DBC Megathread

[Roger Mexico]

35 minutes ago, Manx17 said:

57 minutes ago, Amadeus said:

And there will have been contact already and this was more general advice. I haven’t seen what case this is about but safe to say evictions don’t just happen. There is a lengthy process to be followed. 

They do , don’t you remember the person that [later] died and all his [worldly] goods thrown in a skip and he tried to salvage some of it, I don’t think you should really comment defending evictions as you said you don’t know this case. 

This was the case of Ross Ward who was evicted over arrears of £300 which had happened when he was in prison for a short sentence - the rent was normally paid directly, so the arrears didn't continue to increase and should have been paid to cover the short time in prison anyway.  Even the DoI realised this was incompetent, but DBC said there was absolutely nothing wrong with their procedures.[1]  The Safeguarding Board did not agree and issued a report saying so[2], though it seems to have got mostly lost in the pandemic.

 

[1]  One thing I haven't seen much discussion about is the role of the Court, which ought to have picked up there was something odd about the pattern of payments unless they were deliberate attempts to mislead by DBC.

[2]  In a splendid piece of pointless secrecy they insisted on referring to Ward as 'Mr H' throughout "to protect his identity and preserve his dignity".  Even though he was dead and the whole tale had been widely reported anyway.

[The Voice of Reason]

1 hour ago, hissingsid said:

Very tasteless remark, it was a very sad case and nothing for Douglas Corporation to be proud of.

Very sad I’ll agree being evicted over £ 300 but no I wasn’t aware of this case.

Is the eviction linked to the death?

[Hoops]

3 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well if you want to blame anyone, blame all those MF posters who banged on endlessly about people who live in council houses who earned vast amounts of money.  Of course there was no evidence that this actually happened much but to please the massed ranks of Telegraph/Mail/Times readers, not just on MF, it was decide to make tenancies for five years in 2014 and people are reassessed at the end of that.  (Of course the few who were taking the piss were unaffected as it only was for new tenancies).

As a council tenant, i appreciate that i, and people like me, are responsible for the housing crisis. The power we hold!

I hear about rich tenants, but don't really see any evidence of it. I know a couple of people who have done well for themselves and bought houses, I think the majority of us would love to own a house and have something to pass on to our kids. No chance for me, I'm in my 50's, so if I do well and had a new contract, I could be required to leave and go back to the uncertainty and ridiculous cost of private rentals. Some incentive to improve myself, that!

Come round this estate at 8 a.m and you will see a lot of people heading off to do care work, manual work, council workers (Front line, not office!) etc. A couple of people even have nice new cars, how very dare they..............

One effect of the new contracts is making council tenants on the old contracts reluctant to down-size, as a new house means a new contract..............

 

 

[Kopek]

Hoops,

If it's not too intrusive, how is Dan getting on now? Housing, jobs , is he still over here? Has he got over the drama?

Edited March 27, 2022 by Kopek

[Hoops]

8 minutes ago, Kopek said:

Hoops,

If it's not too intrusive, how is Dan getting on now? Housing, jobs , is he still over here? Has he got over the drama?

Dan's resilient, but taken a real blow. He's off island at the moment, whether he moves back is doubtful, a real loss. 

Ramsey council offered him a flat, not sure on what terms, but I know he was grateful for the offer.

 

[Roger Mexico]

21 minutes ago, Hoops said:

One effect of the new contracts is making council tenants on the old contracts reluctant to down-size, as a new house means a new contract..............

The whole scheme was bound to introduce a lot of 'perverse incentives' including people not wanting to go for promotions or partners giving up jobs in case the little extra tipped them over the limit.  Possibly adult children might be encouraged to leave home (in case their earnings do the same) thus increasing housing market pressure. 

Tenants would become much less likely to do their own maintenance on the properties as well - what's the point if the Council might throw you out next year?  In the past younger families would use their tenancy to save up for their own property and then move out - now they may be stuck in social housing for fear of being ejected for that very reason.

And older tenants are particularly vulnerable because they could earn too much, but still not have enough to buy a property - even if they could get a deposit , they simply wouldn't have enough years earning left to ever get a mortgage.  All this is even before the way the housing market has become unaffordable for the vast majority of the population.

[Hoops]

4 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

The desk jockeys have won then. They must feel so proud of themselves. I’m so glad my taxes fund such people.

Yeah, I'm still giving out about it mate.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

10 hours ago, Manx17 said:

It’s a catch 22 and I bet a lot of families have paid the house off they rent twice over. Nothing is said about football huts golf courses flower pots all around their building and the big lights at Christmas and the vehicles they leave in a field and the rest. It’s definitely not an island of freedom to flourish . It’s just greed greed and more greed.

It's not a Council thing; it's all across the Island.  It's Tynwald that brought in the means testing. Ramsey and Peel, etc, all do the same thing.

[Non-Believer]

I see DBC are now to raise parking charges at Shaw's Brow and the Bottleneck in addition to the DOI Chester St floors reverting to pay and display. Taking advantage of the post-Covid feel-good factor and shoppers being flush with cash.

The Cash Cow's udder can stand to be wrung a bit more then.

[2112]

Cowley Groves are advertising on Facebook, that they have been appointed as sole agents to sell 7.02 Acres of land on Cooil Road, which is opposite Anagh Coar and opposite the roundabout. This land is owned by Douglas Council. Whilst I appreciate that the land is zoned under the Eastern Plan for Industrial usage, would it not be an area where Douglas Council could have built a new Housing Development? Or perhaps the Manx Development Corporation could have been given first refusal, and it could be developed into perhaps FTBs housing? It will be interesting to read some views. 

[Max Power]

I see that little scamp Devon Watson is stirring up a storm in a teacup and getting his wires crossed! Rousing the quasi eco brigade into misdirected anger, being praised by Vader and Bonzo Dog on their Facebook page as some Messiah in exposing...nothing!

 Wires Crossed 

[Kopek]

Is he 'getting his wires crossed' or is he not getting full disclosure from DCorp?

I don't know, does anyone?

[2112]

1 hour ago, Max Power said:

I see that little scamp Devon Watson is stirring up a storm in a teacup and getting his wires crossed! Rousing the quasi eco brigade into misdirected anger, being praised by Vader and Bonzo Dog on their Facebook page as some Messiah in exposing...nothing!

 Wires Crossed 

He doesn’t come across well, like a left wing agitator. Out to cause trouble if he can’t get his own way. 

[Gladys]

29 minutes ago, 2112 said:

He doesn’t come across well, like a left wing agitator. Out to cause trouble if he can’t get his own way. 

Wonder if he'll apologise?

[Kopek]

He is a left wing agitator. Would you prefer farmers and builders in politics?

He wouldn't have made up his comment on solar panels on the new corpy flats, was he misled by DCorp or are DoI defending their position?

Anyone know for sure???