Where are you going to put us when we can’t afford the rent?

n How am I, a single parent of two children, now diagnosed with a life-limiting critical illness and on a pension, meant to manage renting in the private sector for a three-bedroomed house, when the current rental prices are £2,800 and above (unless you’re very lucky)?

n Equally, how is even a two-income, average wage-earning family meant to manage with rents this high?

n How is the average single person meant to manage renting in the private sector when the lowest one-bedroomed rental is around £1,700?

n How do you intend to help people when your current support through the benefit system is up to a rental cap of around £1,400, for a single family with dependants?

n Why is your rental cap so unrealistic?

n Where are you going to put us all, when we can’t afford these rents? (We can’t, by the way).

n What happens to the guy in his 60s working full-time, plus two other jobs just to ensure he has enough to pay his rent as you deem him earning enough money, to manage?

States of Guernsey, I don’t know if you’ve had to work multiple extra jobs or sell your belongings to make basic ends meet. I don’t mean the lovely people that fill the lower-level jobs and are doing their best. I mean those of you who make the big decisions. The ones that earn the bigger money and don’t have to worry about finding coins in the footwells of their cars to buy milk and bread or rely on the wonderful services like Guernsey Welfare or Olio.

Personally, I don’t buy that all landlords are greedy, they’re not. They are taxed and for the most part are good people also trying to make money to make ends meet, but there are some who take the mick with prices, kicking people out so that they can re-rent at extortionate prices. I’ve seen it happen to a good friend or two.

The States of Guernsey needs to do something, now.

Here are my sums:

I take home as a single parent £2,800 including pension, maintenance and disability benefit. My rent is £2,300. I can’t earn extra money, as I am critically ill.

Apparently, I earn enough so I only qualify for a very small rent allowance.

Could you tell me please how £500 is meant to cover the now extortionate electricity bills, water, food and clothing? I don’t know if you have done a food shop lately but I’m lucky to feed my children on that.

States, could you tell me please, for people like me and the thousands of others, how you are going to prevent homelessness, suicides, bankruptcies, children going hungry, social isolation, medical needs not being met, etc?

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