Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Met Police Commissioner: ?Non-Crime Hate Incidents Are Poor Policy? Sun Jul 06, 2025 19:00 | Richard Eldred
Sir Mark Rowley has called for scrapping Britain's 43 police forces in favour of 12 'mega forces' in the biggest shake-up in 60 years ? arguing officers must focus on crime, not chasing non-crime hate incidents.
The post Met Police Commissioner: ?Non-Crime Hate Incidents Are Poor Policy? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link This Is How Mass Migration Will Change Britain Beyond Recognition Sun Jul 06, 2025 17:00 | Richard Eldred
Mass immigration is ripping Britain apart, warns Matt Goodwin in the Telegraph; it's set to reduce white Britons to a minority by 2063 and is unleashing a cultural breakdown that our political class refuse to confront.
The post This Is How Mass Migration Will Change Britain Beyond Recognition appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link ?Deeply Troubling? UK Muslim Matchmaking Site Advertises Virgin Brides and Polygamous Marriages Sun Jul 06, 2025 15:00 | Richard Eldred
A UK-based Muslim matchmaking site promoting virgin brides, polygamy and wife-beating advice has sparked outrage over its "deeply troubling" content.
The post ?Deeply Troubling? UK Muslim Matchmaking Site Advertises Virgin Brides and Polygamous Marriages appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Angela Rayner to Put ?Banter Police? in Your Office Sun Jul 06, 2025 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Angela Rayner has been accused of plotting to spy on workplace banter by deploying 'diversity officers' ? paid for by firms ? to eavesdrop and police overheard chats.
The post Angela Rayner to Put ?Banter Police? in Your Office appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Trans Pedestrian Crossing Prompts Lawsuit Against Labour-Led Council Sun Jul 06, 2025 11:00 | Richard Eldred
A trans flag pedestrian crossing funded by Labour-run Camden Council is at the centre of a lawsuit, with critics calling it unlawful political propaganda paid for by the public purse.
The post Trans Pedestrian Crossing Prompts Lawsuit Against Labour-Led Council appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Rent Allowance-More Stealth Cuts?

category national | public consultation / irish social forum | other press author Sunday September 20, 2009 11:08author by Greg T - None (Independent left) Report this post to the editors

Highlighting recent changes to the rent supplement scheme as well as other disturbing developments.

As if June's cut wasn't enough, ( see: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/94053 ) waiting period of up to several months for rent allowance assessment to be completed are going to result from recent changes to the rent supplement scheme . This development may make things next to impossible for any newly unemployed without significant savings, in the meantime more and more people are undoubtedly going to become homeless.
http://www.corkindependent.com/local-news/local-news/co...nces/
(It's nice to see a Labour TD taking action on this issue). As if that isn't worrying enough, just been told by someone I know (coincidentally also in County Cork), that new Rent Allowance claims are not being processed at all in her area. This person was basically informed (informally) that her claim was a waste of time and that due to staff shortages new applications will not get seen to. Sounds suspiciously like yet another stealth on the sly cut. Meanwhile the NAMA plans to bailout the rich continue, gombeen politics as usual. If anyone else knows similar stories they need to be highlighted immediately. Affected people need to kick up a fuss or they will be (conveniently) forgotten.

Related Link: http://www.corkindependent.com/local-news/local-news/concern-about-rent-allowances/
author by shoegirlpublication date Mon Sep 21, 2009 17:35author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Isn't the whole point of rent allowance so that people in EXISTING rented accomodation are subsidised, not so that people who are currently receiving a social welfare payment can choose to change their existing accomodation at a whim?

That said, the changes are harsh on anybody who otherwise would be facing the scenario of having no roof under their head - for example if their landlord is selling up or if the family home is no longer a safe place for them.

Forcing low income households into the market sector should never have been a solution in the first place - accomodation should have been made available via social housing, not via giving guaranteed profits to market landlords at obscene overpriced rates and pushing up demand artificially for private rented property through engineering artificial shortages in social housing through non-provision. (But then spending billions on private sector rents instead? Doesn't even make financial sense if you take into account that the cost of housing rent subsidised households over the last 10 years has probably already far exceeded the cost of actually providing them with permanent council or housing association homes?)

The current policy of locking in this form of "non-provision" by long term leasing from private landlords is doing nothing more than subsidizing the worst kind of profiteering landlords.

 
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy