Congratulations to my daughter's friend - a newish single Mum - on moving into her brand new flat in a nice part of the Boro with her new baby after just a few months on the council waiting list. Thanks also to LBH for supplying all sorts of lovely stuff (in the way of grants), the flat looks very lovely.

Sad then, that she's hardly at the flat as she misses her Mum (Awww!) and finds it hard wit the baby. So she spends the vast majority of her time (including every night) at her Mum's home. Still, alls well that ends well as her unemployed boyfriend (and daddy of the baby) intends to either move to the flat soon or sublet it to a mate. I suppose that the extra cash will be useful to subsidise the nappy expenses and can supply a baby sitter for the odd night out for the happy couple.

Meanwhile, my daughter and her chap are saving madly for a deposit to set up a home. Both in low paid jobs, they are struggling, and have suffered a huge motivational knock by seeing how this young mum (and lazy young Dad) has been mollycoddled by the state, given everything and then doesn't want it!

Summit ain't right

A very familiar scenario.

Are not the Government addressing this very diversive imbalance with the new universal benefit system due to land next year or the one after?

Subletting social housing is against all fair principles and should be dealt with with a Month in pokey to educate offenders that it is not on. The property should be recovered and the same people denied access to social housing for the rest of their lives.

Here's another true story.

Family member (female) with three children, married to a husband on good money (salary over £100,000). Wife does a part time job working for a charity as an interest activity, on or about the minimum wage.

Since the Government announced that it was cutting back child benefit where a family member's income places them in the 40% tax band, the wife has complained about the coming income loss. However, that little problem has now been resolved.

The wife has struck up a non-living-in-relationship with another and younger man who is far less well paid than the husband. The husband has moved out of the family home. The husband pays the now separated wife £1300 per month (£15,600 per year tax free) child maintenance. The separated wife collects another £294 per week (£15,300 per year tax free) from the state in various benefits. The now separated wife earns sufficient income from her charity work to take her up to the £7,500 tax threshold, (another £7,500 tax free per year). The charity work income is now essential because it enables the separated wife to collect working tax credits and child tax credits. The separated wife now has a total tax free income of £38,400 per year. She also claims she is free to live her life as she pleases, without her separated husband. The state is so accommodating.

... and they wonder why we have a balance of payments deficit - must be rocket science ?

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Lets be careful out there !