Our House...In the Middle of Our Street

The song is Madness and the topic is housing where I have had a meeting with the Bond Board to discuss their role and how to ease access to private sector accommodation by those on benefit or very low incomes which are rarely landlords favourite given the number of "no benefit" signs you see in letting agents windows. It's always good to talk to Melanie the manager of this charity to get a briefing on housing issues and a particular problem which is going to hit Hastings in January. Basically, the Government are on a drive to make indivisduals take more responsibility for the transactions the state makes on their behalf and wish to scale down the amount of direct Housing Benefit payments which go directly from Local Authorities to Landlords. Therefore after Jan 08 the payments will be going directly to tenants with very few exceptions. This is causing some considerable consternation among landlords - amny of whom rather like the direct payments as a way of avoiding rent arrears and may make access to accommodation more problematic. Additionally whilst there is nothing intrinsically wrong with making tenants more responsible some are particularly vulnerable or may face other problems which may make it difficult to manage money. I guess if you are a heroin addict a regular sum of £250 or £300 might make them think about prioritising their little bags of fun rather than paying the rent. The most vulnerable can be exempted but it is a complex process and noone is quite sure how vulnerability is going to be defined. With Melanie I explore what kind of intervention might assist this and we agree to meet with SHELTER and the Hastings Representation and Advice Centre to pursue this. Off to the Dentist and then onto the staff BBQ this afternoon. Once a year we have a get together and the weather is being kind for us. For those who have an interest the run over the Country park this morning was accompanied by the first Stereo MCs album. Coincidentally running in the opposite direction was the person who sent such nice comments about my blog so we wave knowingly. Amazing who you meet when you run. About 2 months ago I ran, almost literally, into Johnny Depp over the Country park.