If I was the landlord I would have started evicting them, it's doubtful the council will be able to stay on top of them. Some people have no respect, such scum!
I thin a lot (if not all) of the rent arrears was due to Portsmouth City Council's backlog in processing Housing Benefits claims. So they were as equally to blame for the couple being threatened with homelessness, as the couple were themselves. Not that you would think that was the case by how the council dealt with the situation
Perfect example of why the whole system is coming crashing around down our ears.
No - Koan was taking sense.
People that live in bad housing conditions are not likely to be healthy. A council should darn well e making sure their own stock I in good condition and repairing t when required (bearing in mind their tenants report the problem).
Just as private landlords should be doing this too.
Of course poor living conditions are likely to affect your life for the worse whilst they continue, just as a violent crime being committed against you (for example) is likely to do the same.
While the property she was given - for free, remember - was a bit tatty, I'm sure she, the dog and her tribe of kids would soon have made it worse.
By the end of this programme, I was willing the Council to make her homeless. If she'd have put as much effort into getting sorted and not breeding for the last 15 years as she does into whingeing, she wouldn't have a problem.
While i agree with the points you make that area of Portsmouth that they offered (and she had to take) is a fecking shitehole, i wouldn't like my worst enemy living there.
While i agree with the points you make that area of Portsmouth that they offered (and she had to take) is a fecking shitehole, i wouldn't like my worst enemy living there.
It really is the arsehole of the island,
Ah but:
1) She already lived in that same street and:
2) She insisted on keeping the dog with her, obviously more important than her kids!
What did that Romanian bloke think they could do for him?
Maybe I should turn up in Romania and present myself to their Council and demand a council flat. I'll book a coach to Bucharest tomorrow. I am sure they'll offer me a flat ... NOT.
As for Emma. She's so bloody thick. If she wanted to appear to be afraid of heights, she should not have breezed up the stairs without a care in the world when she visited the flat. Bare faced liar.
The 61 year old sleeping in the disabled bog. Glad he got sorted in the end. But strange how they went from not having anything at all, to being placed on the housing list (would have to wait 5 years) to getting a nice little flat all very quickly. He should thank C4 for that! ;-) Nevertheless, I am glad he's not sleeping rough any more.
The 61 year old sleeping in the disabled bog. Glad he got sorted in the end. But strange how they went from not having anything at all, to being placed on the housing list (would have to wait 5 years) to getting a nice little flat all very quickly. He should thank C4 for that! ;-) Nevertheless, I am glad he's not sleeping rough any more.
Likewise.
The tragedy is that prior to 2008 a man of his age would have qualified for Pension Credit which would have guaranteed him a decent standard of living.
Although Emma didn't come across very well in the programme I didn't feel that the flat was all that suitable for her. Did she have 4 dependent children? It'll be a bit of a squeeze in that 2 bedroomed property. I thought her request for a ground floor property was not unreasonable.
'Dependent children.' 'Dependent mother' and so it goes on. I would imagine that most of us are a bit uncomfortable with heights, but we're talking one flight of stairs. Inside. Not standing on a ledge 20 floors up. Put a welfare cheque on the top floor of a tower block and watch her 'fear of heights' disappear.
Nevertheless, going from that fairly nice 3 bedroomed townhouse to a flat in a block with small windows must be something of a big comedown.
Diddums. What does she expect for a life of idleness? A harbour-side penthouse in Monte Carlo?
This is what it's all about. Keep giving in to these wasters and more and more people will question the value of going out to work. Who decided to have four kids? Who decided to get a filthy mutt?
Emma is - and probably always has been - a waste of oxygen. Where was the man (or more likely men) who helped her produce that 'dependent' brood? Long gone. And who can blame them?
What did that Romanian bloke think they could do for him?
Maybe I should turn up in Romania and present myself to their Council and demand a council flat. I'll book a coach to Bucharest tomorrow. I am sure they'll offer me a flat ... NOT.
As for Emma. She's so bloody thick. If she wanted to appear to be afraid of heights, she should not have breezed up the stairs without a care in the world when she visited the flat. Bare faced liar.
The 61 year old sleeping in the disabled bog. Glad he got sorted in the end. But strange how they went from not having anything at all, to being placed on the housing list (would have to wait 5 years) to getting a nice little flat all very quickly. He should thank C4 for that! ;-) Nevertheless, I am glad he's not sleeping rough any more.
The 61 year old was homeless and living in a toilet!
Yes, the council had no duty to house him under homelessness legislation.
However, in all likelihood he would be classed as high need under their allocations system. So that would mean he was likely to be housed quite quickly, if he was happy to be flexible as to where he lived.
The programme makers had said he was likely to be on the list for years. Not true, in all likelihood. Getting a house under the allocations process does not just depend on how long you have ben waiting.
'Dependent children.' 'Dependent mother' and so it goes on. I would imagine that most of us are a bit uncomfortable with heights, but we're talking one flight of stairs. Inside. Not standing on a ledge 20 floors up. Put a welfare cheque on the top floor of a tower block and watch her 'fear of heights' disappear.
Diddums. What does she expect for a life of idleness? A harbour-side penthouse in Monte Carlo?
This is what it's all about. Keep giving in to these wasters and more and more people will question the value of going out to work. Who decided to have four kids? Who decided to get a filthy mutt?
Emma is - and probably always has been - a waste of oxygen. Where was the man (or more likely men) who helped her produce that 'dependent' brood? Long gone. And who can blame them?
A dog is for life and not just for Xmas.
You don't get rid of dogs just because you hit a few financial problems. The problem of dogs being put to sleep because they are unwanted is bad enough as it is without adding to it!
It's not only tenants, (whoever the landlord may be) who live in squalor.
I did probate work for 40+ years, and some of the places lived in by the recently deceased owner occupier were pretty dire: one place was so awful that the fresh air outside nearly made me throw up. And more than once, the first thing I had to do before a visit to a property was to find out where the nearest rubbish tip was,
Of course poor living conditions are likely to affect your life for the worse whilst they continue.
Yeah. You're forced to get multiple tattoos, smoke like a chimney, drink Diamond White and behave like a pig.
While these people are quick to blame 'the system' when they don't get exactly what they want (and let's face it, if they lived in Buckingham Palace they'd turn it into a doss house within a week) they are conspicuously silent about being left well alone by 'the system' when claiming all their benefits about the '...must be actively seeking work.' bit.
Yeah. You're forced to get multiple tattoos, smoke like a chimney, drink Diamond White and behave like a pig.
While these people are quick to blame 'the system' when they don't get exactly what they want (and let's face it, if they lived in Buckingham Palace they'd turn it into a doss house within a week) they are conspicuously silent about being left well alone by 'the system' when claiming all their benefits about the '...must be actively seeking work.' bit.
Having multiple tattoos and smoking like a chimney, drinking are all within the law.And in fact doctors and lawyers and teachers and politicians have tattoos smoke and drink anyone from any Walk of Life has tattoos smokes and drinks no matter how rich or poor and even rich people can live like pigs not just poor.
While i agree with the points you make that area of Portsmouth that they offered (and she had to take) is a fecking shitehole, i wouldn't like my worst enemy living there.
It really is the arsehole of the island,
Did you actually watch the programme?
If you did, you will have seen her walk out of her front door and show the camera crew where the 2nd floor flat was. She already lived on the same street and was only about 6 houses down the road from the flats. She also said she had lived in those flats before. So she was already living in that 'shitehole' area of Portsmouth.
A dog is for life and not just for Xmas.
You don't get rid of dogs just because you hit a few financial problems. The problem of dogs being put to sleep because they are unwanted is bad enough as it is without adding to it!
Bestboy never mentioned putting the dog down. Lots of people end up having to re-home their pets because their circumstances change, where do you think all the kindly dog lovers get their rescue dogs from?
Emma couldn't find another private rental that would allow her to have pets. The 2nd floor flat with the council was the only place that she could take the dog with her. Just like the 'I'm scared of heights' thing, Emma thought that if she insisted that she couldn't get rid of the dog then she would end up with a house with a garden.
I really think that Emma should have been done for giving false evidence on her claim.
There was no way she was afraid of heights, and it is because of people like her who lie on application forms that make it tough for those of us who really are disabled and need proper housing.
Also if she did have a Doctor who would back her up, then they need looking into as well.
I would just like to say that I have just been offered a council house (well Housing Association) and it is like winning the lottery. i am so grateful. i have been on the list for nearly 5 years, I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world at the moment and contrary to popular belief I am not an immigrant, on the dole or a single parent. i don't smoke or take drugs, I enjoy gardening, reading and radio 4. My husband and I are hardworking individuals that just want a bit of stability and a rent that we can afford.
There are good council tenants about just not that many.
That's lovely to hear and well done to you! I was almost in tears when the older gentleman on the programme got a place to live. Nice to hear some good stories.
A bit late in the day to reply to this thread, but I will anyway
Although I agree that Emma probably had higher expectations of getting a decent place than she should have (knowing Portsmouth and its housing situation), I completely understand why she didn't want to live in the flat in Grafton Street.
That whole block of flats is a sink hole for junkies and dealers, and the flat she was moving in to was just one example of the state those flats are in.
The damp mold on the walls for one - that will not go with a mold remover; it will come back again and again, as it does with all the flats in that block.
The lifts hardly ever work, the stairs are awash with pee and excrement, and the people she, and her children, will have to meet on the stairs are not the type she would want her children mixing with.
If she cares anything about her kids welfare (and I think she does), they will be housebound most of the time they live there, because she will not feel safe letting them out to play.
And she will never be able to get an exchange, because no one else will want to live there either. So she and her kids will be stuck.
Those flats are a breeding ground for squalor and I feel sorry for Emma that she was forced to make her home there.
Whatever you may think of Emma's situation and how she had 4 kids (which in any case was not the point of the program, so no one can say), she did not deserve to be forced to take that flat.
A bit late in the day to reply to this thread, but I will anyway
Although I agree that Emma probably had higher expectations of getting a decent place than she should have (knowing Portsmouth and its housing situation), I completely understand why she didn't want to live in the flat in Grafton Street.
That whole block of flats is a sink hole for junkies and dealers, and the flat she was moving in to was just one example of the state those flats are in.
The damp mold on the walls for one - that will not go with a mold remover; it will come back again and again, as it does with all the flats in that block.
The lifts hardly ever work, the stairs are awash with pee and excrement, and the people she, and her children, will have to meet on the stairs are not the type she would want her children mixing with.
If she cares anything about her kids welfare (and I think she does), they will be housebound most of the time they live there, because she will not feel safe letting them out to play.
And she will never be able to get an exchange, because no one else will want to live there either. So she and her kids will be stuck.
Those flats are a breeding ground for squalor and I feel sorry for Emma that she was forced to make her home there.
Whatever you may think of Emma's situation and how she had 4 kids (which in any case was not the point of the program, so no one can say), she did not deserve to be forced to take that flat.
She used a fake excuse for not being moved. It is hard enough for those of us who do have genuine problems to be treated properly by the council, but when people like her lie, it makes it even harder for people who genuinely have problems.
She was in no way scared of heights (at least not to the level it stopped her living in flats).
No decent person deserves to live in those flats, which is why she does deserve to live in them.
If she cares anything about her kids welfare (and I think she does), they will be housebound most of the time they live there, because she will not feel safe letting them out to play.
But she restricted the choice of property available to her by insisting on keeping the dog with her, effectively putting the dog's welfare before that of her kids.
I didn't watch it - didn't see the point: I joined my council's housing waiting list in 1994, in 2011 they removed me from the list against my will having never offered me a property.>:(
Comments
I thin a lot (if not all) of the rent arrears was due to Portsmouth City Council's backlog in processing Housing Benefits claims. So they were as equally to blame for the couple being threatened with homelessness, as the couple were themselves. Not that you would think that was the case by how the council dealt with the situation
No - Koan was taking sense.
People that live in bad housing conditions are not likely to be healthy. A council should darn well e making sure their own stock I in good condition and repairing t when required (bearing in mind their tenants report the problem).
Just as private landlords should be doing this too.
Of course poor living conditions are likely to affect your life for the worse whilst they continue, just as a violent crime being committed against you (for example) is likely to do the same.
While i agree with the points you make that area of Portsmouth that they offered (and she had to take) is a fecking shitehole, i wouldn't like my worst enemy living there.
It really is the arsehole of the island,
Ah but:
1) She already lived in that same street and:
2) She insisted on keeping the dog with her, obviously more important than her kids!
Maybe I should turn up in Romania and present myself to their Council and demand a council flat. I'll book a coach to Bucharest tomorrow. I am sure they'll offer me a flat ... NOT.
As for Emma. She's so bloody thick. If she wanted to appear to be afraid of heights, she should not have breezed up the stairs without a care in the world when she visited the flat. Bare faced liar.
The 61 year old sleeping in the disabled bog. Glad he got sorted in the end. But strange how they went from not having anything at all, to being placed on the housing list (would have to wait 5 years) to getting a nice little flat all very quickly. He should thank C4 for that! ;-) Nevertheless, I am glad he's not sleeping rough any more.
Likewise.
The tragedy is that prior to 2008 a man of his age would have qualified for Pension Credit which would have guaranteed him a decent standard of living.
'Dependent children.' 'Dependent mother' and so it goes on. I would imagine that most of us are a bit uncomfortable with heights, but we're talking one flight of stairs. Inside. Not standing on a ledge 20 floors up. Put a welfare cheque on the top floor of a tower block and watch her 'fear of heights' disappear.
Diddums. What does she expect for a life of idleness? A harbour-side penthouse in Monte Carlo?
This is what it's all about. Keep giving in to these wasters and more and more people will question the value of going out to work. Who decided to have four kids? Who decided to get a filthy mutt?
Emma is - and probably always has been - a waste of oxygen. Where was the man (or more likely men) who helped her produce that 'dependent' brood? Long gone. And who can blame them?
The 61 year old was homeless and living in a toilet!
Yes, the council had no duty to house him under homelessness legislation.
However, in all likelihood he would be classed as high need under their allocations system. So that would mean he was likely to be housed quite quickly, if he was happy to be flexible as to where he lived.
The programme makers had said he was likely to be on the list for years. Not true, in all likelihood. Getting a house under the allocations process does not just depend on how long you have ben waiting.
A dog is for life and not just for Xmas.
You don't get rid of dogs just because you hit a few financial problems. The problem of dogs being put to sleep because they are unwanted is bad enough as it is without adding to it!
I did probate work for 40+ years, and some of the places lived in by the recently deceased owner occupier were pretty dire: one place was so awful that the fresh air outside nearly made me throw up. And more than once, the first thing I had to do before a visit to a property was to find out where the nearest rubbish tip was,
Yeah. You're forced to get multiple tattoos, smoke like a chimney, drink Diamond White and behave like a pig.
While these people are quick to blame 'the system' when they don't get exactly what they want (and let's face it, if they lived in Buckingham Palace they'd turn it into a doss house within a week) they are conspicuously silent about being left well alone by 'the system' when claiming all their benefits about the '...must be actively seeking work.' bit.
Having multiple tattoos and smoking like a chimney, drinking are all within the law.And in fact doctors and lawyers and teachers and politicians have tattoos smoke and drink anyone from any Walk of Life has tattoos smokes and drinks no matter how rich or poor and even rich people can live like pigs not just poor.
Did you actually watch the programme?
If you did, you will have seen her walk out of her front door and show the camera crew where the 2nd floor flat was. She already lived on the same street and was only about 6 houses down the road from the flats. She also said she had lived in those flats before. So she was already living in that 'shitehole' area of Portsmouth.
Bestboy never mentioned putting the dog down. Lots of people end up having to re-home their pets because their circumstances change, where do you think all the kindly dog lovers get their rescue dogs from?
Emma couldn't find another private rental that would allow her to have pets. The 2nd floor flat with the council was the only place that she could take the dog with her. Just like the 'I'm scared of heights' thing, Emma thought that if she insisted that she couldn't get rid of the dog then she would end up with a house with a garden.
There was no way she was afraid of heights, and it is because of people like her who lie on application forms that make it tough for those of us who really are disabled and need proper housing.
Also if she did have a Doctor who would back her up, then they need looking into as well.
That statement surprised me as well although it did look like quite small in area from the aerial shots.
I was very pleased for the man who got a decent place at the end of the programme.I hope it works out for him.
That's lovely to hear and well done to you! I was almost in tears when the older gentleman on the programme got a place to live. Nice to hear some good stories.
You should heed your own advice lad.;-)
Although I agree that Emma probably had higher expectations of getting a decent place than she should have (knowing Portsmouth and its housing situation), I completely understand why she didn't want to live in the flat in Grafton Street.
That whole block of flats is a sink hole for junkies and dealers, and the flat she was moving in to was just one example of the state those flats are in.
The damp mold on the walls for one - that will not go with a mold remover; it will come back again and again, as it does with all the flats in that block.
The lifts hardly ever work, the stairs are awash with pee and excrement, and the people she, and her children, will have to meet on the stairs are not the type she would want her children mixing with.
If she cares anything about her kids welfare (and I think she does), they will be housebound most of the time they live there, because she will not feel safe letting them out to play.
And she will never be able to get an exchange, because no one else will want to live there either. So she and her kids will be stuck.
Those flats are a breeding ground for squalor and I feel sorry for Emma that she was forced to make her home there.
Whatever you may think of Emma's situation and how she had 4 kids (which in any case was not the point of the program, so no one can say), she did not deserve to be forced to take that flat.
She used a fake excuse for not being moved. It is hard enough for those of us who do have genuine problems to be treated properly by the council, but when people like her lie, it makes it even harder for people who genuinely have problems.
She was in no way scared of heights (at least not to the level it stopped her living in flats).
No decent person deserves to live in those flats, which is why she does deserve to live in them.
But she restricted the choice of property available to her by insisting on keeping the dog with her, effectively putting the dog's welfare before that of her kids.