Lowered Benefit cap could affect landlords from 8th May?

Reply to the comment left by "Simon " at "14/05/2015 - 11:41":

I'm sure they'd be lots of immigrants happy to lay the road for you, and they'd work hard for their wages. I know you don't want any more immigrants coming to the UK, but if they are the ones willing to work........

HI Luke

does the thought of all these cuts not worry you or are most of your tenants working. I would say with a hundred properties you would have a few so the cuts would affect you quite bad.

Reply to the comment left by "Luke P" at "14/05/2015 - 11:51":

It is the legacy of the post-war Welfare State, which was meant to be a safety net for the unfortunate in society until they could get back on their feet. It has become an unsustainable monster, as is the NHS. The more cash you throw at it, the more it demands. Scamming the system has become a nicely paid 'career'.

I don't know the answer to the HB problem, apart from not taking them. However, I think we need to be careful about what we wish for.

Landlords get tax relief on their mortgages, which is under threat, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of future link between that and taking HB tenants.

Paranoid, or what!

Grimsby is a very unique and strange place. The people here can be resourceful when it suits them.

Most 'single' mothers have a boyfriend who is earning good money, but 'officially' registered as living back home with mum and dad. They'll manage if it comes to it. There's also no shortage of working tenants -plenty of Eastern bloc migrants too.

I remember a number of years ago being at a meeting that included a presentation by an organisation whom the Govt. paid to survey rents/property demand across the area. Two massive holes in their presentation were they made absolutely no provision for the influx of EU migrants (I put my hand up at the time and asked where in their 'survey' they were accounting for this), their response was that it was so small it made no difference. I told them that at that moment I had 10% EU migrants. More people around the room had similar figures. They also were trying to assess HB levels and locally that was based on the rents charged on a sample of just 300 properties. At the time I had 30 and so with 10%, knew just my input could have a massive effect on future payments. The low and anomalous rents were filtered out and they were given by all landlords locally only the top rented properties as their sample data. Naughty? Perhaps. But they were idiots for taking so few examples and to think they were paid by the Govt for it!

Grimsby always has a demand because its residents are poor and it's so geographically isolated. There's nowhere else to go. I have a total of just 8 properties (mostly the grotty bed-sits) available as we speak...that's out of my 100+ and the 350+ managed.

I have made enough to give up this game if it comes to it. It may then be time for a career in politics, but I doubt I'll live long enough to make any real change. I think a sunny retirement may be the answer.

I have a lot of local landlord pals that were born and bred in the area, none of us want to see it go downhill any further (if that's possible) and when we go away skiing we discuss what we could do. Not that we're anything special, but we are from the area, have investments in the area, have first-hand knowledge of the problems locally and a bit of money between us. The sticking point always seems to be the LA. As a business, every decision we make matters and if we don't make the right choice, there are consequences -LAs have masses of money and no accountability. Not only that but they are often failed or inept business people. I could run the council. On a budget. Effectively. But why would I (or anyone else capable) bother when you can make your own way?

Everything we have here has been stifled by the LA. Our ice rink is 3/4 normal size. The airshow that the council wouldn't support and said couldn't be done was put on by private individuals and it has become a massive success -now the council has turned it away (it's going to City of Culture to-be, Hull) because it can't handle the crowds, extra bin emptying etc. Our auditorium is something like 100 seats short of being a 'national circuit stadium', our lane swimming pool is so many metres short of full Olympic size etc. They have killed everything that used to be great about Great Grimsby. They have such a stand-offish attitude and would be bankrupt if they were a private company.

Reply to the comment left by "Alan Loughlin" at "14/05/2015 - 09:58":

Allan a prime example of this - a private block of flats sold off plan to professionals, (2008) builder got into difficulty and sold 60% of the remaining flats to a HA after promising it was to be all owner occupier/professional, resulted in working mortgaged people living next to people from the 20 year council waiting list, in three years the block was vandalized and generally run down. Most of the owner occupiers have taken a hit or let their flats and moved out. The price drop is around 40% and half of this is thanks to the HA tenants. The executive block is now a dump it's unbelievable the total disaster. It brings me back to the council property sell off you should not mix up council tenants with buy to let and owner occupiers it's a recipe for disaster the idiots will destroy a place and do, that is why I don't understand why these kind of people seem to get endless help ? what is the solution ?

Reply to the comment left by "Simon " at "14/05/2015 - 21:02":

We should trial, for once, NOT helping. It just maybe yield the desired effect -those that realise they are not going to get handouts will be made to help themselves. Worth a go...

this is true, we need to be much, much less liberal.

Exactly
I had a big row months ago with a council tenant where flats are half council and half private. My house is on the corner.

He was effing and blinding and I said to him I will get him out through the council if he carries on. He said it's normal for him to curse amongst his kids and I can't get him out.
I said I don't pay for a mortgage and work 60 hour weeks to have to listen to his swearing non stop. He just didn't get it and told.me to f off. So I said I would if he can beat me in a fight there and then. Right or wrong I don't care.
. He scampered back to his flat. He now doesn't say a word to me or swear in the street.. Point being. We should not take crap from lazy idiots that sponge off our tax money. We are not any higher up in stature but we who do work hard to get where we are, and should defend our ground come rain or shine. All your arguments on this blog are valid.

just scum, and the liberals amongst us just encourage this