Foxtrotlima Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Too damn right iurinagh. I have been on the Government 1st Time Buyers List for what seems to be forever. All I want is a house in the North of the island but it seems to be an impossibility. I really wish I knew what the answer was to the argument. If it is that. All I know is that I am in a council house and don't want to be there. I want to be a home owner and I have not a cat's chance in hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxtrotlima Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 This topic makes my blood boil. A friend of mine enquired about moving into council accomodation near on 12 months ago. He was told at the time that the waiting list was 3 years and that there was nothing that Douglas Corporation could do for him, his wife and then unborn son. The privately rented flat they resided in was nothing short of a health hazard due to the damp that was prevelant throughout the year and with a child on the way, they were in need of a larger more convenient property (I forgot to mention that their flat was on the top of a 3 storey building with access gained via an outside staircase) They were "lucky" to spot an unfurnsihed 3 bedroomed terraced house in Douglas available for rent. So my friend applied and was given the opportunity to rent the property. So he, his wife and newborn baby moved into the property along with a lodger to help with the rent payment. As circumstances and situations change, the lodger has recently stated that they will be moving out of the property within the next 6 months. Knowing that he and his family will not be able to afford the rent without the lodger, he went to speak to the corporation. Now remember, he has been on the list for near on 12 months - he went to speak to Douglas corporation only to be told that he would have to wait 3 years for a house to become available (the same amount of time quoted 12 months earlier) and that Douglas Corporation could do nothing to help him, his wife or baby. So, is it fair to say that the family unit that earn £65k a year are eligible for subsidised housing? Is it fair for someone, like my friend, who genuinely needs housing who earns 3 to 4 times less than the afore mentioned family to subsidise their rent through paying Douglas corporation rates? This is nothing short of fraudlent. It's about time the Government and Local Authorities should revise their current methods and practices and start to means test these individuals who do not need subsidised rent. If an individual or family are over a certain threshold, then their rent should be recalculated accordingly to reduce or remove the rent subsidy from their rent. This would free up cash collected from the Local Authority rates, to either provide more subsidised housing to reduce the never-decreasing waiting list or a rate reduction. I know of one person in particular who owns their own property, but has since moved in to a corporation house rented by their partner and is renting their own property out. What an entrepreneur, you should be ashamed of yourself. Can't argue with any of that. Me neither, I just want a way out of this poverty inclined shit hole. I would like to leave my kids something more than the bill for a tomb stone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feelslikeitshould Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 The system will never suit everybody, there will always be someone who thinks they are more deserving or someone who knows somebody who has been waiting 4 or 5 years subsidised housing. Where it really falls down is after the people are in the houses, for every coupld of households who will never get their income above 20-30K and stand no chance in the open market, there is likely to be one who can but no-one can do anything about it with the system how it is. But this is a democracy is it not? Surely things can be changed, maybe the corpy and various housing authorities just can't be bothered evicting people when they earn too much, maybe they have enough trouble collecting unpaid rent without increasing it on a suitable means tested scale but we as a society should be asking these questions shouldn't we? A couple of years ago, the housing sytem changed in Ramsey, it was suposed to ensure that the most needy got a house. There is no longer a waiting list as such, just a list of people who are all deemed to need subsidised housing, the ones with the most points get the house. Personally, I've had my name on the list for over 6 years and not heard anything other than sending in the occasional information. We are in need enough to be on the list but not enough to get a house, we can no longer afford to pay market rent for a 2 bed accommodation (even in Ramsey....) but it's the elderly who get completely screwed over, they can't get the points if they live alone or have no dependant children and they get overlooked because some chain smoking tart can't keep her legs shut after child number 3. The commissioners have written in to the new housing contracts (applicable only for the last couple of years) that people in larger houses should downsize when their families move on. Great you may be thinking, but with an increasingly aged population, where do all these old dears go? There isn't adequate housing stock for them. I have accepted the fact we'll never get cheap rented accommodation but we are fortunate enough in the fact that we will be able to buy somewhere one day and our present situation is one of our own making (ok, entirely my fault before he starts....) so I can't complain too loudly and that's why I'm not down there everyday banging on the door demanding to speak to the housing officer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iurinagh Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Too damn right iurinagh. I have been on the Government 1st Time Buyers List for what seems to be forever. All I want is a house in the North of the island but it seems to be an impossibility. I really wish I knew what the answer was to the argument. If it is that. All I know is that I am in a council house and don't want to be there. I want to be a home owner and I have not a cat's chance in hell I did actually mention to my mate about putting himself on the 1st time buyers list, but he said that he couldn't save up a deposit for a house due to the rent he is paying out on his current house. He wants to be able to move into a council house in order to save up a decent deposit, so he can put himself on the 1st time buyers register and, like you, be able to become a home owner. If I were you, I'd hound DOLGE for an explanation as to the status of your application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 iurinagh, that's a story I hear all the time and my blood also boils. This whole thing is wrong wrong wrong and it stinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhumsaa Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I dunno no matter what you do there will be situations that slightly fall out of the guidelines but surely tis sort of thing should be avoided Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojomonkey Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 nowt in life is free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ykstarr Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 The whole council house situation on this side of the world makes no sense to me. Back home (Northern Canada) there is subsidised housing for those that need it. However, it is means tested on an ongoing and regular basis. If you start earning tonnes of money, your rent goes up in accordance with your earnings. It helps weed out those who are just taking total advantage of the system and in a way, penalises them for doing so - encouraging them (if they make large sums of money) to go into private accomodation or buy a property (buying property is easier back home then here). It absolutely sickens me that people OWN a house and live in corporation housing or the like. Frickin ridiculous. The government really should pull their thumb out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 It absolutely sickens me that people OWN a house and live in corporation housing or the like. Frickin ridiculous. The government really should pull their thumb out. That's a lot of propaganda - and is a rarity that might be only be caused when people are going through a divorce or something and perhaps fighting over a house (e.g. in the meantime a wife/husband with kids have to live somewhere). Otherwise real life is not like that here. This topic gets a lot of backs up, and rightly so, but many seem to be making up horror stories as they go along, which I think is a symptom of overpriced rent and the costs of buying a house. Until houses go back to being homes and are not seen as investments many people will make a lot of assumptions about other people and there will be a lot of general resentment. By restricting the availability of land and new homes - banks, developers and governments have created the biggest con of all time in which to get as much money into as few hands as possible. It is made worse by the highest number of single occupancies in history (i.e. less marriage/more divorce/single parents/single independent people etc.) People really need to start to think about why we are in the situation we are in, and why this 'tax' (e.g. £225 K in interest over 25 years on a £150 K mortgage = £375 K) on simply having a place to live has been allowed to develop into a major industry - and ask who it really benefits? The model is making it's way around major world economies at the moment - but I think once people realise what this is really all about there will eventually be a political backlash and a demand to free up readily available land to build new homes at realistic rates. _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iurinagh Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 That's a lot of propaganda - and is a rarity that might be only be caused when people are going through a divorce or something and perhaps fighting over a house (e.g. in the meantime a wife/husband with kids have to live somewhere). Otherwise real life is not like that here. Trust me Mr Tatlock, my example is not "propaganda" and it does not involve the situations you have described. I am afraid it comes down to greed and making a tidy profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dontlookbehindyou Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 When I went to put my name on the commisioners list I was told I would be on the list for 3 years and not even considered no matter what my circumstances were and there after I would move up the list depending on my circumstances. Imagine my horror when someone who wasn't manx and hadn't even been on the Island a year was given a 3 bedroom house with their partner, who may have been on the list I suppose but neither had children but told the commisioners they were thinking about starting a family. The whole system sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I can agree that people owning property, or earning sufficient money to purchase a house of similar quality should be barred from local authority housing. My point is that someone of say 45-50 yrs old earning around 20k p.a. is going to struggle to get a mortgage to buy a decent house for his family or his partner. a)Why should he not have council housing? b)Why should he live in an overpriced flat somewhere? c)Why should he not be comfortable? Is that a crime? I was very lucky to be able to get back on the housing ladder after returning to the Island, despite having a reasonable salary. Some people are not so lucky. I actually owned a property in the UK which had halved in value during the early 90's and was costing me money as I could not afford to sell it at the market rate and I was living in council accomodation because I had no money for a deposit. Yes by all means get the really wealthy people out, but everyone living in a council house is not a basket case and should not be subjected to humiliation by means testing as advocated here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 My point is that someone of say 45-50 yrs old earning around 20k p.a. is going to struggle to get a mortgage to buy a decent house for his family or his partner. They are precisely the sort of cases we're not talking about. I have no problem with your example being allocated subsidised housing because there's a genuine need for it. I don't think anyone is advocating that council house dwellers should be on the poverty line, that's clearly too extreme. It's the people with dual incomes in excess of 50k, no kids and under 40 that people object to most strongly. It's there to help people who aren't able to help themselves, not for those who could but wont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spock Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Well done Onchan Commissioners. Full marks for the proposal now made public and headlined in IOM Examiner today:- "Evict higher-earning tenants call" "tenancies of social housing be for a fixed period of five years and reviewed at that date to see if the original need for social housing still exists with the applicant" Unfortunately Richard Senior a DLGE civil servant thinks he knows better that the local commissioners -the locally elected representatives of the ratepayers and voters of Onchan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Well done Onchan Commissioners. Full marks for the proposal now made public and headlined in IOM Examiner today:- "Evict higher-earning tenants call" "tenancies of social housing be for a fixed period of five years and reviewed at that date to see if the original need for social housing still exists with the applicant" Unfortunately Richard Senior a DLGE civil servant thinks he knows better that the local commissioners -the locally elected representatives of the ratepayers and voters of Onchan. It appears friend spock here lost his Link Engine when he passed through cyberspace on his way to whatever planet he's on now: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/High-earner...live.3717233.jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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