Middle-class homeless couple now sleeping at Heathrow Airport

[arista]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/07/255DB51E00000578-2943749-image-m-16_1423318200207.jpg
Fella its your own fault.


[Mr Lane and Ms Smith had to give up their home in Poole, Dorset, 18 months ago, after a string of bad luck and poor financial advice. ]

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943749/They-stay-Middle-class-homeless-couple-forced-sleep-Heathrow-losing-home-overwhelmed-generosity-strangers-offering-spare-rooms.html#ixzz3R5MlpTdp

[Crimson Dynamo]

top comment:

Seriously! A fund to give them a new home. They lost it through their own extravagances, not willing to downsize their lifestyle and poor choices. Had they sold and moved to a cheaper part of the Country they could have had that cosy retirement they dreamed of.

[JoshBB]

How do you know its his fault?? Very judgemental and ignorant to assume you know their story

[DemolitionRed]

The link gives very little information on why they found themselves in this situation. Are you saying its their fault because they never signed on for jobseekers allowance?

[Redway]

And you're assuming it's his fault because...?

[Crimson Dynamo]

The paper reports the couple have an income of £1,400 a month, of which £300 is spent on paying for storage for their furniture and £485 goes towards paying back their loan repayments.

This leaves them just over £600 a month to live on. They spend two nights a week at a £50 B&B a short bus ride from the airport so they can wash their clothes.

http://m.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11778673._From_riches_to_rags___Poole_pensioners_m ove_into_Heathrow_Airport_following_string_of_bad_ luck/


sorry but if you are in that state sell your fecking furniture you dozy pair

[JoshBB]

The paper reports the couple have an income of £1,400 a month, of which £300 is spent on paying for storage for their furniture and £485 goes towards paying back their loan repayments.

This leaves them just over £600 a month to live on. They spend two nights a week at a £50 B&B a short bus ride from the airport so they can wash their clothes.

http://m.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11778673._From_riches_to_rags___Poole_pensioners_m ove_into_Heathrow_Airport_following_string_of_bad_ luck/


sorry but if you are in that state sell your fecking furniture you dozy pair

If they have enough to spend that amount on staying in B&Bs and so much furniture they have to pay for extra storage they shouldn't be claiming benefits imo.

[DemolitionRed]

They won't be able to sign on because of what they are recieving but they can apply for emergency housing. They could easily freeze their debt and free up the £485 which would allow them to rent a flat further north or in East Anglia; that would allow them to empty their storage container which again would free up a further £300 and the £300 would easily pay their council tax and electric bills.

Sounds like the sort of help this couple need is guidance. They've just got themselves in a rutt.

[MTVN]

The paper reports the couple have an income of £1,400 a month, of which £300 is spent on paying for storage for their furniture and £485 goes towards paying back their loan repayments.

This leaves them just over £600 a month to live on. They spend two nights a week at a £50 B&B a short bus ride from the airport so they can wash their clothes.

http://m.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11778673._From_riches_to_rags___Poole_pensioners_m ove_into_Heathrow_Airport_following_string_of_bad_ luck/


sorry but if you are in that state sell your fecking furniture you dozy pair

Madness

[smudgie]

They can move to a cheaper area and rent for the amount they are paying for the B&B and furniture storage.
Whilst I have some sympathy for anybody falling on hard times, you really have to sit down and think the best way forward.

[user104658]

Dare I say it, but if they have reached that age and literally have NO ONE, not one friend, who can offer them a room for a while... Then they've sort of failed at life in more ways than one? I can think of four or five people off the top of my head who would take me and my partner in if we had nowhere to sleep, and I'll be honest, I'm pretty ****ing anti-social.

[smudgie]

Hmmmm, now an online fnd has been set up.
Call me cynical but I thnk this is a load of garbage, no way those wrinkles are only 62 either.

[Will.]

How can they live at Heathrow?

[MTVN]

Hmmmm, now an online fnd has been set up.
Call me cynical but I thnk this is a load of garbage, no way those wrinkles are only 62 either.

Yeah you wonder how many more stories like this might start to pop up, I'd want to be thoroughly aware of the whole situation before I donated anything, with this couple it all seems a bit suspect

[DemolitionRed]

Yeah you wonder how many more stories like this might start to pop up, I'd want to be thoroughly aware of the whole situation before I donated anything, with this couple it all seems a bit suspect

I agree.

[Kizzy]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[Mystic Mock]

They're middle class and yet are homeless? What are they upto? I can't help but be suspicious.

[InOne]

Couple of hustlers for sure.

[Benjamin]

The paper reports the couple have an income of £1,400 a month, of which £300 is spent on paying for storage for their furniture and £485 goes towards paying back their loan repayments.

This leaves them just over £600 a month to live on. They spend two nights a week at a £50 B&B a short bus ride from the airport so they can wash their clothes.

http://m.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11778673._From_riches_to_rags___Poole_pensioners_m ove_into_Heathrow_Airport_following_string_of_bad_ luck/


sorry but if you are in that state sell your fecking furniture you dozy pair


This tbh. Sell the stuff you don't need, as much as it may suck, it's better than sleeping rough. :crazy:

[Benjamin]

Also £600 a month is tough to live on but it can be done, but if they didn't pay for storage they would have just over £900 a month to live on, which is what the average people get paid on minimum wage after tax, so they have no excuse. Just too stubborn/picky to make the sacrifice and instead have a fund set up for them?

Where are the individual online funds beggings for those that actually struggle?

[Kizzy]

'£20,000 bank loan they took out in 2011'

what bank would loan that amount to someone with no income?

[AnnieK]

All financial institutions will also accept reduced payments now. They are either incredibly naive or hustling for money. People manage to feed, clothe and house a family of 4 on what they get. Swallow that pride, sell your **** and don't rely on the generosity of others

[Gstar]

Someone send this article to Katie Hopkins :laugh:

[Vicky.]

I went through a period of living on less than £600pm not too long ago..I managed to survive.

[Vicky.]

Someone set a fund up for me pls :'(

[arista]

I went through a period of living on less than £600pm not too long ago..I managed to survive.


Your a Tough Cookie

[Creggle]

They sound pretty damn entitled to me.

[T*]

This tbh. Sell the stuff you don't need, as much as it may suck, it's better than sleeping rough. :crazy:

could be family/passed down stuff

[Crimson Dynamo]

could be family/passed down stuff

perfect to take to an auction and convert it to cash money

[Vicky.]

could be family/passed down stuff

And? If you are skint you are skint. You dont end up homeless in order to pay stupid amounts of money for storage :umm2:

[Nedusa]

Strange story..... Doesn't really add up, what financial advice and poor luck put them in this position ?

Where are their families and Friends? Why are they sleeping rough in an Airport.

Would need to hear the full story on this before making any judgements on them.






.

[Benjamin]

could be family/passed down stuff

I highly doubt ALL their furniture is passed down, and in desperate times you have to do what you can. They are acting like spoilt people, they don't need help, especially as they are not helping themselves.

[Livia]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.

[Crimson Dynamo]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.

No, only those paying £300 per month for storage

[GiRTh]

Sounds like a hustle to me.

[GiRTh]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.Should this rehousing take priority over a single mum with 6 kids who's house is too small? IF they are to be rehoused then they must wait the appropriate time but personally I don't think they should be rehoused at all. It seems suspicious to me that a couple with this kind of lifestyle don't have any friends who can out them up for a few weeks.

[AnnieK]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.

Before funds are set up to get donations from others absolutely yes

[Vicky.]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.

If they are going to spend £300 on storage for their excess stuff which ends up leaving them homeless, then yeah. Makes sense :shrug:

I don't think anyones after making them sell their stuff...but they cant moan about being homeless when they could nearly afford a months rent for what they are paying for furniture storage...furniture is no good with no house...

[GiRTh]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.Also, when I went thru hard times I sold some of my stuff. I don't think its that big a deal. It amazing how much sh*t you acquire over the years that you don't need. I have absolutely no sympathy for these two in fact I think Heathrow should throw them out of the airport and they should be arrested for vagrancy. Treat them like tramps if they're homeless.

[Livia]

I'm not saying I don't have suspicions about this couple but it seems to me that if they were a working class couple the attitude toward them would be a little softer. It seems like the consensus of opinion is, don't set up a business, don't buy a big house and don't be middle class because if you are and you hit hard times you deserve no help from the state you've paid into, maybe paid substantially more than many others. It's fine to be unemployed for years and still pop out loads of kids, because the state will look after you.

[joeysteele]

If we're going to make them sell all their stuff, presumably we're going to make everyone sell their stuff when they run into hard times. Pity they can't be temporarily housed, considering all the tax they've probably paid into the system over the years.

Hello Livia, where have you been,:wavey:

I agree actually, we don't know their real cicumstances,okay they could sell their furniture, likely having to make a great loss on it however.
Then when they eventually got somewhere else, need to buy more.

I see the sense of trying to hold onto what you've got for as long as you can,hopefully this is a temporary situation they find themselves in and as you point out, they have likely contributed strongly to the tax system in their lives too.

[AnnieK]

I tend to disagree liv....If this a young lower class couple struggling it wouldn't be news at all....and people certainly wouldn't be putting their hands in their own pockets to provide a fund as I can almost hear the "they'd use it for fags and drink". They are entitled to state benefits and should have claimed them before it got to this point

[smudgie]

I reckon it is a scam.
No need for them to sell their furniture, just get it out of storage and into a flat:shrug:
They could have a nice little flat for what they are paying for storage and B&B.
Looks to me like they are just waiting for a big payout, wonder who set up the online fund for them.
I don't get the fuss about benfits, they probably get their pensions.
£1.600 isn't too bad to manage on without setting up home in an airport.

[Vicky.]

I tend to disagree liv....If this a young lower class couple struggling it wouldn't be news at all....and people certainly wouldn't be putting their hands in their own pockets to provide a fund as I can almost hear the "they'd use it for fags and drink". They are entitled to state benefits and should have claimed them before it got to this point

Indeed.

I'm sorry but I seriously doubt anyone would have sympathy for anyone (no matter what class) who put on the sob story when they were wasting £300 per month on storage space...

Also, as girth said earlier, when skint you sell stuff. We sold Gavs playstation when we were broke to pay the rent. You don't decide to sleep in an airport and get a 'fund' set up.

[Livia]

They didn't set up the fund.

[Vicky.]

No...of course not. This is not planned at all from selling the sob story.

Story appears in papers, a 'friend' sets up a fund for them :D

[Cherie]

What happened their house :suspect: he is 71 they must have paid off their mortgage, for debt there is equity release are the saying they didn't have 20,000 equity to pay back the loan? Why not apply for benefits, have they got any children, nieces, nephews, siblings, friends, they are happy to take money and help from strangers, too many unanswered questions here imo

[Cherie]

No...of course not. This is not planned at all from selling the sob story.

Story appears in papers, a 'friend' sets up a fund for them :D

I like your cynicism Vicky :D:

[GiRTh]

I'm not saying I don't have suspicions about this couple but it seems to me that if they were a working class couple the attitude toward them would be a little softer. It seems like the consensus of opinion is, don't set up a business, don't buy a big house and don't be middle class because if you are and you hit hard times you deserve no help from the state you've paid into, maybe paid substantially more than many others. It's fine to be unemployed for years and still pop out loads of kids, because the state will look after you.

Disagree. I think the attitude would be harsher if they were working class. I think there is a bit of a 'there for the grace of God go I' attitude toward these scammers from the middle classes and if they were working class I dont think there would be anywhere near as much sympathy and certainly no fund set up. I also think the fund wouldn't have half the amount it currently has. Good luck to them I hope no one finds out their scam but if they are scammers then I want jail time for both of them. I don't care how old they are.

[Vicky.]

The story just doesn't ring true at all. Entitled to benefits but choses not to claim them, but willingly sleep rough in an airport...cannot afford to eat yet can afford to spend nights in a b&b...its all just bollocks.

[Cherie]

The story just doesn't ring true at all. Entitled to benefits but choses not to claim them, but willingly sleep rough in an airport...cannot afford to eat yet can afford to spend nights in a b&b...its all just bollocks.

I thought you got kicked out of airports if you were sleeping rough :suspect:

[user104658]

I thought you got kicked out of airports if you were sleeping rough :suspect:

Not if you're old and middle class :joker:.

[user104658]

Disagree. I think the attitude would be harsher if they were working class. I think there is a bit of a 'there for the grace of God go I' attitude toward these scammers from the middle classes and if they were working class I dont think there would be anywhere near as much sympathy and certainly no fund set up. I also think the fund wouldn't have half the amount it currently has. Good luck to them I hope no one finds out their scam but if they are scammers then I want jail time for both of them. I don't care how old they are.

Indeed. If this was a working class couple sleeping rough in and airport, with a fund set up for people to give them money, people would be going absolutely wild about it. Baying for their blood and branding them "scroungers" and "scum".

[Kizzy]

My guess is this guy put all his tax offshore he prob paid less than a binman.

When do people become 'middle class'... is it education or earnings?

[smudgie]

My guess is this guy put all his tax offshore he prob paid less than a binman.

When do people become 'middle class'... is it education or earnings?

Heaven knows.
People can call themselves what they like really, the criteria changes all the time.
I heard a fella on a documentary saying he was middle class now that he had bought his council house:shrug:

[Kizzy]

Heaven knows.
People can call themselves what they like really, the criteria changes all the time.
I heard a fella on a documentary saying he was middle class now that he had bought his council house:shrug:

:laugh: So if you can be upwardly mobile what goes up must come down eh?
You can go from working to middle class and visa versa.

He is eligible to claim welfare but as there is such a stigma attached to 'poverty porn' and media turning the public against those who sign on. This highlights how public perception is seeing people openly too ashamed to access help, he is not allowing himself to benefit from what he is fully entitled to.

Either that or he has money and he doesn't wish the DWP to know what he has in way of savings and or assets.

[Marsh.]

Dirty middle class bastards. :bored:

[Marsh.]

I see she has had her nails done and all of her makeup. :think: Certainly more presentable than the homeless people I've ever come across.

[Vicky.]

I see she has had her nails done and all of her makeup. :think: Certainly more presentable than the homeless people I've ever come across.

Well yeah...

Remove the storage costs and the £200 per month or so that they pay for a hotel to 'use a washer' ( :rolleyes: ) and that is an extra £500pm. Thats enough to rent a 3 bed place where I live and have spare money left!

[Niamh.]

Well yeah...

Remove the storage costs and the £200 per month or so that they pay for a hotel to 'use a washer' ( :rolleyes: ) and that is an extra £500pm. Thats enough to rent a 3 bed place where I live and have spare money left!

Yep.

[Nedusa]

I always have sympathy for a genuine hard luck story, if they had real problems with illness and disability coupled with a legal mix up and/or scam story then I might be more forthcoming.

But this story is a bit bizarre as it does not explain what caused their financial problems in the first place and their current situation ie living in airport whilst they pay to keep their furniture in storage.

Is this a complete scam designed to elicit sympathy for them online so they can build up a fund to help them.

Serious reservations with this whole story...........




.

[Kizzy]

Well yeah...

Remove the storage costs and the £200 per month or so that they pay for a hotel to 'use a washer' ( :rolleyes: ) and that is an extra £500pm. Thats enough to rent a 3 bed place where I live and have spare money left!

Oop north!... you mad mate? ;)

[T*]

Oop north!... you mad mate? ;)


This post gave me aids