My definition of the problem - ‘It’s all a bit tricky and a tad uncomfortable’.
BBC News and then The Henley standard beg to differ. This is a CMF !
So what is a CMF ? The expression comes from my Grandfather via my Dad and it may be mythical but it always makes me smile. Just for background Grandfa was in North Africa in WWII and was decorated and we are v v proud of him!!
So according to Dad, Grandfather said there were 3 stages to a problem
A mistake
An Embarrassment
A CMF which stands for a Complete Military F-up.
Wow ! Can you imagine the look of astonishment and delight on my face when Dad told me this aged approx 18yrs. I think he waited until I had left school before divulging that particularly delicious outrageous expression. Of course I have been on the look out for CMF’s ever since.
But not this one. This time I initially disagreed - This one was an Embarrassment with a capital E which is much worse in my book than a CMF….because it is personal.
The BBC may have been having a good dig at the Government Housing policy but unwittingly Ekaterina ( not her real name) and her Yorkshire Terriers has managed to become the poster girl plus for their story. I haven’t dared asking E if she thought this was a good strategy to find a new billet. I just followed our late Queen’s example and pretended I hadn’t seen the 6’0clock news or the BBC front page on their website a few days later. But now it’s in the Henley Standard and there’s no hiding - not when my dear Mum says in that very particular tone of voice full of familial disapproval
‘Have you seen the Henley Standard Darling ? E is on the front page, the Rev James Mather and you are named too saying that E is going to be made homeless’
- uuugh !!!
It takes me a good 4 hours to admit this to James. We agree to ignore the Henley Standard for about 10 minutes and then go off to the newsagent to get a copy and it’s nothing like as bad as I had feared.
This is a CMF. I can relax. Nothing personal - Government problem etc etc etc !!!
So many thanks to our local rag.
It is unkindly called by some locals the Henley SubStandard as anyone who knows about one particular bit of news always knows there is more to the story than the headline in print and that’s annoying. So the HS can’t win. The locals always know more than they do.
And I’m afraid in my ‘umble opinion this is also true vis a vis the Ukrainians looking for accommodation at the end of their 6 months hosting.
There is a housing shortage. Mrs Thatcher did sell off council houses. We have failed to build new homes to replace those sold into private ownership. Agreed accepted facts.
But there is a private rental market and there is housing benefit and Ukrainans are allowed to work. The private rental market is in chaos. It has moved online with some unexpected side effects. Sure, it is so much easier to click on images of properties and send a pre formed message to the ether to say one is interested in renting - but then there is the tricking business of actually viewing the property and having a deposit and references. All that used to be handled by an estate agent - maybe it still is but the agents are waiting for the referral from the internet whilst their offices are still officially open to renters on the high street.
A particularly wise and kind rental agent explained to me that he doesn’t register people looking for rents any more.
‘It’s gone mad it’s all on Zoopla, Rightmove and Openrent’.
If I want to find accommodation I need to register on those sites.
Trawling round Openrent I mistakenly register as a landlord and find myself on a chat forum where the private landlords are complaining they get hundreds of enquiries - far more than they can handle - they get few responses to messages and people do not turn up for appointments to view -
One landlord suggests the answer is to always ask for a deposit and higher rent to cut out the time wasters….. on the basis one can always negotiate downwards …….et voila now I have one reason why rented accommodation appears soooooo expensive and there are so many people chasing so few properties. But that is the internet for you.
At least the Estate Agent did some vetting and produced a modicum of friction and scrutiny to this market to cut out some time wasting for Landlords.
I try explaining to E that she needs a deposit - she says she has one
She needs to register on the internet not with estate agents on the high street - she says she has done.
She has to turn up on time to any appointment to view with her references and her deposit - then I see fear.
I suspect that no one has given her an appointment to view anything.
The problem goes a stage further - I mean who in their right mind is going to rent their property which is apparently in very high demand to a person with four dogs ??
Maybe someone on a farm ??? Not in the middle of Reading in a flat in the South East. So that is a real problem.
Also E’s attitude doesn’t help. She comes from a family where her mother and her mother’s mother were given basic food and shelter by the government. So when we - (not us actually but other people) tell her that it is the responsibility of the Local Council to house her she believes it - aaaah !!!
I mean technically that is true but is the Local Council actually going to be able to do anything ? It doesn't’ have enough houses for UK citizens let alone Ukrainians.
Finally did you know that in the 1930’s in the lead up to WWII the USA gave 20,000 visas to European Jews to escape Nazi Germany and the UK gave 70,000 visas?
I only mention this to put in context that the ‘Homes for Ukraine Scheme’ and ‘Ukraine Family Scheme’ have between them to date given 129,000 visas. I’m proud of that but we do have to lower our expectations of what the government can do right this minute !
Also did you know that just outside our village in Kidmore End there used to be a refugee camp for Polish refugees following the end of the WWII. People lived in tents for months before they could be housed. TENTS!!!!
Can you imagine anyone agreeing to that in S. Oxfordshire. How times have changed and what a mess !
I remember a particularly controversial speaker telling a Church meeting in 2004 that the ‘state’ had taken on social responsibilities that it could not possibly fulfil and it was heading for disaster. Too right too prophetic.
By the way if anyone knows of anyone who could take E. plus 4 dogs for 6 months do let me know …….
We are not holding our breath.
Finally James is off to Romania on Tuesday to meeting an Orthodox Priest running a shelter for Ukrainians just on the border. We have raised money for Warm clothing etc etc. The idea is that they have temporary shelter as close to their homes as possible so they can go back when the war is over. Now is that a better plan ? Is that exit strategy more likely to work ? Maybe ?
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