Ok so can someone please answer me this.
Why are thousands of Home Owners in the UK being descriminated against simply for owning their own homes when private landlords all over the UK are getting rich on the back of providing accomodation and in may instances sub standard housing and being funded to do so by the DWP and Local Councils providing Housing costs to those living in them while on benefits?
The rational behind home owners not getting direct help with housing costs is based on the premis that the DWP/HMG say that they do not want to finance the ownership of peoples homes while on benefits. So whilst being on benefits the DWP make claimants who own their own homes go through the motions of filling in copious forms explaining the make up and disbursment of all and any home loans/mortgages etc that you have on you home, if they then decide you are eligable for help they dont actually pay you anything but simply deduct those costs from whatever benefit you may be on and pay it direct to your lender (the matter of interest rates here btw is a side issue). So in my book that is a bit of a chocolate teapot.
This imiediately flags up a major problem for me in that the benefits we all receive, as is my understanding and I quote from the many many letters recieved over the years is the "minimum the law states we are required to live on in any given set of circumstances". Just how such deductions can be justified has baffeled me for some time given that as has been pointed out on here a few times that I have seen, folk in private or social rented accomodation do get real cash help with their housing costs, on top of the same benefits those of us who own our own homes get.
So just exactly where does all this housing benefit being paid out go? Sure if its being paid to local authorities it hopefully goes back into the coffers and contributes to the maintainance and provison of more social housing etc. Yet at the same time a huge % of those housing benefits goes into the bank accounts of the thousands and thousands of private sector landlords and housing assosiations all around the country. Now maybe I am being niaive here but please dont tell me they are providing all that private accomodation out of the goodness of their hearts and a deep sense of social altruism, I dont think so.
The DWP is bankrolling those landlords who of course are in the business of making profits and who in the fullness of time will sell those same govenment funded properties at imense profit but thats ok right, wrong!
My point is that on one hand we as home owners are being told that we wont get help with housing costs but on the other private businessess are being bankrolled in exactly the same way by the same system that is telling us they wont do that for us. Inequitable would seem far to soft a word to describe this practice but it will do for now.
The bottom line is that homeowners are being systematically descriminated against by the DWP and HMG policies while at the same time paying out millions to line the pockets of these landlords.
Dont get me wrong I dont begrudge the millions being piad out to folk who rent their homes if they deserve and are entitled to it but I sure as hell begrudge it when I hear of amounts as high as a £1000 "a week" being paid into the hands of their landlords where my total "monthly" mortgage is less than 20% of that but I still get nothing.
My partner and I both on either ESA or IB are close to facing reposession as result of this Social Discrimination and please dont imagine that if either of us could work that we would not be happy to and be able to pay our way.
I'm new to these kids of forums but feel strongly that this form of Social Discrimination needs to be challenged as what we are seeing is the tip of the iceburg here as more and more homeowners are being forced out of their homes into a housing system that will provide Landlords the chance to profit by our misfortune paid for by the very system that is ruining our lives.
So are their any campaigns, lawyers or Law Firms with the balls to take this on out there because I am prepared to stand up and be counted on this issue?
