Here's Raymond and his family. Raymond, his wife and six children live in a three bedroomed house in North Wales. Neither Raymond nor his missus work. They live on state benefits, from money paid by you and me (well, not me any more). They receive £30,284.80 in benefits per year, a full £82.40 per week more than the proposed benefit cap of £26,000 per year.
But don't feel sorry for Raymond and his family. They can save £15 per week by cancelling their Sky subscription, £32 by cancelling their mobile phone contracts and if Raymond didn't go to the pub every Friday they could save an extra £20. I'm sure they could make the extra £15 up from the £92 per week they have to pay for school books and trips, clothing and white goods replacements. No, I have no sympathy for Raymond and his family, none whatsoever.
Therefore the Government is right to impose a £26,000 cap on benefits. Isn't that right?
Well, the BBC have done their research, alright. You see the average weekly housing benefit award in the social rental sector is £76. And that's what Ray and his family get! They are an average family of eight, paying £76 per week in rent which is the average rent paid in the social rental sector so the average family is taking us for a ride, right? RIGHT???
No, you fuckers. It's not right.
For a start, the average weekly housing benefit award in the private rental sector is £110 and the maximum weekly housing benefit awards are as follows:-
1 bedroom property - £250 per week, £13,000 per annum
2 bedroom property - £290 per week, £15,080 per annum
3 bedroom property - £340 per week, £17,680 per annum
4 bedroom property - £400 per week, £20,800 per annum
There are 1.58 million recipients of housing benefit who live in homes in the private rental sector. They receive an average of £5,720 per annum to pay their landlords. You can see what landlords can charge above. Slightly above the average.
Right, BBC? Do you see how typical Raymond and his family are as far as the effects of the benefit cap go? Do you see how you're pandering to stupid popular opinion, based on distorting the facts to suck up to a government you are are scared shitless of?
Fuck you and your Birdsong.
Layering up
16 hours ago
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ReplyDeleteLord Reith must be spinning in his grave.
ReplyDeleteThis vilification of the unemployed living in rented housing makes me angry. You can whip up a bit of righteous frenzy by taking some very unrepresentative examples of high HB payments and holding them up to be pilloried.
ReplyDeleteThere are thousands of people all over the country forced into too small, totally unsiutable accomodation, often after having paid into the system for many years.
HB is deliberately set at below both market and now many social rent levels. By the Government's own admission the sums this will save are not significant. I don't like to sound liek a rampant anarchist, but sometimes you do look at what's going on and think that it's class war.
BTW Geoff I don't know if you read Inside Housing. It's very good and contains far better factual reporting than the BBC manages on social issues now.
This vilification of the unemployed living in rented housing makes me angry. You can whip up a bit of righteous frenzy by taking some very unrepresentative examples of high HB payments and holding them up to be pilloried.
ReplyDeleteThere are thousands of people all over the country forced into too small, totally unsiutable accomodation, often after having paid into the system for many years.
HB is deliberately set at below both market and now many social rent levels. By the Government's own admission the sums this will save are not significant. I don't like to sound liek a rampant anarchist, but sometimes you do look at what's going on and think that it's class war.
BTW Geoff I don't know if you read Inside Housing. It's very good and contains far better factual reporting than the BBC manages on social issues now.
Sorry! It said I'd got the captcha wrong so I did it again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Looby. Unrepresentative is the word. Even Channel 4 had a registered blind jobseeker who had applied for 2,000 jobs without success. So stupid people could say, "yes, but he's registered blind. The jobs are still there for the vast majority of the unemployed."
ReplyDelete