rent rise

[Ghostrider]

[ArabiaTerra]

[engineer21]

surely the problem is if you keep offering good, new council houses to folk they will never have the intention of getting there own place? because the standards are so high.

i also cant see why we need so much social housing, im 26 have worked since i was 13 doing all manner of crappy stuff but i bought my own house in the town last year, i was saving for a deposit for considrable years whilest prvt renting in aberdeen where you get nothing for 600 a mnth!!
btw no help from parents etc!

yet many folk i know are incapable of saving for a holiday let alone a house, nature of the world now is to borrow then payback how about save then buy....!

i understand there is a shortage of council housing but thats because they keep selling them off! why didnt the council build houses at grantfeild? or turns some old buildings into flats?? they just sell them to builders who then make a massive profit on them!

[daveh]

[tooney1]

Agree engineer21.

The working population need to start being rewarded, and the won't-work with something to aspire to. What we've seen is most prime locations in Lerwick being turned into social housing, with no opportunity to buy.

I also don't agree with public money spent on building single person houses - flats yes, houses no. They're expensive and not an effective use of space. If people want a whole house to themselves they should have to buy it.

[engineer21]

i aggree tooney,

also dont like the fact that they building, one / two bed houses everywhere whats gonna happen in 10yrs when all these folk have kids?? council need to start building 3/4 beds??

its a never ending cycle if they start!

[BigMouth]

The ability to afford to save for a house depends on how much disposable income you have left, along with other factors such as the security of your job. If you are in a string of temporary jobs getting a motgage is going to be really difficult.
_________________
The Shetland Times - Somewhat like a newspaper, but without the crossword.

[robert sandison]

Ababia Terra Regarding keeping the catchment area for the sandy loch undeveloped the main road south already cuts through the sandy loch also there is already a large housing scheme up from the Trebister loch which drains into the sandy loch.I would think housing sites built to the east of the old army road properly done would pose no threat to the water quality of the Sandy loch.You also have already hundreds of sheep doing what comes naturally all around the Loch just now not to mention the hundreds of sea gulls which roost up there at the back of the loch all year round

[shetlandpeat]

Do you have proof of this. Building roads and houses creates pollution. Also living creates pollution. A few sheep pearls compared to car fumes, particles being washe into the water courses. Gardening can also pollute. I would like to see how you think that there will be no more pollution.
_________________
"In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love." -Mother Teresa

[Carlos]

It can always be done, it's only engineering, but the cost it adds is likely a more important factor.
Easier and cheaper to go to the Ness of Sound?

[robert sandison]

I think with the ness of sound they would need to spend a lot on a new road out there only a single track at the moment, and i think they have a policy on not using good land for houses at the moment of course that could be changed with a stroke of the pen by the new council. But back to the Sandy loch it is surprising that they built the new road where they did as a lorry carrying something nasty could easily end up in the loch on a icy morning on
that steep curving road.

[MuckleJoannie]

The Shetland local development plan is here

http://www.shetland.gov.uk/pla.....ntPlan.pdf

The appendices at the end have maps showing the areas that are currently zoned for housing development.
_________________
Facts are chiels that winna ding, An' downa be disputed - Rabbie Burns

[shetlandpeat]

^ I have found that the consultation part is most time consuming, here where I am, the document is in its 5th year and will not be formally approved until next year.

Local development plans are vital, though it is the supplementary stuff that gets overlooked.

If folk are worried about future social housing, now is the time to get on with it.
_________________
"In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love." -Mother Teresa

[robert sandison]

Good news if press reports are to be believed the SIC IS to get the housing support grant this year this will save me alone around £450 a year in the proposed rent increase.By all accounts our MP Tavish Scott deserves a lot of the credit so well done Tavish for your hard work.

[robert sandison]

Good news if press reports are to be believed the SIC IS to get the housing support grant this year this will save me alone around £450 a year in the proposed rent increase.By all accounts our MP Tavish Scott deserves a lot of the credit so well done Tavish for your hard work it has saved a lot of your hard pressed constituants a fair bit of their hard eared cash.

[tooney1]

[jambo6]

[robert sandison]

You are right about the cost of new housing be it Haltland or SIC it all seems to be built to Rolls Royce standards £100 front door locks etc etc

[robert sandison]

So according to the Times housing benefit to be given to the tenant instead of the sic and monthly at that with the onus on the tenant to then pay their rent now what could possibly go wrong with that ?

[ann257]

I take it you're joking Robert.

Where the idea has been roled out nationally it's been a total disaster 'cos' people accidentally spend the money.
I guess the government must think it will make a saving but the housing people will have to pay a fortune trying to make claims from non-payers not to mention the stress it will cause.
Another government issue not thought through properly.

[shetlandpeat]

Sadly, it has been thought through. There would be no risk to the GOV as the contract is between the tenant and house owner. They are the ones who would pay. then, local authorities would not be obliged to house them as they have made themselves homeless. That then means charities would pick up the pieces
Universal Benefit, or Credit will of course mean a lesser amount of income.
_________________
"In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love." -Mother Teresa

[ann257]

How sad Shetlandpeat,

The government just passing the buck so the little people suffer.

[shetlandpeat]

The party that went to Downing Street earlier are trying to get the housing debt removed, this will remove the burden placed on rents, so a little light. Though, someone has issued a FOI request on how much the trip to London cost S.I.C. It seems getting £40,000,000 of debt removed is not the issue with some, though.
The trouble with this present Government is not to look where they are pointing. There are many issues that will be hitting folk in this New Year that they do not want you to notice. Many, more than are unemployed, rely on benefits because of a low wage. There are also many lies told about the welfare budget.
_________________
"In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love." -Mother Teresa

[JustMe]

Hello and Happy New year to SIC Housing/Hjaltland/Private Landlords. Great idea from the government to give housing benefit to me instead of to you. I am going to have a really good piss up with your money before you manage to evict me and I might even manage to get hooked on drugs so I can spend your money on them as well. And maybe with the new Scottish Government rules on housing I will be able to claim that I was not "intentionally homeless" since giving your money to an alcoholic/drug user was rather stupid and I could not control what I did with the money so you will just have to house me again.

Well in fact I do not use drugs and not only can I afford my own alcohol use (misuse) but I am giving up drink in a weeks time to lose weight so fear not as your rent is safe for the moment but this has to be a stupid way to deal with tenants. The me of some 45 years ago would have spent housing benefit on drink/food/smokes/whatever and I do not imagine that the youth of today are any different.

[BigMouth]

Some systems are designed to fail. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why this is being done?
_________________
The Shetland Times - Somewhat like a newspaper, but without the crossword.