|
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Jacky, I know and admit to being a little bit out of date, but local councils used to use the following excuses -
1. You made yourself homeless, i.e. you could have stayed in your military house - after your enlistment term had expired ? 2. You have no ties to this town/city, you have lived for the past X years in Portsmouth, Aldershot, Harrogate etc go back there and find accommodation. the former is ridiculous but true and the latter is also ridiculous but true, even when one or both of the couple have mother/father, other relatives living in that town funny they didnt use the same restrictions when they came to provide housing for the Nepalese who wanted to live in the UK after their service in the Ghurkas had finished - alot of their time was spent in Hong Kong. Sorry Jacky, in many ways the backup systems for ex servicemen are more like that from the Napoleonic Wars than a modern society Why do you think there are so many charities for ex servicemen and women, all duplicating the work of other "civilian" charities ?? |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
[QUOTE=jackytoo;9965386]Back in the good ole UK are we...why am I not suprised:rofl: QUOTE]
Yes it is the threads that require a little knowledge of Spain that show how little British expats know about the country they live in |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
I'm sure I've heard it said that the majority of people are only one pay packet away from potential homelessness. So many people (either because they are on very low incomes or have relied too much on credit) haven't been able to save any money, and it only takes something like being made redundant or a relationship breakdown for their whole life to fall apart. Single (or newly single) people without children are particularly vulnerable as they don't get as much welfare support.
My stepdaughter could have been in this position last year, in the UK. She had been living in rented accommodation with her boyfriend. They split up and he moved out, leaving her to pay all the rent. Then she was made redundant. The landlord was not prepared to rent to anyone on Housing Benefit (and her application for Housing Benefit was taking weeks anyway). She was very lucky and found another job (and her boss, who owns some investment properties, included a rented house as part of her salary package) just in time, or she could have ended up homeless. Not everyone who ends up in that situation is there because of alcohol, drug or mental health issues. |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by Domino
(Post 9964740)
back home we had an area of predominately (but not exclusively) immigrant families who used to throw their rubbish out of the window into the very small front garden, piling up week on week.
urgent discussions following rat infestation in the area led to community leaders having strong words with the people concerned - would that work here ?? I think you are right, they are more likely to take notice of those from within their own community rather than foreigners, and they certainly aren't too fond of the police! |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by Lynn R
(Post 9965566)
I think you are right, they are more likely to take notice of those from within their own community rather than foreigners, and they certainly aren't too fond of the police!
I have fairly distant relatives who live in Alhaurin El Grande in a neighbourhood surrounded by Gypsies. They are always complaining about their neighbours, saying stupid theaving Spanish this and that. They are the ones who paid hundreds of thousands of euros to live with the gypsies. They only stick their noses up at them so no wonder their house gets burgled, cars damaged etc |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Yes Jacky back in the good days they even used to give housing priority to ex forces etc. Believe me if in the UK you could get some one from the local authority to show an interest in an homeless serviceman he would need to be on drugs to live in the hovel they may offer him. In my experience it is slightly better for females if they come from a DV background which I can understand. The UK has changes as well as Spain .
|
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Probably the best hope is the SSAFA hostels but they are limited
|
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by cricketman
(Post 9961668)
Families cannot be without somewhere to stay. Luckily there are actually very few cases like this in Spain nowadays. Look at the archives from the 60s and 70s and you will see that almost every Spanish city had shacks on the outskirts where people lived who had come from the countryside
However, with all the bank repossessions this problem is going to get worse I would take blocks of flats from bankrupted property developers (there are 10,000s around) and convert them into social housing. Wouldnt cost too much Ditto, houses that failed to sell at auction when repossesed And then I'd convert empty wharehouses on the edge of the towns into giant food banks That's how big the problem could get in the South of Spain. Fingers crossed that it won't :fingerscrossed: |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by Lynn R
(Post 9965550)
I'm sure I've heard it said that the majority of people are only one pay packet away from potential homelessness. So many people (either because they are on very low incomes or have relied too much on credit) haven't been able to save any money, and it only takes something like being made redundant or a relationship breakdown for their whole life to fall apart. Single (or newly single) people without children are particularly vulnerable as they don't get as much welfare support.
My stepdaughter could have been in this position last year, in the UK. She had been living in rented accommodation with her boyfriend. They split up and he moved out, leaving her to pay all the rent. Then she was made redundant. The landlord was not prepared to rent to anyone on Housing Benefit (and her application for Housing Benefit was taking weeks anyway). She was very lucky and found another job (and her boss, who owns some investment properties, included a rented house as part of her salary package) just in time, or she could have ended up homeless. Not everyone who ends up in that situation is there because of alcohol, drug or mental health issues. There also seem a few here who seem to associate mental illness and alcoholism with being homeless, something that is far from true; while there are some cases they are in the minority. In fact many folk with mental health/substance abuse issues hold down steady jobs and function well in society. |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by bob_bob
(Post 9965770)
Where was this? When I worked as a volunteer we found we could normally sort out housing benefit within 48 hours.
There also seem a few here who seem to associate mental illness and alcoholism with being homeless, something that is far from true; while there are some cases they are in the minority. In fact many folk with mental health/substance abuse issues hold down steady jobs and function well in society. |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by bobd22
(Post 9965926)
All that was said is there are various reasons including these and others for being homeless. By the way those truly abusing substances in my experience which is innner City Estates in the North east do not either function well or hold down steady jobs. Recreational drug/substance abuse by the better off in society is a different matter.
Social housing in the UK is in meltdown, just not enough of it and although folk get financial help with rent the housing stock is more and more in the hands of private landlords; some (like myself) are good guys but some really don't give a dam:thumbdown: I rent a couple of houses to folk who are out of work, my rules are simple, I'll keep the place in tip top condition and they don't wreck the gaff or upset the neighbours...worked so far, a bit of mutual respect works wonders. I dread to think what its like for younger folk in Spain where there is no state help and lets be honest Spain just does not have the money to start paying people; who'd have thought ten years ago that a country like Spain or Ireland would be on its knee's :( |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by bob_bob
(Post 9965770)
Where was this? When I worked as a volunteer we found we could normally sort out housing benefit within 48 hours.
There also seem a few here who seem to associate mental illness and alcoholism with being homeless, something that is far from true; while there are some cases they are in the minority. In fact many folk with mental health/substance abuse issues hold down steady jobs and function well in society. |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by Lynn R
(Post 9966517)
In Leicester - she was unemployed for 3 months, got JSA but nothing else and her Housing Benefit claim had still not been finalised by the time she got her new job.
|
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by steviedeluxe
(Post 9966541)
I know someone here in London who got their eviction order started, because the hb office were dragging their feet (I believe the hb was awarded after around 3 months). It is apparently a deliberate "nudge" policy by the government, so that people who can find work do so instead of relying on hb.
I also understand HB is paid on a 28 day basis, not a calendar month, which upsets some landlords for some reason. |
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Many of the young teenagers that I dealt with from mid 90's on who were substance/drug abusers are no longer with us . Not all died from the abuse quite a lot end up taking their own life. Possibly through sheer desperation having not only destroyed their life but that of their families. In my opinion there is no greater evil than drugs in particular Heroin, and we should have a mandatory life sentence for dealers in heroin.
|
Re: Is your empty home secure!
Originally Posted by bobd22
(Post 9966685)
Many of the young teenagers that I dealt with from mid 90's on who were substance/drug abusers are no longer with us . Not all died from the abuse quite a lot end up taking their own life. Possibly through sheer desperation having not only destroyed their life but that of their families. In my opinion there is no greater evil than drugs in particular Heroin, and we should have a mandatory life sentence for dealers in heroin.
Like you I have a history of dealing with youngsters who destroyed their lives and those of their family by abusing drugs and totally agree with you about the dealers. Rosemary |
| All times are GMT -12. The time now is 4:07 pm. |
Powered by vBulletin: ©2000 - 2026, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.