Many families in Eastern England one pay cheque away from loosing their homes

HUNDREDS of thousands of families with children in the East of England could not pay their rent or mortgage for more than a month if they lost their job, new figures from Shelter reveal today (Monday, April 14). The YouGov survey of working adults who pay rent or a mortgage found that with little or no savings to fall back on, 45% of all working families in the East could be just one pay cheque away from losing their home. The research also found that in the east of the country, a quarter of all families face the nightmare scenario of immediately being unable to afford their home if they lost their income. More than 200,000 families (26%) said that if they lost their job this month and could not get another one straight away, they would not be able to make their next rent or mortgage payment from their savings. Kate Murray lives with her five year old daughter and disabled mother. She lost her job as a business manager with only three days’ notice when the company she worked for went bankrupt in October 2013. Kate said: “Before my employer went bankrupt they hadn’t been paying me properly for a while, so I’d started to fall behind on my mortgage. Then I got the letter through the door saying they wanted to take my house back. I was petrified. It’s not the best house but at least it’s our house. I thought, what am I going to do? How am I going to tell my daughter and my mum that we have to move out?” The latest government figures on savings mirror Shelter’s research, revealing that there are 15m working age adults in the UK with no savings at all. The charity’s findings showed that 3.8m working families from across the UK could not pay their rent or mortgage from their savings for more than a month if they lost their job, and 2.4m of these families have no savings to fall back on at all. Liz Clare, who is a helpline advisor at Shelter, said: “This research highlights the financial knife-edge that millions of us now find ourselves on – living month to month, pay cheque to pay cheque. Every day we see the proof that just one piece of bad luck, like a sudden job loss or illness, could tip any of us into a spiral that puts the family home at risk. “Sky-high housing costs and stagnating wages mean that saving is becoming a thing of the past for many people. Most of us simply don’t have enough money in the bank that we can rely on for long enough to get back on our feet. We need better government support to give families the short-term help they need to keep their homes if they fall on hard times. Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Finding another job is hard enough, but without a stable place to live it’s almost impossible. No matter how hard ordinary families work, in today’s ‘knife-edge nation’ any drop in income can all too quickly put their home at serious risk. The government must make sure the safety net is strong enough to stop families falling through the gaps, and going through the tragedy of losing their homes.” Anyone who is worried about losing their home can contact Shelter for free, independent advice. Visit www.shelter.org.uk/advice or call the helpline on 0808 800 4444. Written bySINEAD HOLLAND http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/News/Bishops-Stortford/Families-in-the-East-of-England-one-pay-cheque-away-from-losing-homes-20140414055855.htm?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Housing crisis deepens in East of England

piece Written bySINEAD HOLLAND http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/News/Bishops-Stortford/New-report-reveals-housing-benefit-woe-of-working-families-in-East-20131210064812.htm?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=" "A NEW report by the National Housing Federation (NHF) shows that more working people in the East of England are being forced to ask for help with housing costs to keep a roof over their heads. In the region there has been a 96 per cent increase in those with jobs claiming housing benefit since 2009 – the fourth highest rise in claims across the country. Adding to the strain for people in the East of England, private rents and house prices are expected to rise by 49.5% and almost 34% respectively by 2020, which could result in further severe financial consequences for the taxpayer. Nationally, an extra 310 working people a day – one every five minutes – have asked for help with housing costs to keep the roof over their heads since 2009. Every day this has added £1.7m to the annual housing benefit bill. The report, Home Truths, found that: • England needs 240,000 new homes a year to meet demand, but housebuilding numbers are falling. In 2012-13 107,000 new homes were built, 11 per cent less than in 2009. • Currently rents take up an average of half of people’s disposable income, but in a decade’s time that figure will have risen to 57%. • Nationally, house prices will increase by 35% by 2020, leaving a huge swathe of the population locked out of home ownership for life. • The number of employed housing benefit claimants is up 104% since 2009. As a result, Government spending on housing benefit has risen to £24bn, but most of this money is going to private landlords rather than building the new homes which would stem rising housing costs. Claire Astbury, East of England external affairs manager for the NHF, said: "We hear a lot about ‘making work pay’, but a decent job won’t even cover the cost of a home in many parts of the East of England, and with rising rents and house prices the situation looks set to get even worse. “Nationally, billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is wasted, lining the pockets of private landlords, when it could be better spent building more homes people can afford. Relying on the private rented sector so heavily is a costly sticking plaster rather than a solution. “In towns and cities pulling away from the recession, the dysfunctional housing market is burning the fingers of many people. “Hard-working families are spending more and more of their income on a home and many could be forced to move – away from jobs, schools and relatives. “We need to address the problems of the housing market now, before another generation is left locked out and reliant on taxpayers to keep the roof over their head.” The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has confirmed the pressures on the region's housing market, with expectations for house price growth hitting an 11-year high in November as the amount of homes coming onto the East's market once again fell well short of rapidly rising buyer demand. In all, 48% more chartered surveyors in the region predict prices to continue their upward trend rather than fall back over the coming three months. This is the highest reading since June 2002. Last month also saw prices pick up sharply as a net balance of 54% more respondents reported price growth. Meanwhile, although a lack of stock on the market remains a big challenge, buyer interest in the region is continuing to rise. Last month, a net balance of 46% more surveyors reported that new buyer enquiries had risen. RICS East of England spokesman Jan Hÿtch said: "It’s no secret that the housing market is on the way up, with price and sales expectations on the rise across the region. “The Bank of England’s recent decision to withdraw the Funding for Lending scheme – which allows banks to borrow more cheaply and pass the benefits on to mortgage applicants – could well have some impact on the number of people able to purchase a home, although the improvement in wholesale and retail funding markets may mean the impact on mortgages is relatively limited. “One thing we are very concerned about, however, is the lack of both new and existing homes coming onto the market. “As the Chancellor pointed out last week, housebuilding is on the up, but it is rising nowhere near quickly enough to make up the shortfall that has built up in recent years."

Council cuts in East of England in figures

The shocking figures out today give us another glimpse at the devastating impact of the cuts on local government and local councils. EAST Herts is one of the few local authorities in the East of England which has increased its workforce according to figures released today (Monday, March 11) by the GMB union. It says that Britain's 407 councils now employ 380,500 fewer people than when the coalition government came into office. The number of employees of 52 local authorities in the East of England fell from 217,500 in the first quarter of 2010 to 170,400 in the third quarter of 2012. This is a fall of 47,100 or 21.7 per cent since the General Election in 2010. The fall in Essex is second only to Central Bedfordshire, with the number of employees down by 10,071, or 24.3 per cent, to 31,372 while Herts is in sixth position with a drop of 1,669 or 4.4 per cent to 36,085. In Harlow, the district council's workforce has fallen 22.8 per cent, down from 601 to 464. In Uttlesford the drop is 2.1 per cent, down from 335 to 328. However East Herts payroll increased by 12, up 3.2 per cent from 374 to 386. These are hard hitting devastating cuts. We must point out as the GMB union has failed to mention a few of these councils are labour run and across the country many big cities have a labour council doing the tories dirty work for them. Very little opposition inside the council chamber has been heard a few notable exceptions who have now been expelled or in the process of expulsion for daring to vote against cuts. If no resistance is built inside and outside the councils this figure will only increase as the cuts deepen. TUSC will be looking to provide an electoral alternative across county council elections this may do support TUSC and get involved if you can to fight all the cuts and privatisation going on. Let’s not give labour a clear run to take control of more budgets to wield more axe’s at our jobs and services. Unions like the GMB instead of bleating about how bad the cuts are. Hello we know how bad they are we’re on the sharp end of them how about organising a fight back? If you’re too far up labours ass to see the wood from the trees it’s time to get out and break the link. Funding a party who are making cuts is a disgrace and its time union members reclaimed their unions and turned them into militant fighting unions for the 21st century.

Socialist party eastern region conference

I’ve just returned from an excellent regional conference of the socialist party in eastern region. Held in the centre of Cambridge 15 comrades from across the region got together in a little café to discuss the perspectives for Britain and in the second session our regional perspectives. In the morning we had Steve Score who is a full timer from the East Midlands come to speak and I was very impressed with his contribution a well put across points figures and convincing argument for socialist ideas. Steve touched on TUSC and the recent by elections we contested and lamented the difficulty we face in getting a public profile and to do as well as we did at this stage was a good marker for future struggles as I’ve previously outlined in this blog too. The wider global economic crisis could not be over looked and Steve and other comrades linked the struggles in Britain into the wider crisis in Europe and beyond. The discussion was excellent with many comrades discussing the role of the LabourParty left celebrities such as Owen Jones and their downfalls. Many comrades were aware we are just at the start of a movement and workers in Britain will return to struggle in the coming period despite the setbacks and the sell out’s of various right wing trade union leaders in the last year or so. The afternoon’s session after a lovely lunch was focused more on regional matters the development of TUSC and the 2013 county council elections will be key in the development of building a profile for TUSC in the coming period. As for the socialist party we heard reports of an excellent year for the eastern region anyway with a net growth of 65 odd new comrades we have since lost some due to some leaving the region to go to university moving away or fallen inactive for whatever reason. The regional committee which has been recently restablished after years of low activity is looking to build up a presence and develop the leadership in the eastern region as we look to build the party further still. We have gone from 4 and a bit branches to 9 now and we will look to increase that further in 2013. As Marxists we must patiently explain the alternative arguments and an alterative system to this rotten capitalist system. The number of young comrades joining us in the region is up and also we have a terrific record on ethnic groups joining our party with many Indian/tamal comrades now which can only bode well for our interventions in communities. The youth are a key component with our student work taking off major in the last year with the biggest up take of socialist ideas in our societies across the region for many years. There is plenty of potential for our rapid growth if we in bed the ideas of socialism, democratic Marxism and look to take our newer members with us and always approach new people with a friendly open comradely fashion I think we have big potential. Of course we are in a minority and probably will be for a very long time but we are starting to have an impact across the region in terms of numbers and influence. I can only see the socialist party in the East of England going from strength to strength.

Homelessness on the rise no answer can be found under capitalism

The number of households declared in need of emergency accommodation in England rose by about 25% over the past three years, new figures suggest. SSentif said some 50,290 families and individuals were classed as homeless in 2011/12, up from 40,020 in 2009/10. But the data company said spending on tackling homelessness had fallen from £213.7m to £199.8m over that period. Source: Shelter According to SSentif's figures, 6,120 more households were left homeless in 2011-12 compared to 2009-10. It said the highest percentage increase was in the East of England while the North East was the only region which saw a fall in the number of households declared homeless. SSentif's managing director Judy Aldred said some of the results for specific councils had been "quite shocking". "By analyzing the data at council level we were able to highlight some areas that are showing much greater increases than the national average," she said. "In Birmingham, where homelessness increased 25% from 2009-10 to 2010-11, spend dropped from £7.8m to £5.5mn (29%)." Local housing authorities are legally obliged to provide emergency housing for "priority need" groups without a home, such as households with dependent children. In the East of England where I live I have noticed the housing waiting lists steadily rising. Some will say this is due to the rise in immigration, I’d counter that by saying there simply isn’t the homes there for people and a mass council house genuinely affordable homes building programmed is needed today not sometime in the future. We have a serious housing crisis in this country which needs urgently addressing. Figures like this today shows the real impact of benefit cuts, cuts to local budgets and a huge failure of local councils Tory and labour to build enough homes for their residents. Even if you are lucky enough to still have a home the amount of disposable income individuals have to spend now at its lowest level for ten years at £273 a week says ONS. The Office for National Statistics. Just to compound the misery for many. Its time for socialist solutions to this crisis. There can be no solution under capitalism and the market it has proved it is incapable of meeting the needs of everybody.