Its the total lack of solutions that are being proposed from all sides of Governments,

OH WAIT Osborne has his 'pay to stay' scheme oh and also the spiteful bedroom tax!
All aimed at those on the lower rungs of society........he really really was a spiteful B*stard

I am sick of hearing about how many houses need to be built and see nothing happening about it, its fine building rows of shoe boxes and selling them at ridiculous prices but many many families dont have the money, job security or credit history to get mortgages.


I dont expect any MP to sort this mess out in the near future, I mean why should they when they have luxurious houses of their own while still getting an allowance to rent in the city............

I think a lot of people dont understand how difficult it is to find accommodation if you are on a low income either.

You often need a working guarantor, I dont know any one in their right mind who would be someone elses guarantor, I certainly wouldnt, we didnt even do it for our kids in case it all went wrong and we were left with rent to pay

You also need large deposits and rent up front, lots of housing departments say they help but its often not enough to get past this bit

Many landlords wont rent to those on benefits, without a guarantor or more importantly where the rent is more than a particular percentage of income. Add to that, that many also wont let where the property is likely to be overcrowded so an attempt to get a cheaper flat or house by getting a 2 bed when you need 4 beds is often impossible

Hence, people who are already vulnerable end up homeless because they simply cannot rent a home.

Isn't it the rule that if you complain about this kind of thing you should offer to take them into your own home? That's normally how it works.

I just wonder if any of you guys have ever actually told anyone they were unaffordable?

I agree rent prices in many parts of the South are out of control and would be happy if some form of controls were put in place. I also wish for far more cheap social housing to be built.

Immigration spiralling out of control won't be helping.

Not everyone is able to do so.
I have on a few occasions in the past housed homeless friends and even friends of friends for free in my home for days weeks and in one case over six months. And currently house my sibling for free and have for decades. And while I would not house a complete stranger found sleeping rough in my home I actually know someone who has.

The welfare state has always at times failed people and people ending up dependent on the goodwill of family, friends, and even strangers, that or rough sleeping or homeless hostels.

Its not a child's fault if its parents were feckless had a planned pregnancy choosing to rely on the state to fund raising the child or reckless and did not use contraception. Its the parents fault.

It's also not the parents' fault that wages have fallen in real terms and housing costs have dramatically increased. Nor that employees are increasingly being pushed on to zero hours contracts and in to 'self-employment' which ensures no holiday pay, no sick pay and no minimum wage whilst in-work benefits are slashed.

Then there are those who don't count as in temporary accommodation: families with children who are staying with friends/family members, living in caravans or on boats, and even sleeping rough.

For private sector landlords, the eviction process is pretty straightforward. You issue a notice seeking possession, 8 weeks later you go to court and a possession order is a formality, because there is no defence to an NSP for shorthold tenancies. Then you get a bailiff warrant, and the bailiffs go and chuck them out. The whole procedure can be done and dusted in 12 weeks.

Some landlords won't rent to tenants on benefits because that is a condition of their landlords' insurance policy. Universal credit has made things far worse because it takes a minimum of 7 weeks before any money is paid, and poor training means that housing costs often don't get paid then. They have become more reluctant to let to claimants since October because they know that the chances of a family getting full HB and not being affected by the benefit cap are pretty slim, especially in the south east.

Now that the cap has been reduced, one of my clients |(single parent on ESA, with 3 children) gets £96 pw in housing benefit. Her rent is £228 pw.

About time the foreign aid budget was cut by 90%.

We need a massive programme of council house building - like after the war. And we need to stop selling them off. I saw even Peter Hitchens recently saying that council house sales had been a disaster.

Whats the point?
They'd only spend it on another tax cut for the rich or the spiraling cost of Brexit.

Round my way, letting agents also require the guarantor to own their own home and earn the equivalent of 2.5 times one year's rent. With 2-bed properties costing £1,000 a month, that means the guarantor needs to earn £30k pa. A lot of tenants don't even know anyone who meets the criteria.

Plus of course, not everyone thinking of starting a family has a crystal ball and no-one can guarantee that they will maintain their current level of income, that their partner won't run off with someone else or become abusive so that they have to flee with the kids.

Why do you want more children to die in foreign countries?

Don't forget Thatcher selling off council houses

I can't see her memory going back that far when she hasn't even noticed the tories have spent more in 6 years than Labour spent in 12.

Ah, Lovejoy's law....... shouldn't those children be the responsibility of THOSE countries !!!!!!

If we can democratically abdicate responsibility for hundreds of thousands of our own poor, on what basis do we judge other countries?

The UK's foreign aid pledge is only 0.7% of GDP. That is 7p out of every £1,000. Its not like we are giving up a lot to help the world's poor. And it makes a huge difference to the lives of vast numbers of poor people abroad.

I would like to say our nation's ethical and moral obligations to those in need do not end at our nation's border but our government gives a tiny amount of our GDP in aid. I would like to say human empathy and compassion do not end at a nation's border but for many it does.