PROMISES AND AFFORDABLE SUSTAINABLE HOUSING
With the greater part of the party conference season over it has become clear that we live in the promised land and no wonder so many people want to come to live in this country. Our party political system is geared to making promises that are in the main not costed or undeliverable and in truth will do nothing to support the normal working man or woman of this country. How can i say this because take the minimum wage for years they have kept this at the true level of poverty as without the benefits system to back this up they would be in poverty. For many of these people it would be better for the family finances if they left work and were on the dole, so it is clear that all the political parties do not understand how to make work pay. Now they go onto the saga about the living wage and this is more of a comedy then the minimum wage, they claim that this is £ 7.20 per hour times 40 per week = £288. Now take rents at £100 plus per week add rates, electric, gas, water and natural living expenses they still need the benefits system to keep them where they can live a normal existance. How is it that we keep people on such low wages and then need to top this up with public finances to help them survive, wouldn't it be cheaper to remove all payment of income tax until they earn above a true living wage which in truth is around £400 per week. The saving in the tax, tax credit and benefits system would cover the costs of the shortfall in lost tax, as someone who has helped people fill in forms i know how complicated they are and how over administered the system is.
After looking at the wage structure they need to look at the housing problems which are much of the cause of why we need such a high benefits structure in this country. We all know that when they started to sell council houses it was the start of a big problem for the country as the failed to reinvest the money from those sales into building new homes. This has caused a shortage of social housing which created both larger markets with social landlords and private rented housing. It is clear that with the lack of investment by government in true social housing (the old council homes) the private sector is now in control of the public finances in this area. Look at it this way because there is a lack of social housing and an ever increasing demand it pushes up the prices of housing. As the price of houses increases the so does the need to meet the greater investment costs by increasing the rent to meet the social need the costs are spiralling out of control. With a million people on council social housing lists waiting for homes and increasing by the day the costs of rents will go up and the costs to the nation in housing benefits will increase also. Since the last election the government has cut the money given to councils (outside London) for the provision of social housing but without this investment the costs to the welfare system are increasing. But thats where i started this conversation, politicians making promises that are not costed, unaffordable and not sustainable, with a get rich quick (or richer) side to the polices they have. Many will be the same as me i bought my home for £56k in 1991 and it is worth £180k now, great for me but is it really ? If i sell i have to live somewhere and although i could choose to move somewhere smaller and cheaper i would gain out of it, i'm not so sure. But then again i could wait for old age and let the state take it for my social car (another blog another time).
For nearly 11 year i have been involved in council work and it is clear that the system is broken and what needs to be done is put councils of a sustainable footing to meet the demands for housing needs of it's area. I have an idea but it's no good sharing that without a council and bank/building society that are brave enough to look at it. Some years ago i put an idea to Cornwall Council and i wasn't even asked to the committee meeting when they discussed it, so no luck trying there again. Are you able to help, do you work for a bank or mortgage company and would they be willing to try something if so get in touch Armand Toms 01503 264823
With the greater part of the party conference season over it has become clear that we live in the promised land and no wonder so many people want to come to live in this country. Our party political system is geared to making promises that are in the main not costed or undeliverable and in truth will do nothing to support the normal working man or woman of this country. How can i say this because take the minimum wage for years they have kept this at the true level of poverty as without the benefits system to back this up they would be in poverty. For many of these people it would be better for the family finances if they left work and were on the dole, so it is clear that all the political parties do not understand how to make work pay. Now they go onto the saga about the living wage and this is more of a comedy then the minimum wage, they claim that this is £ 7.20 per hour times 40 per week = £288. Now take rents at £100 plus per week add rates, electric, gas, water and natural living expenses they still need the benefits system to keep them where they can live a normal existance. How is it that we keep people on such low wages and then need to top this up with public finances to help them survive, wouldn't it be cheaper to remove all payment of income tax until they earn above a true living wage which in truth is around £400 per week. The saving in the tax, tax credit and benefits system would cover the costs of the shortfall in lost tax, as someone who has helped people fill in forms i know how complicated they are and how over administered the system is.
After looking at the wage structure they need to look at the housing problems which are much of the cause of why we need such a high benefits structure in this country. We all know that when they started to sell council houses it was the start of a big problem for the country as the failed to reinvest the money from those sales into building new homes. This has caused a shortage of social housing which created both larger markets with social landlords and private rented housing. It is clear that with the lack of investment by government in true social housing (the old council homes) the private sector is now in control of the public finances in this area. Look at it this way because there is a lack of social housing and an ever increasing demand it pushes up the prices of housing. As the price of houses increases the so does the need to meet the greater investment costs by increasing the rent to meet the social need the costs are spiralling out of control. With a million people on council social housing lists waiting for homes and increasing by the day the costs of rents will go up and the costs to the nation in housing benefits will increase also. Since the last election the government has cut the money given to councils (outside London) for the provision of social housing but without this investment the costs to the welfare system are increasing. But thats where i started this conversation, politicians making promises that are not costed, unaffordable and not sustainable, with a get rich quick (or richer) side to the polices they have. Many will be the same as me i bought my home for £56k in 1991 and it is worth £180k now, great for me but is it really ? If i sell i have to live somewhere and although i could choose to move somewhere smaller and cheaper i would gain out of it, i'm not so sure. But then again i could wait for old age and let the state take it for my social car (another blog another time).
For nearly 11 year i have been involved in council work and it is clear that the system is broken and what needs to be done is put councils of a sustainable footing to meet the demands for housing needs of it's area. I have an idea but it's no good sharing that without a council and bank/building society that are brave enough to look at it. Some years ago i put an idea to Cornwall Council and i wasn't even asked to the committee meeting when they discussed it, so no luck trying there again. Are you able to help, do you work for a bank or mortgage company and would they be willing to try something if so get in touch Armand Toms 01503 264823
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