Housing Benefit And Council Tax Benefit: Fill & Download for Free

The UK hands down, no question.My wages are higher, my living expenses can be almost half to a third lower. What cost my family $25,000 a year to just pay for housing, utilities and insurance in America with nothing else, I can have everything paid for and then some.In UK I have a home, all utilities, TV, WiFi, cell phones, groceries petrol, healthcare, higher education, child benefit, 15 hours of free nursery and disposable income with the same amount of money, actually I pay a couple thousand less. I also do not need multiple jobs to live so that means rest and relaxation I never got in the US.Council tax, or the equivalent of property tax is way lower than what I paid in then US, I doubt anyone even with a nice size home pays more than £2000 a year at the highest. In the States you can pay $6,000 or more property tax even with a modest house depending on where you live.General purchases such as fresh produce, meats cheeses are of better quality and inexpensive. The bananas don't go bad in a couple days, I bought a pineapple in Iceland (store) for 90p last year. Back home they would cost $4-5 dollars.I'm more free in UK, I can have a beer and bonfire on a beach in the middle of my city without permission, I could pitch a tent there without being harassed. You can walk with open containers, you can walk through most parks after dark. Pets and children are allowed in pubs and life is quite peaceful and safe.My kids get a quality education in UK, my daughter gets free breakfast with eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon the trimmings. She pays for lunch, but it consists of a quality meal by an actual chef and she is in a public school. In US schools the kids were fed barely edible slop they had to pay for. My mother was a cafeteria lady and would get frustrated that our school district gave her bad produce to serve kids (slimy lettuce, bad bananas etc).One thing I also admire about UK schools, they are funded equally regardless of neighborhood and concentrations of wealth. My daughter’s school was one of the worst schools in UK in the 80’s, but has turned into one of the top 10 schools in the country now and most the kids are from the nearby council flats.In America my son attended a school that was 2 schools in one - yes one building has two schools that separated children of the same age, One was called North Side, the other was the South Side. The South Side kids were from a wealthy neighborhood; their school had new handrails, flower pots, a manicured parking lot and field. My sons’ side had broken handrails, no flower pots, a rocky parking lot, and fields with holes and uneven turf. It was in-your-face discrimination based on income, and kids were the victims.In UK a relatively bright child can get the same education as a wealthy child, - this way they are able to compete with their more affluent peers.NHS is quality - need I say more? It’s the best care I've ever received.There’s government oversight to make sure corporations do not rip people OFGEM, OFCOM and other regulatory bodies give consumers the ability to fight corporations for bad business practices in (for example) energy (OFGEM) and communications (OFCOM). If you need help in any way the Citizens Advice Bureau offers it, and points you in the direction you need.Other reasons why it's better? Well, these links should sway your mind.Statement on Visit to the USA, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights*The 'birth lottery' and economic mobilityOnly 0.1% of US minimum-wage workers can afford a 1-bedroom apartment, report findsThe Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans Living Paycheck to PaycheckNew study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage5,300 U.S. water systems are in violation of lead rulesUS: Lack of Paid Leave Harms Workers, ChildrenThe Wealth Gap in the U.S. Is Worse Than In Russia or IranFears new trade deals with US will increase UK food poisoning | SustainMajority of students cannot afford 95 percent of US collegesWill I ever return to live in the US, not now, not ever. I would only give it consideration if the place collapsed and it rebuilt itself with a similar model to European standards.

Dreadful. Her finest hour was defending the people of the Falkland Islands, which was undoubtedly the right thing to do; but it was done for their benefit and her own, not for the UK's. I would say this was her only positive legacy: she established the principle that Britain will defend even its most far-flung citizens with force, and woe betide anyone who assumes that Britain won't.Apart from that, she accelerated the destruction of the better Britain that the postwar Labour government began (and that destruction continues today under the Tories). Privatisation of government functions puts profits into the hands of private companies without gaining anything for the people who pay the fees, producing a net loss to the taxpayer. Selling off the council houses benefits those who live in them rather than keeping them as a steady source of revenue (and increasingly valuable property) in the hands of the nation. It's never a good idea for a government to sell property if it can possibly avoid it; you never know what it might be worth later on. I'm sure the Russians are kicking themselves for selling Alaska, which turned out to be full of oil.Her approach to the Northern Ireland conflict was bellicose and unhelpful (to put it mildly).Her embrace of Ronald Reagan, like Tony Blair's of George W. Bush, was an embarrassment to the nation. Thatcher and Blair had three times the brains of either of those men and sucking up to them simply because they were American presidents was just craven.Her proposed poll tax provoked riots and she cared not a whit for the civil rights of women, gays, or brown people.She opposed sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa and opposed the reunification of Germany.We're still living with the legacy of her appalling policies. South Yorkshire is still badly impoverished. Many people who had been told that investing in Railtrack, the newly created firm that ran the rail infrastructure when she privatised British Rail, was a good bet lost their shirts when it went under due to mismanagement.She was dumped not by the voters but by her own party as way of cutting their losses. She was bad for the Tories and bad for Britain.

I don't know specifically about Central London; but I can speak from experience in Greater London, specifically South West London.I am in a Catch-22 situation: I am disabled, not least due to a chronic pain condition, which requires large dosages of pain medication; that alone exasperates the existing chronic fatigue. In addition, due to circumstances way beyond my control, I do not have a University education, although I am working my way towards a BSc (Hons) in Biology and Chemistry with the Open University (that has been put on hiatus due to my desktop grinding to a complete hault; due to the specs required for my degree, I will have to self-build a replacement …) … I don't have either the education, or the experience … yet another Catch-22 …Thus, because of my physical and mental health, I am on both ESA (Support Group), and DLA (Higher Mobility component; Middle Care component), with the DLA awarded, by a second tribunal, indefinitely. As I am rapidly approaching middle age, my employment prospects become dimmer. Thankfully, I live in a Housing Association property, but due to a total collapse in my relationship with my parents (especially since their divorce …), I don't hear from either of them, except birthdays and Christmas. In other words, without the ESA, and the concurrent Housing and Council Tax benefits, I would be living only on the DLA, which would barely cover my food shopping, and other bills, let alone rent, and council tax … thus the very distinct possibility of being homeless, and facing council tax arreas …I wish I was able to work, pay taxes, and National Insurance by myself, but I can't. Housing Benefit means a roof over my head, and a secure place to sleep. The incessant cuts, in the name of ‘austerity' means making ends meet becomes harder as the cost of living rises, but any benefit increases are way below inflation.I'm not the only one. Since the shutting down of Remploy, and other such initiatives, people like me, who would like to work, but is caught with either working more hours than both mind and body can withstand, or being dependant entirely on the state; ideally there should be a middle ground where disabled people, like myself, are able to work, but are in a position whereby any shortfall, especially in covering rent and council tax, is met by the state. But that would entail increasing the DWP budget significantly, which is unlikely to happen, especially in our current turbulent times …In short, those, similar to me, who claim Housing Benefit to live in both Inner and Outer London, do so out of necessity. With the massive shortfall in affordable housing, this only exasperates the situation; we simply can't move, as there is no-where else to go. Ironically, there is a surge in property building; but the prices are absurd … a brand new development within walking distance of my flat is advertising a one bedroom flat at £200k … impossibly high, except for the fortunate few who can afford it …Then there is the continuing absurdity of countless houses laying derelict, and in a decrepit, condition. Ironically, for a property developer, thanks to the abusurd taxation rules, it is actually cheaper to build properties valued at £200k +, than it is to bring those houses back into a habiltal condition.So claiming Housing Benefit in Central London is unusal; but as long as it is a Housing Association property, or a Housing Co-operative, then the rent prices are fixed. Where there maybe fraud is in the private rental sector, where rent prices are absurd, and people who are forced to live in such curicumstances, due to situations beyond their control, may find themselves making uncomfortable choices. But even the DWP and the ONS figures show welfare fraud to be a small fraction of the actual budget.TL; DR: Is claiming Housing Benifit in Central London fraud? Not necessarily … but you need to look at both the personal circumstances of the individual, and the wider issues in both housing and employment, before passing judgment…