View Full Version : More wastes of taxpayers money
Read in the paper that us taxpayers are paying nearly 13k a MONTH for a £1.2m mansion for an Afghan woman with 7 kids!!!!.
Has the world gone mad?
Its not the fact that shes an Afghan refugee, its 13K a month that we are paying for her and her brood to live in a mansion :(
Oh nearly forgot she is also on Income support at £400 a week!!
This is an absolute disgrace how can a Local council justify spending £13,000 a month on a non-british citizen when theres a housing shortage.
It looks like the world is going mad :(
Think me and the missus will take our Kids over to some country that will pay for our lifestyle, oops forgot that only happens here!!!
Before the PC brigade wave the "Racist" flag its NOT Racism, its Reality.
What paper and how can this happen?
i read this in the paper myself this morning and was disgusted by this story, my god there are british citizens living in povery yet people can enter the country and get to life the life of luxury all at the british tax payers expense, oh it makes my blood boil.
Seems to me that anyone can get free accommodation, benefits, dentistry etc. in this country apart from us who work or are on a pension, is it just this government or are they all the same, I would vote for anyone who stands up for the working person but I'm not sure the politicians know what it is like to come from a poor background and work all their life.
What paper and how can this happen?
It was in the sun and was acton council in London.
Alice in Blunderland
08-Oct-08, 18:26
I have said on many, many occasions and will again its the system that is wrong.
If the government have in place a system which can be so easily abused then there are many foreign and home grown people who will take advantage of it.
I have said on many, many occasions and will again its the system that is wrong.
If the government have in place a system which can be so easily abused then there are many foreign and home grown people who will take advantage of it.
But surely if it is so easy to break then it must be fixed to prevent this from happening?
Yes I believe some "home grown" people would abuse the system but surely anyone at that Council can see that 13k a month is way way wrong no matter what shade they are?.
At an average rent of say £60 a week that equates to £240 a month, which could pay for at least 52 SEPERATE families to get housing benefit!!!! :( (Now that would be OK)
Alice in Blunderland
08-Oct-08, 18:41
But surely if it is so easy to break then it must be fixed to prevent this from happening?
Yes I believe some "home grown" people would abuse the system but surely anyone at that Council can see that 13k a month is way way wrong no matter what shade they are?.
At an average rent of say £60 a week that equates to £240 a month, which could pay for at least 52 SEPERATE families to get housing benefit!!!! :( (Now that would be OK)
Yes ,I agree you can see its downright wrong, I can see it but those in the council are following government laid down rules regarding housing.
Yes the rent is ridiculous but if councils are stupid enough to pay it then hats of to the person whos bold enough to charge it.
The system is wrong and open to abuse end of and until its scrutinised and sorted then we will continue to see these kind of headlines. ( and more waste of taxpayers cash )
Melancholy Man
08-Oct-08, 18:49
Sorry, can we have a source? I've located the story, but don't think the onus is on me to provide it.
Save your onus...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1072729/Jobless-Afghan-mother-seven-gets-170-000-benefits-lives-1million-council-house.html
Wow! Two threads in one day. The Mail on Sunday and The Sun are clearly getting to know which strings to pull to get the reaction they are looking for - hatred and fear!
Come on people, think about it for a second. The story here is not that this woman is an Afghan (unless you are of the ilk who believe that only white, British people deserve assistance). The story is not that she is receiving housing benefit (how would you react if you found out that she and her seven children were refused help and had to sleep rough?). In fact, the woman and her children have nothing to do with the story at all.
The only story here is that under a change in legislation introduced in April landlords can now find out from local authorities the maximum amount they will pay for a property (as dictated by central government) before telling that local authority what the rent will be.
In this case that has led to a morally-bankrupt (though certainly not now financially bankrupt) landlord asking for £12,500 per month in rent knowing that he will get it.
Blame the government for the legislation.
Blame the landlord for being a greedy slime.
Don't blame the woman - she's done nothing wrong.
--- edit to add links ---
The Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1072729/Its-like-winning-lottery-Jobless-Afghan-mother-seven-gets-170-000-benefits-lives-1million-council-house.html) - focus on the family and misquote them in the headline
The Scottish Sun (http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article1781465.ece) - claim that the mother gets £170k. She doesn't. She gets just over £20k a year to feed herself and seven children. The landlord gets £150k.
The BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7659326.stm)- explains the legislation and why the situation has occurred.
Do you guys really get your 'facts' from the Sun and the Daily Mail??? [disgust]
Alice in Blunderland
08-Oct-08, 19:16
Blame the government for the legislation.
Blame the landlord for being a greedy slime.
Don't blame the woman - she's done nothing wrong.
--- edit to add links ---
The Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1072729/Its-like-winning-lottery-Jobless-Afghan-mother-seven-gets-170-000-benefits-lives-1million-council-house.html) - focus on the family and misquote them in the headline
The Scottish Sun (http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article1781465.ece) - claim that the mother gets £170k. She doesn't. She gets just over £20k a year to feed herself and seven children. The landlord gets £150k.
The BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7659326.stm)- explains the legislation and why the situation has occurred.
[disgust]
Exactly my point the system is wrong :(
The maximum Local Housing Allowance here in Edinburgh is a much more modest £317 a week for a seven room property, so £1374 a month.
LHA is a flat rate that replaced the old Housing Benefit as being easier and cheaper to administer because there was no need to consider each case individually.
Of course council rents are much lower than private rents, but there are hundreds of applications for each council property that becomes available in Edinburgh, and the vast majority go to homeless people in emergency situations.
A modest one bedroom, privately rented, flat here costs an average of £500 a month. If you are a working person/couple that's about the least you can expect to fork out.
The maximum LHA for a one bedroom property just covers this figure and is all a single person/couple would be entitled to. If your rent is higher than the LHA you are entitled to, you pay the difference. You will only get the full amount of LHA if you have no income beyond state benefits.
The size of house you can claim LHA for depends on the size of your family and the ages and sexes of the children....e.g. two children under 10 of different sexes can share a bedroom, but only children of the same sex aged between 10 and 16 can share a room.
This all seems reasonable to me, except for the fact that 4-6 people are entitled to two living rooms, and 7 or more people to three living rooms! - but what we need here is a lot more affordable housing for everyone, so that people, whether they are claiming LHA or not, are not forced to rent privately.
The growth of the buy -to -let market has done Edinburgh people no favours.
I'd imagine the same is true of other cities, including London.
Wow! Two threads in one day. The Mail on Sunday and The Sun are clearly getting to know which strings to pull to get the reaction they are looking for - hatred and fear!
Come on people, think about it for a second. The story here is not that this woman is an Afghan (unless you are of the ilk who believe that only white, British people deserve assistance). The story is not that she is receiving housing benefit (how would you react if you found out that she and her seven children were refused help and had to sleep rough?). In fact, the woman and her children have nothing to do with the story at all.
The only story here is that under a change in legislation introduced in April landlords can now find out from local authorities the maximum amount they will pay for a property (as dictated by central government) before telling that local authority what the rent will be.
In this case that has led to a morally-bankrupt (though certainly not now financially bankrupt) landlord asking for £12,500 per month in rent knowing that he will get it.
Blame the government for the legislation.
Blame the landlord for being a greedy slime.
Don't blame the woman - she's done nothing wrong.
--- edit to add links ---
The Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1072729/Its-like-winning-lottery-Jobless-Afghan-mother-seven-gets-170-000-benefits-lives-1million-council-house.html) - focus on the family and misquote them in the headline
The Scottish Sun (http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article1781465.ece) - claim that the mother gets £170k. She doesn't. She gets just over £20k a year to feed herself and seven children. The landlord gets £150k.
The BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7659326.stm)- explains the legislation and why the situation has occurred.
Do you guys really get your 'facts' from the Sun and the Daily Mail??? [disgust]
First of all I don't care what nationality she is.
You have proved how wrong the system is.
The landlord should never get that much.
The women is getting way too much. Very few people would have £20,000 to spend after taxes and after rent/mortgage paid - No wonder we are going somewhere very warm in a handbasket.
The BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7659326.stm)- explains the legislation and why the situation has occurred.
Do you guys really get your 'facts' from the Sun and the Daily Mail??? [disgust]
Good old Aunty BBC....
And I only provided a link - how does the old adage go? "Don't shoot the messenger..."?
[disgust]
And I only provided a link - how does the old adage go? "Don't shoot the messenger..."?
That is how the old adage goes, yes. Apologies if it seemed that I was aiming in your direction... it was more a scatter-gun approach, I swear.
Except... you did provide the link to the Daily Mail article - and only the Daily Mail article - as a source for all to see so I guess I don't feel too guilty knowing that you've suffered a flesh wound. ;)
That link came from another forum which also happened to highlight the story - not being that interested in it as a story, I couldn't be arsed googling for it to provide a better one...
The sun's headline, 'Mother of all council houses' seems to be a play on, 'Mother of all wars'. The story is an attempt, probably successful, at stirring up some more hatred for muslims in particular and immigrants in general.
There doesn't seem to be any background information as to why this family are in the country so I wouldn't know the Governments obligations to them.
You can always rely on the sun for a fake quote.[lol]
It was great in Afghanistan, every house over there is enormous - this place would be as big as something we would give chickens but we are just grateful for what we can get."Damn those Afghans, coming over here and being ungrateful for being given a chicken-coop as a home.
I hope it does not promote hatred towards any race or person but come on....£20,000 plus spending money after rent/mortgage...must be nice. At that rate almost all of Britain would be better signing on at that rate.
Melancholy Man
08-Oct-08, 23:55
Joe, fancy a date?
Save your onus...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1072729/Jobless-Afghan-mother-seven-gets-170-000-benefits-lives-1million-council-house.html
Thank you (even it it were the equivalent of asking Alex Salmond on Holyrood/Westminster relations). I was recently accused of playing "Google tennis" by daring to provide sources for my claims. 'fraid not, it's the most basic consideration.
The maximum Local Housing Allowance here in Edinburgh is a much more modest £317 a week for a seven room property, so £1374 a month.
As someone who's claimed that in Edinburgh, I have to ask if this is per person or per claim?
What's the point of this thread? A claimant who has eight children, even if one turns out to be 20 years old, is provided with a fund which makes us all feel wildly jealous? Maybe it will turn out to be unjust, but legislation over single cases makes bad law.
Melancholy Man
09-Oct-08, 00:18
Jjc.......................?
As I stated at the beginning of the thread it has nothing to do with where she came from, its the lunacy of the amount of money.
I merely stated that I think this is an outrage especially when so many families have nothing.
I dont care if shes from the planet zorg,I just hate seeing how some get while others suffer especially when those that are getting are getting way too much. There is obviously no sense in a council paying all that money. Couldnt they have searched for suitable REASONABLE priced accomodation?
As was stated earlier "Dont shoot the messenger", the papers merely reported the facts and I thank them for that. As taxpayers we are entitled to know what our Councils do with our money.
If she was a "white" woman with seven kids getting all that money I feel the story may have been portrayed EVEN worse than the way it was especially by some "Right on" broadsheets.
Everyone is entilted to live but it seems some are more entitled than others. :(
I dont think the press reported this to "stir up hatred" they only reported the facts which will obviously upset some liberals but they were right to do so.
As someone who's claimed that in Edinburgh, I have to ask if this is per person or per claim?
MM, as far as I can see, the figure I quoted, £317, is the maximum LHA payable per property per week, if you are 'entitled' to that many rooms. A family of eight would be, assuming they could find a property that size to rent. I believe the system has been modified further this year, so that there is only one rate for all of Edinburgh, irrespective of which area a person lives in. This has had the effect of reducing the highest rate (while increasing the lowest), so it may not even be that much now. Otherwise the LHA rate has not increased here since it was piloted a couple of years ago, LHA being linked to the private rental market.
I was responding to Hotrod's assertion that £60 a week was a reasonable rent -my points being that nobody could rent a home privately in Edinburgh for that figure, but also that Edinburgh council would not be paying out more than £317.
I do find it hard to understand how any council, even in London, would be allowed to pay so much to house any family within the borough. But I must admit I haven't researched this 'story', which has not appeared in my usual daily papers ;) and I certainly don't rush to believe everything that appears in the press.... :roll:
it may be just the way that the paper put the twist on things. but to me it does not seem as if the family is at all grateful for what they have, which is much more than most.
i mean really the son sounds like a spoilt rotton little nob. thier house in afghan was so much bigger, and that some of the rooms in houses in england they would not even put their chickens in because they are so small?
if someone gave me a house that size i would be kissing the ground they walked upon.
my dream is to one day own a 5 bed room single story home. but that is a dream of the distant future if ever, and will take years of hard work and money saving!
if they left afghanastan because of the taliban, then they may have the opportunity to go home soon as the talibam has pulled away from bin ladens group and is wanting to tone everything down.
but even if the taliban were to completly go away do you think they would honestly want to go back home?
if they were no longer faced with persecution and had the choice to stay or go, what do you think the answer would be?
arghhh... im more peeved by the ungratefulness that has come across than anything else!
Id take whatever the sun says with a pinch of salt, and i wudnt read the mail in the first place
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