Quote:
Originally Posted by Toy Soldier
Blame Maggie. Local councils shouldn't have to be shelling out housing allowances to be given to private landlords in the first place. That entire system is a shambles and costs a fortune. Wouldn't be happening at all if all of the council houses hadn't been sold off. Hilariously, most of those ex-council houses are now in the hands of private landlords, with the rent being paid by the council! Facepalm.
"Hello, would you like to buy my car? It's £6000. And then I'll rent it back from you for £150 a month for the next forever. Good deal, yes? "
|
It's not so simple T.S I'm afraid. No one, not even Margaret Thatcher, can be blamed for 'rogue' tenants - that is the fault of the despicable, low-life scumbags themselves pure and simple.
THEY are the one's availing themselves of good quality accommodation. THEY are the one's CLAIMING HOUSING BENEFITS with which to live in such accommodation RENT-FREE, and the source of which, is the hard-pressed tax-payer. THEY are the one's who CONSCIOUSLY and WILLFULLY ELECT NOT TO USE such Housing Benefit for the purposes for which it has been granted -- TO PAY THE RENT. THEY are the one's who ELECT instead to use it to pay for LUXURIES - be such luxuries GAMBLING, DRINKING, or DRUGS or whatever. THEY are the one's who TRASH properties by slovenly misuse. THEY are the one's who STEAL furniture and Fixtures and SELL THEM.
Before I continue - let no one accuse me of sullying the reputation of all claimants or 'tarring them all with the same brush', because I have already stated that NOT ALL CLAIMANT TENANTS are the same, and I also agree with DemolitionRed that non-claimant rogue tenants also exist (as I have detailed in earlier posts on other threads) but as we
are discussing here
specifically ROGUE TENANTS ON BENEFITS, I would greatly appreciate it if no one misrepresents what I am stating in any response.
The 'Blame' culture in the UK is a sword which swings two ways.
Denying the very real existence of these crud rogue tenants is to be delusional. Every council in this country has huge rent arrears, and the vast majority of tenants responsible for these areas are tenants on benefits. This is a FACT. So 'Private' Landlords have no exclusivity when it comes to bad tenants and nor is private rented accommodation to blame.
The simple truth is, that though her policies did not help, this country would still have an housing crisis without Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' policy, and the reasons - which will be unpalatable to some - are many and diverse, and too numerous and complex to detail here, but briefly;
A) A benefit culture which ENCOURAGES the breeding of children without any deference to affordability, or the consequential future economic needs of such children once they mature ie; 'Planning by the parents for their children's future'.
B) Immigration.
C) Market Forces.
D) The state of the 'General Economy'.
E) Our draconian and punitive Tax System.
It is as well to firmly bear in mind also, that - like all 'scams' - Thatcher's 'Privatisation' schemes and 'Shares Sell Off' and her 'Right To Buy' policy COULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SUCCESS without THE GREED and ACTIVE PARTICIPATION of tens of thousands of OPPORTUNIST WORKING CLASS people -- most of who were hitherto traditional 'grass roots' LABOUR PARTY supporters and voters. -- who availed themselves of the chance to personally profit from 'The Right To Buy' and the 'Shares' sell off from once Nationalised Industries.
Equally important to remember, is the fact that subsequent LABOUR governments SANCTIONED Thatcher's policies by default by doing zilch to reverse them.
Thatcherism may have widened the schism between the 'Have' and 'Have Not's' in the UK, and may have bolstered the 'Feck You I'm Alright Jack' attitudes which have always existed, but she could not have done so without the support of the great working classes who prostituted their principles and 'jumped ships' for a profit.
Thatcherism is a very complex fascinating subject worthy of its own thread.