Housing Crisis

In comparison to my aspirations, no I’m not, I’d like a three bedroom house in a quiet yet train-station accessible-place, near to the communities that I know of.. lol. 
But jokes aside, the association bed-sit that I rent now is better than being NFA for 8 years, homeless for 2 years, and rough sleeping for a net-total of near-a-month.
But I still aspire to get where I would like to be, I have had no end of boons granted to me since being diagnosed this year, so I think I can make it right in the end..

Touay said:

Considering that the native populations in western countries is decreasing, it is weird that there is a housing crisis. 

Most of the migrants I know in the UK are much more hard working that the "natives" here.

This leads to higher tax receipts than was generated by the large number of benefits claimants in the area I lived in - the "natives" who thought society owed then a living in benefits and had mastered the art of scamming the benefits system while doing cash-in-hand jobs on the side or dealing drugs.

There are plenty of hard working natives but my experience is that the ire focussed on immigrants is misplaced.

If we spent half as much energy dealing with the long term unemployed as is spent on immigrant bashing then we would have a much healthier economy.

You mention the native population is shrinking but omit that the population overall is rising, so why miss out where the difference is being made up from?

Who are taking all the relatively low income jobs as food delivery or Uber drivers? Who is willing to work harvesting crops for the farmers now the supply of European labour has dried up? It certainly isn't the long term unemployed sat at home on their X-Box smoking a joint.

So say what you meant. Which western countries and why do you think we face a housing crisis if the native populations are in decline? 

Because at first glance it looked very much like the resident of a country where the "native population" are white repeating rhetoric wheeled out by certain politicians and newspapers about our country being flooded by immigrants from non-white countries and that being why our public services are under strain. 

Wow, that was a really racist comment ....  no-one mentioned race but you.

Yes, very strange that some people might take comments about white people being overwhelmed by a rising tide of non-white immigrants and see some kind of racist undertone. 

Considering that the native populations in western countries is decreasing, it is weird that there is a housing crisis.  Well, there is a reason for it, but you will be falsely accused of hate or racism if you discuss it on this site.

I can understand your frustration with the housing crisis. It's disheartening to feel unhappy with your current living situation and desire a better place, but struggle to find a way to make it happen. It can leave you feeling stuck and unsure of what steps to take next. I experienced this too until I moved. While we were doing repairs and buy aluminum windows Schuco in [link removed]it was distracting and everything got better

I'm not happy with my housing situation. I find it difficult to find a place that suits my sensory needs and when I do find somewhere, it's already been taken or it's too expensive. 

[spam removed by mod]

For me, the most important thing is independence. Even if you have your own dorm room as a place of solitude and don't need to 'hang out' around the clock: Those who primarily need peace, privacy and plenty of time to themselves are better off without direct roommates. If you need pleasant company, more entertainment and liveliness in a shack, you'll probably be happy with a good flat.

I was a carer for both my parents until they passed away.

Both had severe mental health issues which became worse with age and dementia made it even worse.

Life was a nightmare.

I had to live with my mentally ill mother until she passed

Hi California,

Sorry to hear that you're struggling to find a home.

There are numerous housing associations listed in our online directory that assist with finding affordable rented properties. Given your username, I appreciate that it might not be of help, unless you are in fact based in the UK.

The directory link is below, just in case it is of some help to you:

https://www.autism.org.uk/directory/search-results?searchTerm=housing&postalcode=&radius=20

Best wishes,

Kevin Mod

I am struggling to find a home.

Are you happy with your housing conditions?

AutToFindOutMore said:

My employment is a part time job, I don't earn enough to get a mortgage, so I live in housing association flat.

Are you committing fraud ? If not then it's not everyone in Social Housing committing it is it ? Also, if you look at things from a different perspective, you'll find that HA's prefer people either not working or in part-time employment as they are guaranteed regular rent payments from Housing Benefit whereas, others who may find themselves in insecure, zero-hours or precarious work may get into rent arrears and debt very easily. This set-up also benefits large employers who have a staggering amount of part-time staff thus less commitments, lower wages, less employee rights or benefits than they would have employing full-time workers. They also know housing benefit will pay their rent. So from one perspective, this could be seen as public sector subsidies to large private employers. I mean even if someone was working full-time for min-wage or thereabouts and paying full rent in this situation, their rent costs would be 50% or more of their income, leaving them roughly £100 or less to live on for working 40 hours a week ? Again, I'm talking about many who are essential workers who we can't do without. It's also easy to see why there are so many foodbanks being used by those in full-time employment.

I'm not condoning cheats but you can kind of see how the system is in many ways set-up for it to be inevitable. When people are at the bottom or at rock-bottom it is often a case of survival mode. If people lose jobs, get into debt through insecure work, have undiagnosed mental-health problems etc etc then a downward spiral can lead to all sorts of additional problems. It's not a bleeding-heart story and there are a few who will always be cheats for no good reason in all walks of life who some of us struggle to believe they are part of the same human species. Not everything is black & white but it helps to look from many different perspectives to get the bigger picture. So all I'm saying is it's important not to get carried away or focusing only on those few who cheat the system and tarring everyone with the same brush. We have been beaten over the head with this kind of thing for 40 years by the Tabloids and certain politicians for all sorts of reasons, from ramming through austerity, to shifting the heat off themselves or in the run-up to elections to gain votes. It gets a bit tiring after a while, especially when there is absolutely no intention of changing the system for it's biggest benefactors but only to cause more misery at the bottom. 

Like I say, there are plenty of sensational headlines and simple slogans around in the media for ulterior motives, but there aren't many who like to go into any depth or even many prepared to hear it once the can of worms is opened. People prefer the simple headlines & slogans and they know it. 

Turtle said:

My point is, if you have read anything above, that it can often be painted that everyone in Social Housing or on benefits is a cheat and that corruption in general reported/convicted at the bottom of society. This is what you are doing too isn't it ?

I spent the first few years of my life in council housing. My employment is a part time job, I don't earn enough to get a mortgage, so I live in housing association flat. I see things with my own eyes, I speak to other tenants, I take an interest in the subject of social housing so I feel entitled to comment about it.  Since I wrote my comment above, I have recalled further stories about misuse of social of social housing near me , but to prevent discord, I won't relate them here.

Turtle said:

Your link is not reporting any Middle or Upper Class fraud or corruption is it ?

I am sure I could come up with some, if I looked online (mortgage fraud, bad landlords etc).  However, I don't have any first hand experience that I can speak about.

Mortgage-based economies are Faux-Capitalist. The rising prices of housing mean that inflation increases, the Central Banks print money willy-nilly, and the cost of living becomes too much.

My family home and land are set to be sold this coming Friday, already past the Million mark. But my aunt-in-law and brother are obsessed about having the place shining. Irish women are obsessed with leaving the place spotless; we get the stories of how, "Mammy wouldn't let us have a bite to eat unless our room was shining!" It's really a Castle-Catholic thing. (my aunt-in-law was a senior Nurse)

I was looking to rent, until I find my feet, but my aunt-in-law kept saying, "That's dead money!" All the houses for sale I see are 3/4 bedroom family-sized homes. I was stressed out, as it was, with keeping my home barely livable. It's gran all over again, where those four walls was her entire life.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was robbed of a family. And now my brother is dead to me. I feel betrayed. There is a hell of a lot of prayer required, on my part.

AutToFindOutMore said:

There is some fraud in the system.  Some years ago, I knew some people lived in a flat in a hostel, they said that one guy had a place in the flat, but he was rarely there as he really lived with his girlfriend, but he had told the benefits people that he lived at his girlfriends address, he wouldn't have been entitled to benefits.  I think that they found out and ended his tenancy.

Sure. I have never said there wasn't. Ukgov has benefit fraud at 2% or so whilst there are £millions of unclaimed benefits also. Much more than any fraud in fact. 

My point is, if you have read anything above, that it can often be painted that everyone in Social Housing or on benefits is a cheat and that corruption in general reported/convicted at the bottom of society. This is what you are doing too isn't it ? Your link is not reporting any Middle or Upper Class fraud or corruption is it ?

There is widely thought to be some subletting, particularly in big cities such as London, where the demand for housing is large and there are plenty of jobs. I have seen that in tv documentries, also for example subletting of flats is mentioned in this link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40471554?intlink_from_url=&

There is some fraud in the system.  Some years ago, I knew some people lived in a flat in a hostel, they said that one guy had a place in the flat, but he was rarely there as he really lived with his girlfriend, but he had told the benefits people that he lived at his girlfriends address, he wouldn't have been entitled to benefits.  I think that they found out and ended his tenancy.

Again, you are looking through rose-tinted glasses or speaking from your own moral high ground and presenting 2nd or 3rd hand information or gossip as facts whilst painting a picture of everyone deemed beneath you or at the bottom of society as scum-of-the earth types bleeding the system dry. Of course, this is a well oiled system privately owned media rolls out to take away the attention of all the corruption at the top. We saw this endlessly during the financial crisis ; Benefit Street, parents with 20 kids, scroungers, shirkers, Jeremy Kyle and the list is endless. 

In my experience, there are cheats and corruption in all big organisations and individually in all walks of life but they are the minority not the majority. It's just that the mass media is not run or owned by those at the bottom. Are you trying to say there is no corruption from private contractors or individuals carrying out maintenance or public sector contracts or even the awarding of said contracts ? Or that insurance fraud is committed only by those in Social Housing when the vast majority in Social Housing do not have insurance ? No offence but your worldview is upside down and heavily biased.

Plastic said:

Also, it's the never-ending supply of housing benefit money which creates and fuels the housing market's price inflation - while the local authority will cough out cash, the landlord will charge to the hilt - and a bit more..

The amount any authority will pay out is capped at a fixed amount based on number of bedrooms required. The tenant would have to make up the difference if rent charges are above the fixed amount so if you are implying the notion that a landlord can charge what he wants and Housing Benefit will cover it then you are yet again wrong in your opinions.  

Unfortunately, the media today is awash with drip-fed sensationalism that many people mistake as independent Journalism or facts. When these things are repeated often enough people start to believe it as fact. It's pretty pointless engaging in on-the-surface type, knee-jerk - reactionary, tabloid populism that have opinions and simple slogans on everything but knowledge or depth in nothing and confusing it with being informed or being armed with knowledge for a meaningful debate, passionate or actually caring about the subject matter.