Social Housing plans do not add up: Why this blogger would join a Leftist budget cuts march

With apologies to some of our regular readers, we are - alas - about to show some leftist sympathies. We do so acknowledging our own working class roots, even though the Trade Union backed Labour Party long since deserted the working class and they now appear to be represented by... the Socialist Workers Party or the BNP?

Anyway, we deeply oppose the news of what is likely to happen to the rents paid by those in supposed "social housing".

Two contrasting takes on this from the Daily Telegraph and from The Independent.

Now, Georgie Boy might not understand normal people and their arrangements - what with him swanning round yachts on Corfu with Labour's Peter Mandelson and the odd, passing Rothschild or two.

But we can't see how the working class - even with jobs - can afford what the proposals are for the cost of supposedly "social housing". Leaping to £250 per week.

Let's break the maths down on this, looking at figures which - hopefully - most people will understand as reasonable.

This may be a bit dull. Grab a pad and paper and follow this through, step-by-step with us.

So, let's look at people with average everyday set ups in... say... the North West. We could have chosen anywhere in the country, of course.

Our imaginary family is a family of four.

They are a father, mother and two schoolkids.

He works as a Sales Administrator for a "well known retailer". His salary is £16,000 per annum.

She works part time as a customer service assistant for Sainsburys. She does sixteen hours a week @ £6.21p per hour.

BEFORE tax and national insurance, he earns £307.69 per week.
BEFORE tax and national insurance, she earns £99.36p per week.

Their combined household income BEFORE tax and national insurance is £407.05p per week.

Subtract from that a reasonable figure for whatever their tax and national insurance might be.

We went to listentotaxman.com and input these figures.

After tax and national insurance, he takes home £249.31
She doesn't earn enough to pay tax and national insurance, so she takes home £99.36

That now gives them a combined weekly income of:
£249.31 + 99.36 = £348.67

Subtract their proposed new rate "social housing" rent of £250 per week.

That leaves them £98.67p

Subtract their council tax (Band B):
Annual = £1199.98
Weekly = £23.08

This now leaves them £75.59

They then have their water rates. These cost £377 per year. Weekly, this comes to £7.25p

Our imaginary family now has £68.34p left.

Then they have their TV license. A colour TV Licence costs £145.50.
Per week, this is £2.80p.

Now our imaginary family has £65.54p remaining.

Their electricity bills cost £400 per year and their gas bills come in at £300 per year. Their utilities therefore cost them a total of £700 per year.
Per week, this means that they must find £13.46p for these domestic bills.

Our imaginary family is now down to just £52.08p per week.

Now they can start looking after themselves.

Imagining that they will never buy anything except for food (they will soon have to walk around naked everywhere, all the time).

From their £52.08p per week, they have an average of £13.02p per week for each mouth that needs feeding.

Per day, this family - with two people working - will have to feed each person spending no more than £1.86p per person per day.

And that is if they walk around naked for the rest of eternity.

Of course, the figure isn't so glum for the day for the entire family. They have, as a family unit, £7.44p per day for all of their food.

What could that buy them?

We went to Domino's Pizza website. A single pizza - medium cheese and tomato - costs £8.99 delivered to a Manchester postcode.

We did not give our imaginary, forced to walk round naked family a telephone, so they would have to order it by carrier pigeon.

Even then, our imaginary family - forced to walk around naked - can no longer afford to share a pizza as their solitary meal per day.

And do remember, we gave our imaginary family the ultra economy council tax band B which probably applies to a one bedroom flat rather than a suitable family house. They should, in a 'Band E' property, be paying £685.70p more per year than we charged them. Had we used this figure, they would have had £38.89p per week to feed themselves - £5.55p for each day's total family food, or £1.39p per person, per day. If they walk round naked.

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With all that in mind, what does Mr. Osborne propose? Where will our imaginary naked family live? On an internment camp? Or maybe they should join the lines for a soup kitchen?

And if they cannot afford to pay the social housing rent, who will live there?

Our imaginary couple, working, bringing up two kids, with jobs that we mere mortals are given can't afford it, Georgie Boy.

There are our figures. You tell them where they should live.

Tent in a field, perhaps? We suspect someone has already made that illegal.

Don't worry, though. We're sure that the globalist bankers, the climate change fraudsters and the European Union will find more ways of reducing the money our family will have left to not be able to afford a pizza.

Nope. Sorry. We will join the Leftists on any march against this one.