Property News · November 25, 2016

Housing proposals do not go far enough | Letters


While the chancellor is scratching about like a restless chicken for the odd billion here or there, he ignores the main opportunities for reducing public expenditure. Britain’s welfare system is not designed to help its citizens but its landlords and business owners. £27bn a year goes on housing benefit. None of it sticks to the fingers of tenants. It goes straight to landlords, who raise rents with impunity knowing the state will foot the bill. £30bn goes on working tax credits to supplement the wages of people whose employers refuse to pay them a living wage. Together these benefits account for about a quarter of total welfare costs. They do not benefit poor people at all. Rent controls and the enforcement of minimum wages could cut welfare spending without persecuting poor people and disabled people. Why isn’t Labour proposing this?David ButlerLondon• Rather than tweaking legislation to prevent private landlords and letting agents from making obscene amounts of money from rental properties (Report, 23 November), surely the only genuine solution is to ditch the dogma and return to a national programme of building council housing. However, even in this year of the unexpected, I cannot see common sense making a much-needed comeback.Ian GrieveSteyning, West Sussex Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Housing proposals do not go far enough | Letters

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