'I just want a home for my children' - mum on housing list for 12 years

Gringo180

howamidifferent wrote: »

I'm not for a minute suggesting we return to the days of the laundries or workhouses but in these cases why not have people who have no means to house themselves put up in shared accomodation with people in similar circumstances, instead of giving them houses? Surely it would be an incentive to get out and do better for yourself in the long run? If you want a house of your own then work for it...

Working doesnt guarantee you can afford a mortgage especially with the wages some employers pay particulary in Dublin. Anybody who works a full time job should be able to afford a house but todays society of exploiting workers and under paying them means only a minority can only afford it.

dotsman

gctest50 wrote: »

The place needs babies though or the aging population thing will get worse


"There'll be a million over-65s in Ireland by 2031"

I think you're missing the main point in that. We need babies who grow into productive members of society, not welfare scroungers who only add to the burden.

This woman is a victim of the welfare state, and her children are destined to follow her.

We need to change our policies to dramatically reduce the number of children spawned by scroungers (currently strongly encouraged) and increase the number of children responsible adults are having (currently strongly discouraged).

myshirt

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

They were probably sailors and have gone back out to sea.

Oi, might have been a Pakistani postman for all you know.

LirW

I don't get this sob-story of "kid had to move a few times already". My 7y/o moved 4 times in his life, when I hit the age of 18, I moved 6 times. Kids deal with this pretty well if the parents don't make a big deal out of it.

I think everything else has already been said.

flaneur

One thing we could do as a quick fix for some of the issues, using the excess housing stock in ridiculous locations:

Take a look at where there are houses in ridiculous locations that aren't selling. We still have plenty of post-bonkers-era homes sitting idle in various far flung towns.

Encourage companies that do not need to be in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, the commuter belt around Dublin etc to move there by offering them some cheap/incentivised office space (there are plenty of commercial units sitting idle in these places).

Then try and match up the skills of people living in temp. accommodation with those jobs and encourage them strongly to move there.

Set up a recruitment agency, hire in HR experts etc etc if necessary to do the matching.

Also in some of those ghost estates, whack in some fibre broadband and make them "remote home office hub" and anyone who is struggling in the cities, but could possibly relocate could maybe consider moving there?

There are relatively cheap ways of getting some of that unnecessary housing infrastructure in ridiculous locations used up, even if it means a bit of incentivisation and subsidising a some fibre optics.

---

In the meantime, figure out why the hell construction costs are so high in the cities. It is *not* building standards or fancy designs as the quality of our buildings are not particularly high by international standards. The costs have to be coming from everything else: land, financing, levies, taxes or whatever else.

We need to fix the problem and make the housing market and the way we finance it work for the country - not for a bunch of speculators who are basically milking us dry.

seamus

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Maybe we need to look at paying people in areas with a high level of welfare dependency to go to college? It sure costs less than a life of taxpayer dependency.

Perhaps. I'm always wary of direct payments like this though. You may just be encouraging other people to reduce their income, lie about it, or move out of home to avail of it.

This is a complicated issue. Society tells us that we should all work hard at a good job, earn good money, buy big houses and aim to be a millionaire, retired by the time we're fifty.

That's neither necessary on an individual level nor desirable at a social level. Someone who works as a welder and brings home €30k a year is no less successful than a banker bringing home €300k a year. Everybody dies, the contents of your bank account when you die isn't noted on any permanent record.

Everyone should be encouraged to work, to earn enough that they can wash their own face and contribute to society. It doesn't matter what you work at, but prioritise mental stimulation, socialising & happiness above how much you earn.

Stop promoting high-paying jobs, stop corralling everyone into college. There are enough people who want to be doctors and architects and bankers, you don't need to encourage them. Start throwing the advertising and the perks at the low-paying jobs. The binmen and the brickies and the shop workers. Show people that any honest day's work is rewarding and valuable, and that there's as much honour and dignity in flipping burgers as there is in removing organs. Then you'll begin to see a society where people are happy to engage and to contribute.

We're taught that working is a slog, you break your balls working for someone else, 40 miserable years at the coalface and then you die. Is it any wonder that a segment of society opts out of that? Maybe we're the chumps and they've got it right.

boardsuser1

I haven't read the article before posting this.

My own case was as follows;

Now 32 in a council house.

Have 4 children and 2 more on the way, the 1st child is from a previous relationship and i maintain them.

I was placed into my own apartment at 17 by the then Southern Health Board having spent the previous half a decade in state care.

My family were and very much still are dysfunctional and i was the unwanted child, it showed as well as they tried every means possible to get rid of me once and for all.

Aged 18 i was asked by the S.H.B to register for the housing list, 18 & single but working, no problem i did.

I've been in and out of work due to health reasons over the last 15/16 years.

In 2012 with 2 full time children and 1 part time we were allocated a council house, the rent started at €50 per week, now it stands at €140 due to the income between us being high, the wife works full time, i'm currently employed but out sick.

Earlier this year before my sick leave began, we decided we would like to buy a house, so we applied for a mortgage and were granted one.

That is the only good bit, what we were offered was just over €100,000.

We couldn't afford anything on the market to for our requirements and while we could buy the house we live in, it is in need of extensive work and we wouldn't have enough to refurbish with the remaining money, we are now in the position of just having to apply to the council for a transfer to a larger property and hopefully purchase that god willing!

gazzer

LirW wrote: »

I don't get this sob-story of "kid had to move a few times already". My 7y/o moved 4 times in his life, when I hit the age of 18, I moved 6 times. Kids deal with this pretty well if the parents don't make a big deal out of it.

I think everything else has already been said.

Exactly. By the time I was 5 I had lived in 4 different locations. By the time I was 22 I had lived in 10

osarusan

As long as you have a welfare system in place, you are going to get a certain number of people who will abuse/milk it.

By reducing/removing support to the point that it becomes unattractive to them, you make everybody else on support suffer also.

It's an entitlement/attitudinal issue among those who milk the system, and truly, I don't really know what can be done about that.

speedboatchase

I know nothing about the law on this, but can people genuinely apply for housing at the age of 18, with no dependents?!

PuppyMcPupFace

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

I haven't read the article before posting this.

My own case was as follows;

Now 32 in a council house.

Have 4 children and 2 more on the way, the 1st child is from a previous relationship and i maintain them.

I was placed into my own apartment at 17 by the then Southern Health Board having spent the previous half a decade in state care.

My family were and very much still are dysfunctional and i was the unwanted child, it showed as well as they tried every means possible to get rid of me once and for all.

Aged 18 i was asked by the S.H.B to register for the housing list, 18 & single but working, no problem i did.

I've been in and out of work due to health reasons over the last 15/16 years.

In 2012 with 2 full time children and 1 part time we were allocated a council house, the rent started at €50 per week, now it stands at €140 due to the income between us being high, the wife works full time, i'm currently employed but out sick.

Earlier this year before my sick leave began, we decided we would like to buy a house, so we applied for a mortgage and were granted one.

That is the only good bit, what we were offered was just over €100,000.

We couldn't afford anything on the market to for our requirements and while we could buy the house we live in, it is in need of extensive work and we wouldn't have enough to refurbish with the remaining money, we are now in the position of just having to apply to the council for a transfer to a larger property and hopefully purchase that god willing!

Or not have the other children, but personal responsibility isn't big in this country sadly.

Lux23

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why can't people have goals and work like nearly everyone else and get their own roof over their heads.

If you can't afford to have a child then stop having them especially when you know you are in hard times and strapped for cash.

If everyone decided not to have children because they were strapped for cash, there would be no-one around to pay our pensions and look after us when we are old. It is a good thing for our society that some women have children they can't always provide for, we are already going to have to work till 70 if the birth rate drops that will be more like 75!

boardsuser1

PuppyMcPupFace wrote: »

Or not have the other children, but personal responsibility isn't big in this country sadly.

We can afford them. I have a full time job as does my wife.

I have long standing medical problems of a congenital nature.

Foxhound38

Gringo180 wrote: »

Working doesnt guarantee you can afford a mortgage especially with the wages some employers pay particulary in Dublin. Anybody who works a full time job should be able to afford a house but todays society of exploiting workers and under paying them means only a minority can only afford it.

The council outbidding working people to provide housing for people who have never worked isn't helping matters in this regard.

HONKEY TONK

IMO they should put an end to Council housing.

Change it to limited time government housing where you need to prove you are making an effort to stand on your own two feet.

The Government should then use the money to build affordable housing for everyone with the restriction of buy to rent on these houses.

Owryan

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

I haven't read the article before posting this.

My own case was as follows;

Now 32 in a council house.

Have 4 children and 2 more on the way, the 1st child is from a previous relationship and i maintain them.

I was placed into my own apartment at 17 by the then Southern Health Board having spent the previous half a decade in state care.

My family were and very much still are dysfunctional and i was the unwanted child, it showed as well as they tried every means possible to get rid of me once and for all.

Aged 18 i was asked by the S.H.B to register for the housing list, 18 & single but working, no problem i did.

I've been in and out of work due to health reasons over the last 15/16 years.

In 2012 with 2 full time children and 1 part time we were allocated a council house, the rent started at €50 per week, now it stands at €140 due to the income between us being high, the wife works full time, i'm currently employed but out sick.

Earlier this year before my sick leave began, we decided we would like to buy a house, so we applied for a mortgage and were granted one.

That is the only good bit, what we were offered was just over €100,000.

We couldn't afford anything on the market to for our requirements and while we could buy the house we live in, it is in need of extensive work and we wouldn't have enough to refurbish with the remaining money, we are now in the position of just having to apply to the council for a transfer to a larger property and hopefully purchase that god willing!

Until the bolded bit you had my sympathy. You want the council to provide you with a bigger house so you can then go and buy it out.

No local authority should be selling any of its stock.

Geuze

speedboatchase wrote: »

I know nothing about the law on this, but can people genuinely apply for housing at the age of 18, with no dependents?!

It seems so.

Imagine that being your aspiration at age 18................

Foxhound38

flaneur wrote: »

One thing we could do as a quick fix for some of the issues, using the excess housing stock in ridiculous locations:...

A good, well thought out post. Just wanted to say that

PuppyMcPupFace

Owryan wrote: »

Until the bolded bit you had my sympathy. You want the council to provide you with a bigger house so you can then go and buy it out.

No local authority should be selling any of its stock.

Exactly my point. I had every sympathy for the start in life the poster had but then it was just another gimme gimme story.

boardsuser1

Owryan wrote: »

Until the bolded bit you had my sympathy. You want the council to provide you with a bigger house so you can then go and buy it out.

No local authority should be selling any of its stock.

I'm not looking for sympathy.

I have tried to purchase a property but the bank will not give anything over €100k.

6/7 years ago i'd have gotten a fine place for it.

Stock is regularly sold here, also new stock purchased.

It would be better for us to be paying the €140 a week towards a mortgage as rent is effectively dead money.

SteM

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

We can afford them. I have a full time job as does my wife.

I have long standing medical problems of a congenital nature.

Were you not on some other thread wondering how long it would take to get a council house with more bedrooms now that you were having 2 more kids or something like that?
You can't afford them. If you can't house them properly you can't afford them. Affording them doesn’t just mean feeding them and clothing them.

Geuze

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

I haven't read the article before posting this.

My own case was as follows;

Now 32 in a council house.

Have 4 children and 2 more on the way, the 1st child is from a previous relationship and i maintain them.

I was placed into my own apartment at 17 by the then Southern Health Board having spent the previous half a decade in state care.

My family were and very much still are dysfunctional and i was the unwanted child, it showed as well as they tried every means possible to get rid of me once and for all.

Aged 18 i was asked by the S.H.B to register for the housing list, 18 & single but working, no problem i did.

I've been in and out of work due to health reasons over the last 15/16 years.

In 2012 with 2 full time children and 1 part time we were allocated a council house, the rent started at €50 per week, now it stands at €140 due to the income between us being high, the wife works full time, i'm currently employed but out sick.

Earlier this year before my sick leave began, we decided we would like to buy a house, so we applied for a mortgage and were granted one.

That is the only good bit, what we were offered was just over €100,000.

We couldn't afford anything on the market to for our requirements and while we could buy the house we live in, it is in need of extensive work and we wouldn't have enough to refurbish with the remaining money, we are now in the position of just having to apply to the council for a transfer to a larger property and hopefully purchase that god willing!

If my income was low and not stable, and I had health issues, I don't think I would have six children.

gazzer

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

We can afford them. I have a full time job as does my wife.

I have long standing medical problems of a congenital nature.

You must both have very low paying full time jobs to only be offered a mortgage of 100,000. You should shop around. Some banks offer 3.5 times the combined income.

boardsuser1

SteM wrote: »

Were you not on some other thread wondering how long it would take to get a council house with more bedrooms now that you were having 2 more kids or something like that?
You can't afford them. If you can't house them properly you can't afford them. Affording them doesn’t just mean feeding them and clothing them.

Yup that was me.

We got mortgage approval i stated on that as well. can't get a 3 bed with that kind of money now.

boardsuser1

gazzer wrote: »

You must both have very low paying full time jobs to only be offered a mortgage of 100,000. You should shop around. Some banks offer 3.5 times the combined income.

She's a cleaner and my username explains what i am.

gazzer

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

She's a cleaner and my username explains what i am.

Even if you were both on the minimum wage you should be getting offered a mortgage of roughly €135,000

boardsuser1

To be exact it was €120,000 not that 20k would make a major difference in the property market.

She earns good money, it's my wages that are low.

Driving an artic for €9.25 an hour is very exciting.

ChikiChiki

Sparks43 wrote: »

Ah sure why don't we keep bashing people on welfare.

Or even better to be able to post on the forums a current p60 is required.

Not all that are homeless are wasters. Quite a lot work but still cannot afford to rent or buy at the crazy prices nowadays. But sure let's still run them down

This is an unacceptable case that deserves no sympathy. I have sympathy and am happy to pay taxes towards genuine welfare cases.

This wan is a disgrace to be honest.

bmwguy

I go to work and make myself lots of money so I can pay my mortgage, run my car, buy nice clothes, have a holiday, start a family, enjoy my life.

I don't go to work and make money to give it to people that want the same thing as me but don't want to work for it. But the government makes me pay them through my taxes. However I claim every credit I have so these people get as little as possible from me from income tax. Unfortunately my motor tax, VAT and other indirect taxation makes it's way into their grubby little hands.

There is a certain cohort of people, the majority of them living in the same few areas surrounding major cities that are contributing nothing and just want to take everything.

If any of you are reading this in your more or less free house on your free internet shame on you. Get off your holes and do a bit of productive work for once in your life. Your children are watching you and will be layabout lazy moanyholes living in the same drug and crime ridden hellholes too if you don't set a good example.

Iseedeadpixels

I hate when they go to the media, once saw a girl go to the paper for a house saying she had 3 kids and the current fella left(3 kids 3 diff fathers btw) She got a house and boom fella moves back in.....Didn't see that coming at all :rolleyes:

howamidifferent

Gringo180 wrote: »

Working doesnt guarantee you can afford a mortgage especially with the wages some employers pay particulary in Dublin. Anybody who works a full time job should be able to afford a house but todays society of exploiting workers and under paying them means only a minority can only afford it.

So you cut your cloth to measure and rent somewhere you can afford to pay.
Owning a house is not a right, it's a privilege you save for and aspire to.
Or at least it should be.

We've gone from multi-story tenement houses holding multiple families to the other extreme of single people straight out of school looking for a free ride for life and thinking it's a right like the loony left believe it is.

I believe low paid workers should be helped where possible, those unwilling to work like the person in the article should be pointed towards the ports.

boardsuser1

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

I hate when they go to the media, once saw a girl go to the paper for a house saying she had 3 kids and the current fella left(3 kids 3 diff fathers btw) She got a house and boom fella moves back in.....Didn't see that coming at all :rolleyes:

It's very common around here.

Not a good environment for kids to grow up in though.

Foxhound38

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

I'm not looking for sympathy.

Most people cannot afford 6 kids - that's a lot of kids. Look, you sound nice and congratulations and all power to you and I hope it works out for you, but I truly can't get my head around the idea that someone in this day and age could think that 6 kids when you can't get a house is a reasonable thing to want.

osarusan

howamidifferent wrote: »

those unwilling to work like the person in the article should be pointed towards the ports.

And they won't go anywhere, and what then?

boardsuser1

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Most people cannot afford 6 kids - that's a lot of kids. Look, you sound nice and congratulations and all power to you and I hope it works out for you, but I truly can't get my head around the idea that someone in this day and age could think that 6 kids when you can't get a house is a reasonable thing to want.

If you sat down with me you would see i'm not one of these people that wants a free ride or life long hand outs.

5 of the kids will be with me full time.

i do not have the other child overnights although the mother is pressing me.

I have every intention of achieving my goal of owning my house by 40.

I'm not too far from it.

.......

This post has been deleted.

I wonder what percentage of those on the housing list and in various forms of "homelessness" are like this lady?

By like this lady I mean, shouldn't be on it.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

If you sat down with me you would see i'm not one of these people that wants a free ride or life long hand outs.

5 of the kids will be with me full time.

i do not have the other child overnights although the mother is pressing me.

I have every intention of achieving my goal of owning my house by 40.

I'm not too far from it.

By expecting the tax payer to pick up the shortfall between what your mortgage is and what you get for your money. You state you could buy the one you're in but won't because it needs to be done up

PuppyMcPupFace

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

I hate when they go to the media, once saw a girl go to the paper for a house saying she had 3 kids and the current fella left(3 kids 3 diff fathers btw) She got a house and boom fella moves back in.....Didn't see that coming at all :rolleyes:

Never, these are fine upstanding wimmins who would not lie just to get a cheap house without having to work.

/sarcasm

neris

the way things are going theres going to be more leeches in this country soon the normal tax paying workers. this sponger has 2 kids and no mention of daddy/daddies

PuppyMcPupFace

....... wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Something about rights no doubt.

neris

osarusan wrote: »

And they won't go anywhere, and what then?

dont give them anything financial or support wise from the state then

Cork Truck Driver

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

We can afford them. I have a full time job as does my wife.

I have long standing medical problems of a congenital nature.

You can't afford to house them though.
How anyone in a low paid job with health issues reckons they can afford a family of 6 is beyond me.

osarusan

neris wrote: »

dont give them anything financial or support wise from the state then

And if they don't/won't a job, then what?

boardsuser1

Did she give up being self employed when she became pregnant?

ChikiChiki

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

To be exact it was €120,000 not that 20k would make a major difference in the property market.

She earns good money, it's my wages that are low.

Driving an artic for €9.25 an hour is very exciting.

€9.25 an hour? Im sure you could do much better than that.

This welfare system needs radical overhauling quickly. Honestly I can see reasons why people are incentivised not to work in the current climate which is certainly not the way it should be.

Hector Savage

Surprised she only has 2 kids to be honest, would expect her to have at least 4..

boardsuser1

ChikiChiki wrote: »

€9.25 an hour? Im sure you could do much better than that.

The medical history is the issue.

While i satisfy the criteria to pass a medical for a licence, my medical problems impede me in the physical aspect of the work, hence some employers won't take me on.

I just pull up, open the curtains/back doors and the truck is loaded/unloaded for me.

It's the pulling and shoving in the back and on/off the truck i can't do.

optogirl

Owryan wrote: »

Plus, no mention of kids fathers sure why would they be expected to support the kids, that's the states job.

Effectively, turned 18 and straight on the hand outs train. There is no indication that she is struggling at the moment to make ends meet either.

It's hardly her fault if the fathers aren't contributing

optogirl

Hector Savage wrote: »

Surprised she only has 2 kids to be honest, would expect her to have at least 4..

Why?