that i've been given 60days notice on my flat as my landlord has sold my flat and the coincil have classed me as homeless that i scared i will be put in some scary hostel type place while they sort th

[whoopsididitagain]

im beyond gutted as i have just spent a lot of money decorating my flat too.

does anyone have any idea how long the points allocation processs takes and whether the chances of me getting a house/flat are very slim ?

[Baisey]

If you are classed as homeless you shouldnt have to wait. They should rehome you straight away. But then again im no expert I just wanted to leave a message of good luck and I hope everything works itself out.

[whoopsididitagain]

yeah me too im so annoyed scared its untrue ty

[Tortington]

it depends on the area you live in.

even if the landlord has sold your flat - you maybe entitled to fight it

please rin shelter england /scotland - to discuss your particular case.

its very rare that there are scary hostel type places. ime, in an absolute emergency, they put you in B&B

but each cuncil should have a policy on the maximum length of time a person is allowed to stay in a B&B according to their policies.

in my area it is 6 weeks.

i think you need to talk earnestly to the homelessness officer about what he thinks.

so

get in contact with shelter regarding your situation and whether you can fight to stay in your property even though it is sold.

there is a strict eviction process that must be followed by law. so if he hasn't followed it, that might give you some more time.

then

talk to the homelessness officer, ask what the chances of you being housed in 60 days are and is it likley that you wil be put in temporary accom.

ask him to tell you about typical temp accom

ask him for a copy of the councils policy on how long you should be in temp accom

HTH

[mamadiva]

Where abouts are you whoops?

I have 2 friends in a homeless hostel at the moment. They have an 8O little boy. They have been there for 5 months now but the list here is quite bad.

I was homeless before I had DS and we had to live in a temporary homeless flat, sometimes they will put you in one of those, ready furnished and decorated until a suitable house comes up. I know f lots of people who are in these.

[Noonki]

I work in a homeless hostel and some of them aren't that bad.
Definately check with Shelter that you are not entitled to longer in the flat.

Ask your housing assistant (the one who took your details from the council) about how long it takes to get rehoused, here it can take up to 8 months (longer if you have a big family). And you have few choices as to where you are rehoused.

That said our council (manchester) are also doing a renting scheme where they help you find rented accommodation and can help with the bond./ deposit.

the problem with this is that the tenancy is not as secure as a council one and you may eventually have to move again.

My DSS was in a homeless hostel for about 3 months when he was about 9 and as he was an only child he actually enjoyed it as there were always kids to play with.

[Tortington]

is there any reason that you can't get private rented?

[PrammyMammy]

Where are you?
Our landlord gave us 4 weeks notice on our flat when i was about 35 weeks pregnant! I contacted the council that day for help and they classed me as homeless and found me a flat within two weeks. They did ask me if i had anywhere i could sleep if they didn't find me anywhere in time, and they gave me a gold pass with home hunt so i could apply through that. But they were really helpful. But i know a guy who split from his dw and dcs who has been in a b&b about 30 miles away from his old home for a few months now.
I am in Central Scotland btw, don't know if location makes a difference.

[junglist1]

I lived in 3 homeless hostels, and you have to keep your wits about you in some places BUT if you're OK with people, you tend to get respect back. The thing is it's the size of the rooms they put you in, it causes stress. Private rent if poss.

[paisleyleaf]

I don't know about fighting it.. 2 months is normal for notice to quit. And definately within the law if you've gone onto a periodic tennancy (whereby the 6 mth shorthold aggreement has lapsed but you're still paying rent).
You could sit it out and the landlord would have to apply for court orders, bailiffs etc. Which would give you several weeks of more time. But ultimately you'd have to leave in the end....and that all sounds more stressful to me, if there's a way of avoiding it.

It sounds like you're privately renting at the moment. Could you not find somewhere to do that again? Or is it deposit, month up front etc causing too much of a financial problem? Because I'm sure there must be help for this.

Seek help as suggested earlier. CAB / Shelter.

[whoopsididitagain]

hi thank you for all your comments

i have applied all forms have been told they cannot discuss further until my points have been calculated they said a homeless officer will contact me

i work full time self employed as a hairdresser but i have started with no clientele so im on a very low income which is supplimented with benefits so i o private rent at the moment with lots of help. unfortunately this time around im finding it much harder to find a place to live privately and i dont have enough time to save 1200 pounds up then bluff my way through with an estate agent plus i have an awful credit history so i dont think i would clear and checks made against me.

my main worry is i suffer with panic attacks and anxiety espically when under stress or in un known situations this i s why im so scared of a hostel type situation.

my mum and dad are happy to have me at home but i have no wear to store any of my furniture and also i'd be sharing a room with my daughter so its not all that scary but i really dont want to lose my furniture in the mean time ifyswim.

my landlord has gone through all the correct procedures as they have had to let the council know as they are involved with paying my rent so there has been no cutting of corners

sorry to go on but im really worried

[Overmydeadbody]

I have been in your situation, very recently.

If the council has classed you as homeless you will be awarded maximum points, but not until you are formally evicted I think. This is what happened to me.

My bastard landlord put the rent up by £400, no way I could pay, but if I left I would be classed as voluntarily homeles, so had to stay in the house past the tenancy expiry date, landlord had to get an eviction order, and then the council classed me as homeless.

I was very scared about being temporarily housed in a B&B or soemthing, but in the end luckily I bid on a flat that came up, was at the top of the list with points so got the flat, but did have to be rehoused temporarily by the council before thsi happened.

They rehoused me temporarily in a two bed flat, really run down but DS an dI didn't care at all as it was a roof over our heads, and was over christmas (thank goodness for all the support I got from MN at that time).

After 6 months of temporary accomodation we eventually moved into our own flat, really affordable rent with a HA, and we love it.

It is only now that things are settled that I look back and realise how much stress and pressure DS and I where under and how low I really was.

Good luck with everything, believe me, once this is all over you will put it behind you and forget how stressful it was.

[Overmydeadbody]

I don't know if it will be different with you as your landlord is selling, but in my situation the council said I had to stay in my house until I got a letter from the court evicting me, at which point the council classed me as homeless (it takes about a month from application for posession order till the letter from court) and this bought the council more time to find me suitable accomodation. It seemed ridiculous at the time tht if I moved out and stayed with my parents I would not be classed as homeless anymore, or classed as voluntarily homeless, and so would have got much less points and no temporary accomodation.

Go and speak to your council, they qill assign you a moheless officer. They are very helpful in my expereice.

[whoopsididitagain]

thank you omdb lol at name

[Natt82]

Hi Whoops,

We've been in your situation - my husband lost his job in the recession and even though we were paying our rent faultlessly our Landlord decided to exercise his right to not resign our tenancy whilst we were on housing benefits. So we were classed as homeless

Every council is different, so i can only say what happens here.

We went to see a Housing Needs officer. She discussed everything with us. We applied for housing and were given zero points as our house was adequate.

We then had to book into a meeting with the housing officer, taking with us our eviction/notice of possession order. They discussed our finances at great detail and spoke to our Landlord to ensure it wasnt "intentionally homeless". They looked into private renting, as they do a scheme here of paying your deposit and first months rent, but we wouldnt be able to sustain the large rents around here, and struggled to find a house accepting DSS.

They put our case forward to the senior housing officer who decided we were unintentionally homeless and gave us priority points. Basically its the highest you can get without being disabled.

Round here you bid on houses - they're published every 2 weeks and those with the highest points get the house/flat they bid on.

We started this whole process on 8th April, and got our priority points on 12th May. We won a house on the 29th May and move in this weekend.

I was petrified of high rise, and a certain couple of areas round here but we were very lucky that a house came up 2 streets away from my SIL.

Each council has a homeless strategy they should display on their website/in their council offices. It will say their targets and enforceable dates - for instance our council have to have made a decision with your homeless application within 33 working days, and cannot put young children in B&Bs unless its exceptional circumstances. They are very picky about accepting as homeless - only about 30% of applicants are accepted - but if this isnt your fault I cant see them denying you (you get a lot of people round here making out their parents have kicked them out)

If you can help it, dont move in with your parents. Your child can share your room until they are 10 - so if you move in with your parents you will be classed as adequately housed. Also, you would only get transfer points, not maximum homeless points.

Under no circumstances leave when your notice comes in in 2 months time - you have to wait for the full court eviction order round here otherwise you are classed as intentionally leaving an adequate home.

Make an appointment with CAB - ours were wonderful here and helped a lot.

Obviously we're really fresh with all this having just gone through it. I really hope your application and new house happen as smoothly as ours did.

[junglist1]

I rotted in one room caged up like a animal for 5 years. It's disgusting that some people get a house after a month because of the area they live in. The system needs to be completely overhauled, the social problems caused by living like this are immense, including drug abuse, domestic violence, and severe depression. For children educational attainment drops significantly. Landlords should be forced to accept DSS for starters (meaning no more insurance company restrictions).

[junglist1]

Oh but obviously it won't happen because the fat cats are more important than low class scum like me and my children.

[Natt82]

It is bad junglist that each area differs - but then the population and employment levels etc change in area too.

In this area a 4 bed house will get around 70 bids. A standard 3 bed around 35 bids. A 3 bed in a nice area around 50 bids. A two bed with a garage got 61 bids. We were very lucky that the house we bid on had only 17 bids plus ours - its in an area that the majority of this town dont like, but we have family there so were happy to move there. The 2nd house in this estate we bid on only had 11 bidders including us, and went to a transfer with lower points.

I think a bidding system works fairer as you can see all the empty properties and arent just waiting on the council to rehouse you, which can take months (or years in your case). I have friends in a 1 bed flat with 3 kids because its a roof over their heads so they're not "priority" and they have been trying to be rehoused for months.

Round here you get more points if you have an ASBO

[junglist1]

A one bed flat for a family of 5 is so wrong. How do they cope?
When I was in my room I was a totally different person to now, I was so aggressive, seriously, rowing with everyone on buses and in the street. My mental health really suffered, adding to that my P was abusive (imagine that in one room). Yet if my children were on the at risk register I would have been moved to help us out. It's not fair. At one place my then 4 year old found a drug addict fitting on the bathroom floor that 6 families shared. I'm private renting now THANK GOD!

[paisleyleaf]

Crikey, that sounds an awful time junglist.
I will say though that landlords aren't always fat cats. Gone are the days when landlords were all property tycoons like that Vanhoogstraten bloke.

[junglist1]

Not the landlords so much as insurance companies who insist on no DSS etc, and local governments who don't have any common sense. I want Gordon Browns job!

[whoopsididitagain]

oh my gosh jungulist

well have had a good chat with the housing department and im feeling less scared

have also spoke to two letting agents willing to accept dss so hope fully i getthings moving am vewing another house tomorrow

have had a panic attack today though and dr has prescribed sleeping tablets after 6 months of good health

[Natt82]

junglist, the parents sleep in the front room, the kids are three to a room as far as i know. they are all under 5, but its still an awful situation.

I know what you mean about personality being affected - going through all this I have been a completely different person and its only thankfully been a couple of months. Its affecting the kids too, so I am really thankful its not longer.

Whoops, that sounds promising with the letting agents, fingers crossed.

[whoopsididitagain]

whoop whoop

been to veiw a two bed house bit of painting needed but otherwise perfect and dss all approved

its mine if i want it whoop whoop

im so happy i could scream and shout and shake it all about

[Natt82]

Fantastic news, really pleased for you, glad it all sorted out good for you.