Cost of renting - Grainger

How can Grainger justify such extortionate rent, nearly 3k a month for what used to be church commission places, on Union street, how do they expect working class people to afford such prices, it's not right!

It's the going rate for the area and they are not in the business of providing social housing? Sad, but true.

Sjf wrote:

How can Grainger justify such extortionate rent, nearly 3k a month for what used to be church commission places, on Union street, how do they expect working class people to afford such prices, it's not right!

The "cost of renting" in today's environment on today's working classes is a long term destruction of health and morale. One of the reasons for the proliferation of food banks ( a word that did not exist in my Borough - world 60 years ago nor my mother's before me) is that rent has to come first and there is little else left for anything else in low income family life today.

Poverty was around in the Borough all those 60 long years ago but the relationship between income and rent was vastly different then and left more doh-re-mi in the pocket than current times

Society must find a way of abolishing private residential landlordism; it has become a modern day scourge and is way past its sell by date.

Get your labour MPs on the case!

It's the result of a market economy introduced by the Tories during the Thatcher years that almost wiped out all social housing in this country.

People voted for her and her successors, and now we are reaping the results of their selfish and short-sighted ballot box leanings.

Tone,

We lived in Strood house,Long Lane. Moved in to luxury ..inside toilet,running water,copper to boil water for bath. We left behind a bomb damaged house which we shared with thousands of mice, a deaf lady on the ground floor..and some very aged man in the Airey (basement)

My Mum was paranoid about paying the rent, it was paid in pennies,half pennies,even farthings...tanners..bobs...probably about ten Bob max.a week. She'd seen enough evictions in her lifetime if people were behind with their rent and had no desire to see that again. I wonder what she would have thought about Church Commissioners selling the family silver so to speak,IE. People's homes.

And as for selling off Aylesbury Estate, Heygate etc. She'd be right at the front of protest march. I am no longer in my beloved Southwark , and in two years can't believe the change in buildings.

But in my reflective moments , I come out of the borough tube, use the toilet near the church..amble past the two garages...go into Chemist corner of Crosby row..past the George pub...nip into Fogdens grocery shop,then into Fogdens hardware store that was adjoined...I may go into Barnets fish shop...or the Bakers Mathias corner of staple street..then home to Strood house..Long Lane was a great place then..

Jan , let's put your mum's rent into today's perspective . I have heard that rents in London can be up to 50% of income. If that applied all those years ago your mum would be earning around a quid a week if her rent was ten bob

That means she had ten bob a week left to spend on everything else. ( best of luck with that one!)

Well, I used to earn 2/6d per hour on Saturdays in a greengrocers around about 1957 so I imagine your mum should have been on about three quid a week at least so the rent was about 17% of income if my guess is right.

That's why we didn't need food banks etc cos there's a world of difference between those two percentages of 50% and 17%.

Admittedly our rents were usually controlled and the places were rudimentary but it does show how doing away with rent controls and the flogging off of public housing , (much of which is back in the hands of Private Landlordism) has contributed to the crazy situation we see today

Tone,

Exactly..in 1955 aged 11 were taught by teachers in school
Economics class we should allow One Seventh of our income for rent or mortgage! Now with your brain what income would we need for rent of £154.00 ( social housing) or £300.00 week private housing..I.e. Bed sit!

I think when we married and was so lucky to get a flat in Guinness Buildings, one general purpose room,minuscule bedroom. Toilet shared with four other families, the rent I am sure was 19 shillings and sixpence a week. To be paid before midday every Monday.

My husband earnt about £10.00 a week..one tenth! No food banks, but we had East Lane stalls, Tower bridge rd. Stalls..three butchers at least in tower bridge rd..now the peoples money has to be spent just to keep a roof over their heads.

No food banks. The nearest thing to that I can remember was when UK had a Butter Mountain and surplus was given to pensioners and people on benefits at Central Hall. And for some unknown reason...tinned corned beef was given too!

Forgot to mention...the 'ten Bob' she would have been left with..fed six of us. Dad had a girder drop on his head during war. Made him unable to work!

It’s disgraceful and more than 3k for what... not everyone is on big wages.. church commissioners should be ashamed as for graingers .. pure greed

Exactly holly, average wage is 34k a year if I'm correct but most of the people I know including myself earn a lot less than that, and what do you get for paying these outrageous rents.... Damp issues, flats that are not insulated, no modern kitchen or bathroom, just bog standard fixture and fittings, only the recently vacated properties get fitted out to attract higher rent, sod the long term residents 😡😡