One has to be very careful about pointing the finger at landlords and labelling them all as mean and only concerned about their own profits. We all know that we have people living in substandard accommodation and the families suffer with the dampness and the related health issues. We know that this has ramifications for their education and their start in life. They start behind their healthier cohorts in the education system and become tomorrow’s poor.
An exaggeration?----Just go into some of the lower decile schools and talk to the hardworking teachers and teacher aides, who often feed and go way beyond their job descriptions to try to make a difference.
Today’s news that John Key is investigation one of his MP’s in the National Party for not insulating one of her hoses because she couldn’t get a subsidy. I could understand (assuming that the report is true?) a landlord who is stretched to the limit, trying to save money, but an MP is on a reasonable salary and could well have other income sources (not just National MPs, so let’s be fair).
I am going to wait until we know more before going too far in my musings, but this all makes me wonder at the fairness of our system. I have been following a debate on Facebook about people receiving the pension while they are still at work and suggestions about making it means tested. I swing in my thoughts from side to side; unable to comer to a comfortable position. Perhaps it is a ‘middle position, where a phasing process would be best. The bottom line in relation to the above report is that as a society we should not allow such mean, and yes unnecessary profiteering, especially when the victims are so visible.
Let’s continue the debate. Yes, landlords are providing what the Government cannot to the point where everyone is housed and paying fair rents, but don’t label all LL in the same manner.
NO---I AM NOT A LANDLORD!
No comments:
Post a Comment