent landlords from profiteering during the war years when demand for housing exceeded supply."
EDIT: Interesting to see that in Scotland they are attempting to address the problems of evictions and rising rents.
https://www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-business/commercial-litigation-dispute-resolu
[Post edited 11 Dec 2022 18:08]
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| Homelessness this year on 17:59 - Dec 11 with 1777 views | Clapham_Junction |
We definitely need to end right-to-buy in England (the only place where it still exists) and the government needs to scrap the financial restrictions on how councils can use their existing right-to-buy receipts (which makes it hard for them to use the money to buy existing properties, which is particularly a problem in London where new-builds are eye-wateringly expensive).
I would also like to see a new form of right-to-buy, under which councils must be given the first opportunity to purchase any properties where they are the leaseholder (i.e. ex-council flats). |  | | |
| Homelessness this year on 18:05 - Dec 11 with 1766 views | Clapham_Junction |
| Homelessness this year on 17:58 - Dec 11 by DJR |
The problems all started under Thatcher, with the abolition of rent controls in the private sector, the abolition security of tenure (except for some in council houses), the sale of council houses and the effective ban on their replacement.
The transfer of responsibility for housing from local authorities to housing associations has not helped the situation at all, and we have now ended up in a situation where so called affordable rents are nothing of the sort.
What is particularly tragic is to hear of people who are retired or close to retirement, who are being turfed out, or are having to flat share in HMOs.
The following passage shows the reason for the imposition of rent controls but heaven-forbid a government would do something similar these days to prevent landlords from profiteering.
"Rent control in the UK was first prompted by housing shortages during WWI. The Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act 1915 introduced rent control whereby rents were restricted to their August 1914 level. The Act was designed to prevent landlords from profiteering during the war years when demand for housing exceeded supply."
EDIT: Interesting to see that in Scotland they are attempting to address the problems of evictions and rising rents.
https://www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-business/commercial-litigation-dispute-resolu
[Post edited 11 Dec 2022 18:08]
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Some housing associations in my area are absolutely woeful. It is quite ironic to see residents who voted to transfer out of council ownership now attending council meetings to beg the council to try and deal with the HAs that were set up to take over their homes.
The rules around stock transfer votes should be amended to allow HA residents to vote to transfer their blocks/estates back into council ownership. Some HAs are too small to be effective or financially viable. | | | |
| Homelessness this year on 18:32 - Dec 11 with 1712 views | noggin |
GSTK. |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 18:44 - Dec 11 with 1694 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Trailer parks.....they are the future! |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 19:03 - Dec 11 with 1650 views | chicoazul |
Remember when we solved homelessness overnight in the pandemic by…..housing people. What a time. |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 19:15 - Dec 11 with 1624 views | thebooks |
Like everything in Britain, housing is utterly broken. But of course there’s no will/capability/energy/imagination to fix it.
It seems to be a rather obvious right: every one should have a home. Unfortunately, the British are insane when it comes to owning a home (or two, three or four homes) and turning a profit on it. It’s the national sport.
There are lots of things we could do. Here’s one idea (but nothing will happen):
https://martin-farley.medium.com/private-to-public-buyback-and-retrofit-housing- |  | | |
| Homelessness this year on 19:18 - Dec 11 with 1614 views | Bent_double |
Not quite on the same subject, I know, but I watched Newsnight a few days ago when they had a discussion on the UK housing stock and how poorly insulated it is when compared to newer European houses.
The issue is mainly that so many of our houses were built around 100 years ago, or built post-WW2 and are so energy-inefficient. As one guest (a former adviser to Teresa May) stated, the only thing we care about in this country is the value of our homes, how much we paid for them, how much profit we can make when selling them.
Other than the obvious - get the current government out of power - and get a government in who are willing to commit billions to building affordable, well-insulated and energy-efficient homes all across the country, not quite sure what the immediate solution is. |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 19:58 - Dec 11 with 1554 views | cbower |
| Homelessness this year on 17:58 - Dec 11 by DJR |
The problems all started under Thatcher, with the abolition of rent controls in the private sector, the abolition security of tenure (except for some in council houses), the sale of council houses and the effective ban on their replacement.
The transfer of responsibility for housing from local authorities to housing associations has not helped the situation at all, and we have now ended up in a situation where so called affordable rents are nothing of the sort.
What is particularly tragic is to hear of people who are retired or close to retirement, who are being turfed out, or are having to flat share in HMOs.
The following passage shows the reason for the imposition of rent controls but heaven-forbid a government would do something similar these days to prevent landlords from profiteering.
"Rent control in the UK was first prompted by housing shortages during WWI. The Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act 1915 introduced rent control whereby rents were restricted to their August 1914 level. The Act was designed to prevent landlords from profiteering during the war years when demand for housing exceeded supply."
EDIT: Interesting to see that in Scotland they are attempting to address the problems of evictions and rising rents.
https://www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-business/commercial-litigation-dispute-resolu
[Post edited 11 Dec 2022 18:08]
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We continue to reap poisoned crop sewn throughout the Thatcher decade. The privatisation of anything they thought could turn a profit has been a disaster - rail, utilities et al. Yep, those who could afford to invest early, congratulations. For the vast majority, the 'Family Silver' that Harald Mcmillan pleaded with her not to sell, well, it's gone! Congratulations to those who used the right to buy and managed to get themselves a nice home (genuinely pleased for them) but how much of that housing stock is now in the hands of private landlords? I truly believe that Thatcher was the most influential British politician of the 2nd half of the 20th Century. Unfortunately that influence was malevolent and enduring almost right across the board imho. |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 21:43 - Dec 11 with 1462 views | DJR |
| Homelessness this year on 19:58 - Dec 11 by cbower |
We continue to reap poisoned crop sewn throughout the Thatcher decade. The privatisation of anything they thought could turn a profit has been a disaster - rail, utilities et al. Yep, those who could afford to invest early, congratulations. For the vast majority, the 'Family Silver' that Harald Mcmillan pleaded with her not to sell, well, it's gone! Congratulations to those who used the right to buy and managed to get themselves a nice home (genuinely pleased for them) but how much of that housing stock is now in the hands of private landlords? I truly believe that Thatcher was the most influential British politician of the 2nd half of the 20th Century. Unfortunately that influence was malevolent and enduring almost right across the board imho. |
This is spot on. It's neoliberalism for you, and something the Labour Party seems equally committed to, even if it's neoliberalism with a cuddly smile. | | | |
| Homelessness this year on 09:29 - Dec 12 with 1320 views | blueasfook |
Tories pledged to end homelessness by 2024.
Can't see that happening somehow. They will blame that failure on the influx of immigrants they have had to deal with or something no doubt. |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 09:40 - Dec 12 with 1304 views | Darth_Koont |
| Homelessness this year on 21:43 - Dec 11 by DJR |
This is spot on. It's neoliberalism for you, and something the Labour Party seems equally committed to, even if it's neoliberalism with a cuddly smile. |
Indeed.
It’s exactly the same status quo- and capital-serving rut as before. Just rebadged as the official alternative.
“Better than the Tories” is a lot more marginal than it should be but probably fair. However there’s little doubt that Labour is still woefully inadequate for facing up to the real challenges and delivering the best policies for the UK and its people as a whole. |  |
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| Homelessness this year on 09:49 - Dec 12 with 1287 views | cbower |
| Homelessness this year on 09:40 - Dec 12 by Darth_Koont |
Indeed.
It’s exactly the same status quo- and capital-serving rut as before. Just rebadged as the official alternative.
“Better than the Tories” is a lot more marginal than it should be but probably fair. However there’s little doubt that Labour is still woefully inadequate for facing up to the real challenges and delivering the best policies for the UK and its people as a whole. |
Yep. Surreptitiously back-tracking on renationalisation of certain areas is the tip of a Labour iceberg. Undoubtedly better than the Tories but still within the framework of the status quo. | |
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| Homelessness this year on 09:51 - Dec 12 with 1285 views | DJR |
| Homelessness this year on 09:40 - Dec 12 by Darth_Koont |
Indeed.
It’s exactly the same status quo- and capital-serving rut as before. Just rebadged as the official alternative.
“Better than the Tories” is a lot more marginal than it should be but probably fair. However there’s little doubt that Labour is still woefully inadequate for facing up to the real challenges and delivering the best policies for the UK and its people as a whole. |
Absolutely. Take, for example, the disaster that it the privatised energy system in this country. The regulation in place has been appalling, and has resulted in consumers picking up the costs (in billions) of the bail out of failed energy companies. But what is Labour's response to the crisis? More regulation!!! | | | |
| Homelessness this year on 10:40 - Dec 12 with 1246 views | Darth_Koont |
| Homelessness this year on 09:49 - Dec 12 by cbower |
Yep. Surreptitiously back-tracking on renationalisation of certain areas is the tip of a Labour iceberg. Undoubtedly better than the Tories but still within the framework of the status quo. |
Problem with the Labour “iceberg” is the sheer lack of anything beneath the surface. No ideas and ultimately no real commitment other than serving their own and other vested interests.
Crossing over from the NHS thread, but Starmer, Streeting et al shouldn’t be lecturing healthcare professionals on how they should do more for patients, when they do a bare minimum for UK citizens as their elected “representatives” and government hopefuls. | |
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