Tag: winter

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Huge Rise In No Fault Evictions Prompts Request To Reinstate UK ban.

The number of households that rent their homes has risen dramatically since it’s reintroduction after the pandemic.

Figures show that the figures are now higher than pre pandemic levels thus resulting in campaigners and groups to call for the government to ban no fault evictions.

Figures show that up to 20,000 households in England have been made homeless by landlords that used section 21 notices in 2021/22. This has increased from approximately 9,000 in the previous financial year. These figures are not only alarming and are also very concerning.

Housing campaigners have expressed their concerns about no fault evictions for quite some time saying that no fault notices are often used as an excuse to inflict ‘revenge evictions’ using complaints such as essential work needed to be done to their housing or complaints about rent increases and suchlike.

Former head of the civil service, Sir Bob Kerslake former head of the civil service warned of a catastrophic level of people and families facing homeless, this will then put even more pressure on already overburdened and stretched to the limit councils and local authorities that are already struggling to find emergency and temporary accommodation for those in need. homelessness crisis.

Needless to say the Conservative government promised back in 2019 to end no fault evictions but have yet to pass the legislation needed.

The huge rise of people becoming homeless as a result of no-fault evictions is mostly down to the fact that during most of the pandemic. During this time the government had successfully acted to prevent a predicted surge in homelessness as part of its ‘everyone in’ strategy to tackle rough sleeping.

However as the latest figures show that the return of no-fault evictions are now causing more homelessness than they were in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

During the pandemic, the government had introduced a stay on house evictions with the two month notice period extended. The eviction ban was lifted in England in June 2021, and in October eviction notice periods reverted to two months.

Fiona Colley, director of social change at Homeless Link which is a membership organisation stated that the latest figures are ‘alarming.

Colley went on to say “The economic pressures we are facing are pushing more and more people to the edge as the pandemic protections ended,” also expressing her concerns that ‘The cost of living crisis has exacerbated rather than caused this issue.’

Nick Ballard, head organiser at Acorn, a tenants activist organisation is quoted as saying that they have seen a huge increase in the number of members seeking help to fight no-fault evictions.

Ballard saying “It can be devastating. At the ‘better’ end it means uprooting entire families whilst at the more extreme end this is the leading cause of homelessness. People end up in overcrowded temporary accommodation with many forced to rough sleep.”

The figures also show a 24% rise in the number of households with dependant children requesting help from councils and local authorities to prevent them becoming homeless. This is compared with figures for the previous year. Also seen is increases in the number of employed people and black and Asian people forced to present themselves as homeless.

Noting that the number of households threatened with homelessness remained below the pre-Covid level in 2019-20.

Section 21 notices are allowed under the 1988 Housing Act. This permits property owners to evict tenants without giving any reason.

Once again the Conservative government has been criticised by many for blatantly failing to act on its promise to end the practice. In their 2019 manifesto they promised to abolish it saying that it is “a better deal for renters”.

As previously noted the necessary legislation is yet to be passed. As part of  Queen’s speech in May 2022  they had confirmed that a renters reform bill would be introduced in the 2022-23 parliamentary session. Details about this are very unclear also.

The proposal was that a tenancy will only be allowed to end if A, the tenant ends it, or B, if the landlord has a proven valid ground for possession. Also new grounds would be created to allow landlords to sell or move close family members into their properties and action concerning persistent rent arrears and antisocial behaviour will be strengthened.

Matt Downie, chief executive of the homeless charity Shelter said “The prime minister must commit to introducing the renters reform bill, to help give renters proper protection from being hit with a no-fault eviction and set out a clear plan to provide genuinely affordable homes,” He continued to say that “Only through such decisive action can thousands more people be protected from homelessness in the coming months.”

A spokesperson for the governments Department for Levelling Up Housing and communities is quoted as saying “A fair deal for renters remains a priority for the government. We are giving councils £316m to tackle homelessness and make sure families are not left without a roof over their heads.”

However the government are continuing with their failure to act upon these issues and implement the legislation needed to make the changes requested.

Hardly a surprise though, my bet is that its been put in a drawer and forgotten about.

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Please read, share and tweet this report, its vitally important that we continue to inform people that issues such as this are happening. This in turn can help people.

A huge thanks to everyone that reads, shares, subscribes to and has helped to keep my blog and campaign going. I literally couldn’t do this without your help.

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Thank you!

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DWP Refusing To Follow Recommendations During Cost Of Living Crisis

Under the cover of Queen Elizabeths death the DWP (Department of work and Pensions) have been busy inflicting cruelty upon claimants. They never miss a chance to show their hatred of social security recipients, especially when they think it’ll be overlooked.

Once again the government and the DWP have refused to listen to and consider any recommendations that would help claimants financially during the cost of living crisis. Apparently even ignoring the fact that the said recommendations were made by the Commons Work and Pensions Committee.


Details included in the recommendations made by MPs are that there be a pause in the way that the DWP take deductions from social security payments, for example when a claimant owes the DWP money for loans or overpayments and suchlike.

As reported by Benefits and Work the DWP’s excuse for ignoring this request is that it is apparently ‘not in the claimant’s best interest’ to do so, stating that if the debt recovery system would be to reintroduced after next April’s benefits uprating, claimants ‘may feel no better off as a result’.

The mind boggles, they aren’t even trying to come up with half decent excuses are they.


The truth is that it’s in the DWPs best interest to make claimants repay debts at a time that they cannot reasonably afford to do so, and it comes as no surprise that they will refuse to do do until their social security have been increased thus resulting in claimants no better off financially.

Debt repayments either made by the DWP or other organisations are unfair. They take monies away from claimants payments leaving them unable to pay for even the most basic things. The repayment rates are decided with absolutely no communication with the claimant, even if they appeal the repayment amount they are likely to be ignored.

The cruelty of this decision cannot be ignored. At a time when thousands of claimants working and not working are dependant upon food banks and unable to pay the cost of heating their homes, it is vital that this help is given now.

Thousands of claimants are facing a long, cold winter which will undoubtably result in illness or even death and still the government are refusing to acknowledge their suffering, after all it won’t affect them so it simply doesn’t matter.



With Liz Truss at the helm of the government we are facing a more extreme right wing government that seeks to punish claimants even more than they do already. It’s a scary thought and one we can’t ignore.

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My apologies for the lack of blog update last week. with the news of Queen Elizabeths death it would have got buried underneath all of the other news leaving it likely to be ignored.

Thanks to Benefits and Work for bringing this to my attention. Keep up the good work!

A huge thank you to everyone that reads, shares my blog updates, and also everyone that has helped me to keep this blog and campaign going. I don’t receive any payments for any of the work that I do and to say it’s a massive struggle is an understatement.

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FUEL POVERTY A PRICE TOO HIGH FOR MANY

The impact of fuel poverty in 2021 is severe and all encompassing. With the cost of gas and electric rising dramatically this year it leaves thousands unable to even make the choice between heating and eating because they can afford neither.

The reduction in Universal Credit payments and benefit levels not rising enough with inflation leaves thousands in despair, living in cold and often dark housing. Poor households being hit by a “double whammy” of energy price increases and benefit cuts at the same time.

We’ve got a saying here in the north west of England, a saying that Peter Kay made famous, but it’s one that many of us say every day. ‘Turn the big light off’ and also ‘Shut the door you’re letting the cold in’. Whilst these were said in jest, many a joke comes from the harsh reality of life.

Thousands of parents, working and not working will be worrying about how they’ll feed their children and keep them warm, when they shouldn’t have to make that choice at all.

On top of this stay at home rules caused by the pandemic have cost some households at least an extra £45 per month more in increased heating and electricity bills. I say at least because this cost will now increase because of energy cost increases.
This means that the numbers of people, many not previously in fuel poverty are forced to make the stark choice between heating and eating.



Recently, Citizens Advice estimated that an extra 600,000 households had fallen into fuel poverty due to previous lockdowns and separate figures also show millions of people are already way behind on their fuel bills.

An additional concern is that fuel poverty can make respiratory illnesses worse meaning conditions such as Covid and long term health conditions are exacerbated by being forced to live in cold damp homes. This is a concern that disabled and ill people have had for a long time now, but the government are refusing to even address this, let alone help.


While the long term solution to ending fuel poverty is more energy efficient buildings and programmes such as the Government’s Green Homes Grant will help to facilitate this, there is a real urgent need for immediate energy debt relief for millions of families immediately.

Whilst we are made aware of the amount of people that have died as a result of Covid 19, the public are rarely kept informed about the excess winter deaths in England and Wales .

Since 2000, excess winter deaths in England and Wales had remained generally at around 25,000. It is estimated that around 10% of these deaths were caused directly by fuel poverty. This is a large amount of people dying as a result of being cold which I fear will become much higher due to the recent energy price increases.

To give you an example my electric is now costing me £90 a month compared to the previous cost being approximately £50, and my gas charges have risen to at least £100 compared to approximately £60. I, like so many others try to keep costs down as much as possible.

Please read my previous blog detailing my energy saving techniques.

To add to this, most people living in fuel poverty are dependant upon pay as you go energy due to previous energy debts, or having the meters already being in their home and are unable to change them.

Paying back energy debt on pre paid meters is incredibly expensive even before the price rises. Those in this position will no longer be able to afford to heat their homes because the price is too high. Once your credit has gone, its gone leaving people forced to live in cold homes,

In an idea world, the government would have stepped in to challenge the price increases and to also help the public to cope with the cost increases.

Meanwhile the prime ministers has parties in number 10 ignoring the quarantine rules and carry on as though nothing has happened and nothing has changed. One rule for them and another for us as par the norm.

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If you live in the Greater Manchester area and you’d like to get involved please join https:\\manchesterdpac.com You will find likeminded people and will be given opportunities to join in activities that they are doing.

Unite Community is a trade union organisation created for those that aren’t working. It’s well worth joining however there is a small payment to join. They offer help, advice and even training. You can join them over at http:\\join.unitetheunion.org

A huge thank you to everyone that reads, likes and shares my blog posts. This not only means the word to me it also enables the truth about the reality of being poor in the UK to get out there. Every share means that awareness has been raised and people no longer feel alone.

I don’t get paid for any of the work that I do and to say its a struggle is an understatement. Yet again this week has been a tough one for me but I aim to publish at least one blog post per week.

If you’d like to support my blog and my campaign theres a PayPal donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

A huge thank you to those that have helped, I couldn’t do this without you.

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Universal Credit uplift ends leaving thousands hungry and cold.

Well it came as no surprise to see that the government ignored the petitions signed by the public, demonstrations from DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) and pressure from MPs to end the £20 Universal Credit that was introduced during the pandemic.

I and many others expected this to happen because the Tory party is an evil, cruel machine that won’t stop until the poor and disabled are gone and destroyed. They want the working class totally compliant to their needs and not their own, this has been proven in the policies and decisions that they make.

Universal Credit wasn’t constructed to help people, instead it does the opposite. If you’re unemployed the payments given aren’t enough to live on let alone survive. If you’re working you can never satisfy the system and are put under immense pressure to find more working hours.

As well as the reduction of monies given to claimants money for debts is also garnished and taken away before their payments are received. This leaves the claimant with virtually nothing to live on after paying their rents which are constantly increasing.

Some people. say that you can get these payments reduced, when in reality it’s either impossible to or at best extremely difficult to do so. The debt repayment amounts are usually implemented without consulting the claimant and they aren’t taking their income, or lack of it into consideration.

DWP and council tax debts amongst others have been the cause of people taking their own lives and attempting to do so. Having no money to provide for yourself and family members makes you feel worthless and its very understandable that people can’t see the point of being alive anymore.

Feeling like a failure to yourself and your family if you have one is soul destroying, it leaves you questioning what have I done wrong to deserve this? In reality they’ve done nothing wrong at all. The fault lies totally at the governments feet and their cruel and heartless polices.

Once you step back it’s easy to see why the government does this. They do it because they see disabled and poor people as surplus to requirements. If they can’t make a profit out of you then they’ll persecute the hell out of you. They do this until a persons on their deathbed and beyond and no apologies are given for doing this.

Then the pandemic arrived and at first the government tried to ignore it, they tried to downplay it until they could no longer do so. When they did start to address it the measures that they took were far from adequate and damn right dangerous. Basically they didn’t care if the working class died because they are surplus to requirements anyway.

After much pressure being put on them by the opposition, campaigners like myself and even Tory Mp’s they reluctantly introduced the £20 uplift Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit claimants which was virtually their admission that the monies being given weren’t adequate.

For some the £20 uplift might appear to be nothing, some still think that everyone has this amount of money to hand when in reality they don’t.

When you have nothing, no money at all £20 makes a massive difference, it made the difference between eating and not eating, heating and not heating and it greatly improved the quality of life of thousands of people.

The uplift has proven too greatly improve a persons and their families life, it was an extra buffer that they could rely on and it made a big improvement in their lives. It also improved the economy because people had a little bit more money to spend.

As soon as the first date was given we campaigned hard to prevent it from happening and it worked. The government withdrew their plans and moved the date until October and this is where we are now.

I’ve had many phone calls and emails from people asking me what will they do next, is there any more funding that they can access and sadly the answer was no, no there isn’t. It’s gone and theres nothing that can be done about it.

The governments decision to end the uplift has caused and will cause great distress and illness for many. Trying to feed yourself and your family will be back to near impossible forcing them to go back to food banks for help.

Foodbanks rely upon donations of food though, and many of the people that donate food are poor themselves so I expect food donations will decrease making it very hard for the to continue with their work.

The governments answer to this is to find more work and to ask your boss for a pay increase and more working hours. This is extremely hard to get though because There might not be any extra hours available and jobs can be hard to get.

Theresa Coffey also announced that she’s going to target disabled people who think that they can’t work because in her warped world they can. To say this is cruel beyond belief is an understatement. They know that they can’t work, they know that its impossible for them to work and it’s extremely hard to find an employer that is willing to make their business premises disabled friendly and be understanding of a persons disability.

Whilst Coffey was singing about having the time of her life on Karaoke at the Tory party Conference, thousands of people were and still are in distress and falling deeper into poverty because of the decisions that she’s made and is making.

I’ve never had any illusion that the Tory party would care for the working class. I grew up under the shadow of Thatcher and I lived in poverty then, having holes in my shoes was a regular occurrence. I knew that they’re cruel and have swinging bricks where their hearts should be.

This Tory government has taken cruelty to a whole different level though, they’re monsters and we must keep campaigning against their evil plans. There are more of us than them and we will never forget their cruelty.

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A big shout out goes to DPAC for their amazing week of action against the withdrawal of the uplift, and also campaigning to get it given to those on legacy benefits also. To say they’re amazing is an understatement.

I have some bad news though. My yearly payment for this website host and my domain name is coming up in November. In total it comes to £115 and I just don’t have the money to renew it.

I hardly have enough money to live on as it is and I’m reliant upon food banks and kindness. £115 may as well be a million pounds to me because I just can’t afford to pay it.

I really don’t want to loose all of my work which totals to about eight years of writing, campaigning and raising awareness. To put it bluntly I will be devastated and heartbroken.

I don’t want to change website hosts though because I don’t like change and this payment gives me the add ons and features that I need to keep it going.

My dream was to pass this blog down to my children and The Working Class Movement Library in Manchester when I’m long gone.

I really don’t want to stop blogging.

If anyone would like to donate to keep my blog and campaign going theres a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

A huge thank you to everyone that has and does help to keep my blog and campaign going. I honestly couldn’t do this without you.