No Fault Evictions

[Jacob]

.....

It's very obvious what needs to be done, we need to improve the infrastructure in this country including the housing stock. Give people the option of good quality social housing and bad landlords go out of business. The problem is it's expensive and you can't cut tax to buy elections at the same time. Would YOU vote for a party that said "income tax will go up it needs to". If not you are part of the problem.

Good housing designed and built with such things as solar and rainwater harvesting, built to be heated by heat pumps. Here's a radical idea from the "National Socialists" why don't we design a peoples house in the way they designed a peoples car.

We had Parker Morris standards but they were abandoned by Thatcher in 1980.
She is responsible for a great deal of what is wrong with Britain today.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...st-built-homes-europe-extreme-weather-upgrade

This mornings news says millionaires are abandoning Britain and taking their ill-gotten wealth with them! Good news - maybe their passports could be revoked to stop them coming back?
I don't expect it is true however - they are just putting it about because they think we shouldn't tax them more, and that they would be missed. Well they wouldn't!

 

[Ozi]

We had Parker Morris standards but they were abandoned by Thatcher in 1980.
She is responsible for a great deal of what is wrong with Britain today.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...st-built-homes-europe-extreme-weather-upgrade

This mornings news says millionaires are abandoning Britain and taking their ill-gotten wealth with them! Good news - maybe their passports could be revoked to stop them coming back?
I don't expect it is true however - they are just putting it about because they think we shouldn't tax them more, and that they would be missed. Well they wouldn't!

So sorry you wouldn't miss me Jacob

 

[Jacob]

..... The quality of rented properties, which seem to start off as acceptable, soon degrade into the usual damp-ridden, mouldy homes we hear so much about. The reason? Poor home-making skills from the tenants.

Yes everything is the fault of those at the bottom of the heap! I'm surprised you didn't mention single-mothers-on-benefits!

 

[Ozi]

Yes everything is the fault of those at the bottom of the heap! I'm surprised you didn't mention single-mothers-on-benefits!

So much more reasonable to blame those at the top of the heap.

 

[Lons]

.............was a "silly cow".

Yes she's been on the politics show this morning trying to excuse away her free clothing allowance and quickly skipping over the fact she bought her council house.

 

[AJB Temple]

It was interesting that Ms Rayner is adamant that she has broken no rules, but is unable to see that her behaviour makes her look greedy and grasping. My experience of genuine working class people (limited to Coventry by and large) is that most abhor freeloaders. Lammy defended Starmer's blatant freeloading by saying that he wanted to look nice for the election. Appallingly tone deaf. Obviously the Tories were just as bad in previous periods and it just creates an impression that MPs are narcissistic people. It is very unfortunate for Britain that we cannot find a way to recruit people of both honour and ability.

 

[Lons]

It was interesting that Ms Rayner is adamant that she has broken no rules, but is unable to see that her behaviour makes her look greedy and grasping. My experience of genuine working class people (limited to Coventry by and large) is that most abhor freeloaders. Lammy defended Starmer's blatant freeloading by saying that he wanted to look nice for the election. Appallingly tone deaf. Obviously the Tories were just as bad in previous periods and it just creates an impression that MPs are narcissistic people. It is very unfortunate for Britain that we cannot find a way to recruit people of both honour and ability.

+1
Also very sad that a multi millionaire with a very good salary on top of his investment income can't like normal people buy his own tickets to watch his favourite football team. He can afford his own, secure private box and I'm sure Arsenal would appreciate the income.

You can't say honour, integrity and ability in the same sentence as politician.

 

[John Brown]

We had Parker Morris standards but they were abandoned by Thatcher in 1980.
She is responsible for a great deal of what is wrong with Britain today.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...st-built-homes-europe-extreme-weather-upgrade

This mornings news says millionaires are abandoning Britain and taking their ill-gotten wealth with them! Good news - maybe their passports could be revoked to stop them coming back?
I don't expect it is true however - they are just putting it about because they think we shouldn't tax them more, and that they would be missed. Well they wouldn't!

Re. Millionaires leaving in droves, the numbers are largely made up. Tim Harford looked into it in "More or less".
I know, BBC left wing liars... Get your facts from social media or the Daily Mail.

 

[Ozi]

Not condoning this sort of behavior as it shows a lack of empathy with the ordinary people they are there to represent but as people become more wealthy it's hard not to loose touch with the value of items. I personally value a purchase by how long I have to work to buy it and how much I need it. I know my perception has changed greatly, I assume the perceived value of these gifts would be much lower to someone on their income.

I remember Michael Heseltine being challenged in the commons about multiple additional jobs. One was mentioned and his response was that's ridiculous I only spend a couple of afternoons a year on that and I'm hardly paid anything. I don't remember the exact figure but it was higher than my annual salary as an engineer at the time. Bit of an eye opener.

Doesn't compare with Rishi Sunaks misses and the tax avoidance. I'm sure we could have found one more prison cell if we'd looked hard enough.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Tax avoidance is perfectly legal. It's what people pay accountants a lot of money for.

 

[ey_tony]

On the contrary, ey_tony, we have both saved and started, or belonged to pensions schemes that have, on retirement, provided a pretty comfortable life. I don't feel penalised because some slackers get handdouts. I do, however, enjoy the ability to spend money I earned, without worrying about the future, on things like holidays, entertainment, trips around the UK and my workshop. Can't do that on benefits, can you?

I'm comfortable having made provision for my retirement so like you I have no issues but it still irks me that those feckless beings who squandered all of their earnings on drinking, smoking, gambling or whatever throughout their life are able to claim all the benefits to cover their living expenses plus a multitude of other claims they can make whereas I (and millions like me) have to fund those out of my own savings which I've set aside over the years.

It seems if you don't make provision for retirement then it's no big deal, the state will bail you out.

 

[ey_tony]

If you want to blame somebody I'd go for the bad landlords first. They are the problem, not the government, not the socialists, not even the bad tenants.
All you perfect landlords can count yourself as collateral damage. Tough luck you happen to be investing in a free market jungle!
Who are these bad landlords then? Well you could start with the Royal Borough of Kensington they currently hold the prize.

Exactly how many properties have you actually rented out?
Like most subjects you always speak with what appears to be some authority, clearly you must have had experience in the house rental market to suggest that it's bad landlords who are the problem.
All of those whom I've known over the years who've rented out properties on a regular basis, it's inevitably the tenants who are the issue.
Most renters would prefer their properties are rented by steady and reliable tenants, unfortunately most are not steady and reliable and I don't know one person who has rented out properties who didn't have tenants leave owing hundreds and often thousands of pounds in rent arrears or have wrecked the property in some way.

Very often excess dampness and mold is not an issue with the structure of the property, it is caused by lack of ventilation with tenants cooking and drying washing indoors during colder months and not opening windows to ventilate the rooms.
You could get that happening in any home if the owners behaved in the same way.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I'm comfortable having made provision for my retirement so like you I have no issues but it still irks me that those feckless beings who squandered all of their earnings on drinking, smoking, gambling or whatever throughout their life are able to claim all the benefits to cover their living expenses plus a multitude of other claims they can make whereas I (and millions like me) have to fund those out of my own savings which I've set aside over the years.

It seems if you don't make provision for retirement then it's no big deal, the state will bail you out.

Rather than criticism of the feckless, we should reflect that within society there are those genuinely in need and deserving of greater support. Squandering public funds on the aforesaid feckless denies those who society should help. The alternative questions are why:

• should I pay more tax to allow the feckless to thrive in denial of social responsibility
• should society subsidise the feckless at the expense of those in real need

The answer to the second bullet is, of course, we should not subsidise the feckless. I make no case for reducing tax (attractive though it may be) but want my taxes spent on those who warrant better support.

 

[Jacob]

....
The answer to the second bullet is, of course, we should not subsidise the feckless. ....

What just let them drop dead? Very third world!
We have civilisation here but it hasn't caught up with everybody yet.
But why this obsession with the feckless?
They aren't even a major financial burden on society compared say to tax evasion and the many major scams going on at the wealthy end of the scale.
For many it is only a temporary condition; sh it happens! Could be your turn next!
What is this anxiety about single mothers on benefits? Is there something deeper going on here?

 

[woodieallen]

The tagging/Serco debacle is interesting. It would be great to see the contract between Serco and the Govt and understand what was agreed in terms of levels of service, stockholding of tags etc. Then we would know if Serco really are at fault or it's Jess Philips shouting her mouth off as per usual.

 

[AJB Temple]

There is a lonh and unedifying history of tagging scandals going back at least a dozen years involving Serco, G4S Buddi, Capita and others. Serco has paid multi million pound refunds in the past so why the Ministry of Justice appointed them again this year is a mystery. Maybe some of the tags come in brown paper envelopes. https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/ongoing-electronic-tagging-scandal

Government procurement is invariably hopeless. Other examples are: almost everything the MoD buys, pretty much everything bought during Covid, HS2 in its entirety, and of course essential "work" clothes for MPs