“i think this is much needed in stoke on trent because there is a real problem with housing at the moment land lords on private are charging over the odds rent which is fair enough as the mortages have gone up but as us on low incomes simply cant afford these rents. nearly every1 i no is private renting because they cant get a house on the council an this is a national problem not just in stoke. so i just hope that they do as they are sayin an actually build more houses an not spend the money elsewhere once they have got it”

“i have been living on norton estate for nearly 9 years and the standard of council house is below average the council need to sort out the house they have got before taking on more that they wont be able to look after and will slowly fall in to disrepair as most council houses already are, also how long will it take them to build these houses it takes the council months to do simple jobs such as broken widows or leaky taps, i am currently having a new kitchen curtesy of the council it started off that it would take 2 weeks it has now changed to 4 weeks, but i am expecting this to change over the next few weeks and even then i dont expect a decent job. the council need to sort them selves out and actually try living in one of there own houses, i doubt they would be to pleased with the standard.”

“jules from potteries...good point if they really want to help the homeless then convert the stop inn hotel into flats atleast they r safely housed without spending rediculous amounts of money on houses that will just get wrecked when the immigrants move in..thats what i think they are building them for to keep them housed”

“The council build new homes .....before they even think about doing that...they need to sort the ones they already have out ....i mean i waited over 3yrs for a new window ...still waiting for 7mths for them to come out and sort my roof ..not bad service A”

“they probably had the house before going jail, and family kept tenancy going for them, this way they have a flat/ house go back to.

if you're not already a council tenant before getting a criminal recored then you will be excluded from the list upon application.

There are regulations around housing benefit that will pay the rent on a flat while serving 13 weeks or less, so in todays stupidity of serve half and out, means a 6 month sentence will not result in loosing your flat. on top of that you can build up arrears on rent for three months before they can apply to evict, so in essence the 13 weeks becomes 25 weeks, meaning upto a year sentence with secured tenancy, which will sit looking empty for the duration.

Not rocket science, just ask to see the councils allocations policy and look at the exclusion section.

freedom of information act, bless it!”

“There's plenty in Council houses that have been prison & have criminal records, who hasn't got one these days.”

“Forgot to mention that most homeless people, in the stereotypical sense, have criminal records which see them banned from council housing, so how will this help them?”

“There's plenty empty house, have a look around trentham, they are struggling to rent them out. Use those for social housing, has the employment situation worsens, the need will be bigger, for rented. Also I think alot will move away, to find work nothings left in Staffs.”

“Interesting approach from the council to tackle homelessness.

The shortfall of housing stock is due to some stock being transfered to housing associations, (nearly all 1 bed flats in bentilee, now run by Epic, once were council), some being flattened for regeneration which has now ground to a halt, and general disrepair and substandard homes.

This has created the waiting list.

It is interesting the council want to do this to reduce homelessness. Are they not aware that they regulary report to the office of deputy primeminister, (fund homelessness provision) that there are no rough sleepers, and no homeless problem in Stoke?

So why then are they now asking for funds to cure homelessness, they say does not exist?

While there may be those who are homeless and are capable of living alone, there are many that are damaged by life, mental ill health, alcohol abuse, or drugs. Is giving them a house going to fix the problems or homelessness?

A move away from prohibition, and towards tolerance for drugs would be an enlightend move.

To address homelessness correctly is more important than building homes and dumping people in them.

Current stratergies on alcohol, drugs etc are failing. Prohibition has never worked, Al Capone in 1920's America would never have been a criminal if alcohol was still legal during this time.

To move this country forward we need to see through the political propoganda aimed at the sheeple out there who flock and do the politicians bidding without question, who blindly beleive that by flogging the same old tired ideas, proven over 100 years or more to fail, then we will only continue to drop further in to the sewage of modern life.

You can not tackle homelessness in this way, a bigger debate on how to move forward, and reduce harm and cost of drug and alcohol misuse is needed.

This country is living in the dark ages. Old fashioned ideas will not work within modern society.

Information flys round the world at the click of a mouse button, but the for the penny to drop seems to take an eternity, open your eyes and look around. Same ideas for generations, and things have got worse. It will continue to get worse.

Radical solutions are needed to return this once great country to its former position.

Learn from the past and your mistakes, or you will find yourself making the same mistakes.”

“So we get to submit our ideas over a six week consultation period. On what basis has the council been 'bidding' to get £200m of private finance for weeks then - lend us the cash and we'll let you know what it's for later?”