Fjool Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 I'm a working man (two jobs in fact) and my wife works. We have two kids in school. I've paid my rent to my private landlord for the last five years, no problem.So... why do you need a council house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 I'm a working man (two jobs in fact) and my wife works. We have two kids in school. I've paid my rent to my private landlord for the last five years, no problem.So... why do you need a council house? There is one very good reason for wanting a council house. The rent compared with renting privately is about half........or less. In fact another reason. Security of tenure. Maybe not all but a lot of private landlords only rent out property a year or so at a time while a council house is for life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjool Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Those are good reasons for wanting a council house, but I asked about need. Quite correctly, imho, 'need' is a better basis for allocating houses than 'want'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 ^^ well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Those are good reasons for wanting a council house, but I asked about need. Quite correctly, imho, 'need' is a better basis for allocating houses than 'want'.Yes indeed I have to agree with you..........need rather than want should be the basis for allocating council houses. That said I guess there are many people in Shetland who could honestly say that they need a council house because they cannot afford the rents charged in the private sector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Those are good reasons for wanting a council house, but I asked about need. Quite correctly, imho, 'need' is a better basis for allocating houses than 'want'. The problem is, a single pregnant woman, or substance addicted young man, doesnt need a 3 bedroom house, and doesn't need to be housed in or around town, but will be allocated one ahead of a family of four living in a two bedroom council house, both working, no arrears, having to commute for almost an hour each twice a day.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMick Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 I'm a working man (two jobs in fact) and my wife works. We have two kids in school. I've paid my rent to my private landlord for the last five years, no problem.So... why do you need a council house? 'Cos my landlord has told us that he may need to move us out soon as he might need the house back. Not saying any more than that, but there's an insecurity of tenure involved. However until he gives us formal notification to quit, it adds nothing to my application. And before anyone mentions mortgage, there's good reasons for not going down that road too. Suffice to say, sometime in the near future me and my family may be in a position to /need/ a council house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabiaTerra Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Those are good reasons for wanting a council house, but I asked about need. Quite correctly, imho, 'need' is a better basis for allocating houses than 'want'. The problem is, a single pregnant woman, or substance addicted young man, doesnt need a 3 bedroom house, and doesn't need to be housed in or around town, but will be allocated one ahead of a family of four living in a two bedroom council house, both working, no arrears, having to commute for almost an hour each twice a day.. I doubt if either a "single pregnant woman" or a "substance addicted young man" will ever be offered a 3 bedroom house. The woman should get a 2 bedroom house if she has a baby on the way, and quite right too. The "substance addicted young man" will get a bedsit or 1 bedroom flat. He won't even be on the list for anything bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 You don't get a house for being pregnant either, single or not, you have to wait until baby is born, just in case something goes wrong. However, I was in a council house in Lerwick when I became pregnant with my second and they couldn't get me out of there fast enough when I requested a house in the country. Although, after a change of circumstances I found myself unable to get into Lerwick for my work (ridiculous bus service that suits absolutely no one) so I'm a stay-at-home mum now. Out of curiosity I asked the council what my chances were of ever getting a house in Lerwick again and they said the waiting list would be years. I need to learn to drive (or I need to find a reliable babysitter so I can have the opportunity to learn how to drive). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caeser Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Noticed on Shetland News that SIC turned down a pile of affordable flats at St Olafs hall during yesterdays planning meeting! Not many spaces to build flats in town now, and if the limited opportunities are going to be turned down it will only get worse. Interesting to note the main councillor who was against it was indeed one of the towns more prominent property developers? Smells a bit methinks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 You don't get a house for being pregnant either, single or not, you have to wait until baby is born, just in case something goes wrong. If you're concidered homeless they do have to find you permanent housing before the child is due. Some human rights thing about children in temporary accommodation. Usually they wait until 3 to 1 week before your due date before moving you. never forget moving heavily pregnant lass into a high hat in glasgow with no working lift, but it was so much better than her having to keep a baby in the Y hostel she was in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Noticed on Shetland News that SIC turned down a pile of affordable flats at St Olafs hall during yesterdays planning meeting! Not many spaces to build flats in town now, and if the limited opportunities are going to be turned down it will only get worse. Interesting to note the main councillor who was against it was indeed one of the towns more prominent property developers? Smells a bit methinks! I have no idea who the main objecting councillor was, and much as I hate to defend any councillor, perhaps he/she/it was simply taking advantage of the situation that presented itself at the meeting. I would like to think that 10 letters and a 100 signature petition all against the development would, and should, carry some significant weight in the eventual decision made, unless of course the majority of said objectors are customers/clients/etc of said developer. I would like to think too that it wasn't the flats part of the development that was the real problem, as while it might be feasible to "encourage" the occupants of six flats to be mostly non-car owners, I'll be damned if you can for the tenants and clients of an office block of that size. That part of the town is, and always has been an annoying bottleneck with no spare tarmac no-place between 8.30 and 5.30 Mon - Fri, any additional wheels is not a good idea. Now, if they'd build the new AHS at Sound or someplace, or do a major upgrade of Breiwick Road and make it the main access to the Knab so that at least that traffic is re-routed the additional congestion might be tolerable, but it still leaves the parking problem, for which there is no easy answer, unless maybe demolishing something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Noticed on Shetland News that SIC turned down a pile of affordable flats at St Olafs hall during yesterdays planning meeting! Not many spaces to build flats in town now, and if the limited opportunities are going to be turned down it will only get worse. Interesting to note the main councillor who was against it was indeed one of the towns more prominent property developers? Smells a bit methinks! Well done whoever the councillor was. That development was judged to require 41 parking spaces and was intending to provide 1 disabled space (yes, one) and 1 loading bay. Anyone who has lived in that area of town will know how bad the parking situation is already. Nobody else would have got away with that, why should you expect Westfish to? The planning files are here http://www.shetland.gov.uk/planningcontrol/apps/pdfs/default.asp?filter=2008_113_PCD The parking survey makes interesting reading. Couldn't find anything about the flats being "affordable" though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caeser Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 I was recently told the flats were destined to Hjaltland Housing Association for one of their schemes. No one would speculatively build eight flats in Lerwick in todays financial climate surely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 The problem is, a single pregnant woman, or substance addicted young man, doesnt need a 3 bedroom house, and doesn't need to be housed in or around town, but will be allocated one ahead of a family of four living in a two bedroom council house, both working, no arrears, having to commute for almost an hour each twice a day.. I doubt if either a "single pregnant woman" or a "substance addicted young man" will ever be offered a 3 bedroom house. The woman should get a 2 bedroom house if she has a baby on the way, and quite right too. The "substance addicted young man" will get a bedsit or 1 bedroom flat. He won't even be on the list for anything bigger. The reason my post was so detailed is because it actually happened like that. To be precise, 2 teenage pregnant women, one older, and one male, all moved into empty 3 bedroom houses while the family remained overcrowded. This is the underlying problem with most peoples experiences. What should happen, both by common sense and national guidelines, isn't what actually happens in real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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