Refusing a council house offer

[Crystal1970]

Hi, I have been in temporary housing for 4 years now during that time I was allowed to bid on 4 bed houses and advised when asked I wasn’t allowed to bid on 3 bed ones, the council have now visited and said we have found a suitable property for you it is a 3 bed house 🤔 one bedroom being a box room, I have 3 sons who are not small kids now I don’t mind 2 sharing a room but someone i know has said all you will get in the box room is a single bed . Now can I refuse this as jot being suitable I think it was under section 8 so if I refused they wouldn’t help me anymore.

I apologise - you’re right. I do think that expecting adult children to be housed indefinitely when they are able to live independently (as many do) or contribute to rent is a luxury though - certainly amongst all my friends and family (many of us grew up in council homes or private rented accommodation) we either moved out or contributed to the rent so our parents could afford what they needed. If the 23 year old wants to stay at home, but also have his own room surely he can contribute to the costs of a bigger house or he can choose to move into a flat share with other young adults.

If OP is genuine, the entitlement (including adult kids) illustrstes perfectly what is wrong with the UK Welfare system and why it needs urgent reform.

We'll get a drip feed on p013 about them having anxiety or whatever and are therefore unable to work because OP is enabling them

OK so I have just come back to this thread so I might have missed something but what does housing have to do with 'the UK welfare system'?

Because it's not EXACTLY what she wants. Lots of people (myself included!) compromise on their housing and get on with it

Her perspective is madness. Where l live then she wouldn't be offered something so quickly. Most likely she would be waiting until 2031 or even 2035+

Of course you can trun one down and hold out for a 4 bed, hope you do

But her “children” are adults, surely her chances will
lessen over time?

Your adults sons are young men without ties, they can move to a region with more sensible house prices, they also do not need a flat each to themselves, they could live in shared housing/ HMO.

You work for the NHS therefore have a job that can be worked anywhere in the UK, not everywhere has private rent of £1800 pm, and you have no dependent children, so move.

Thinking you are entitled to a 4 bed home, when the rest of us who also work (I'm nhs too) but aren't eligible for benefits or social housing can only dream of such a thing is crazy.

I think it's questionable that your are allowed on the social housing list at all at this point.

Surely even though if you had a four bed one would still be a box room ?

This post is beyond ridiculous!

In my council because of the age of your boys you would be eligible to bid on 3 bed parlour style (separate dining room to use as a bedroom) or 4 bed houses.

What banding are you in? Again at mine, if you refuse 1 reasonable offer they remove your banding but you would have an argument that the offer isn’t reasonable. I’d keep speaking to your housing officer or their manager to clarify why the think putting you in an overcrowded property is suitable.

I grew up in the little room in a three bed semi as did millions of people. We squeezed a bed, chest of drawers and wardrobe in but had to take the doors off and there was virtually no floor space. Hoovering was a doddle! Take it, at least it’s a secure tenancy.

So take the house. There is a high chance that you won't be offered another if you turn this down and in many boroughs you would be evicted from temporary accommodation if you don't accept an offer deemed suitable.

I honestly don’t understand why your adult children are eligible in this way. The system is so so broken. They all need to get jobs and sort themselves out and you need to self fund a one bed flat.

They don't need to do any of that, they could just take the house they have been offered.

OP, first of all you need to see the house. Many people, including possibly your friend, tend to refer to any single bedroom as a box room. I would define a box room as under 50 sq ft, but you may find it is an OK size single.

OP may sound entitled but she has definitely been messed about if she has been told only to bid for 4 beds. I know in my area these are as rare as hens' teeth, whereas there are far more houses with 3 double bedrooms. OP has wasted 4 years when she could have been bidding on these houses.

OP, first of all, go and see the house and see if you can make it work for you. You might be pleasantly surprised. If you feel you can't, you are better going back to the council (rather than asking mumsnet) to find out where you stand, particularly as you have been acting on misinformation over the last 4 years.

I don't think it's fair to say OP has been messed about. The council have obviously had no choice but to relax their rules (to OPs benefit given how rare 4 beds are). It's just one of those things.

If you're paying that in tax then surely your on about £37-38k? Not loads, but not peanuts.
Not sure why you and your adult children who could all get jobs and contribute need a council house in the first place in all honesty.
4 working adults and want a sibsodised house exactly to your standards? Scroungers.

I disagree. OP has gained precisely nothing by being told she could bid for a 4 bed house. If she hadn't been told to go for a 4 bed in the first place, she wouldn't have wasted 4 years pursuing the unobtainable, and be settled in a suitable 3 bed by now.

Not necessarily. People wait years for council houses, this might have been the first OP was offered either way. 4 adults won't be a priority. 3 beds being available to bid on doesn't mean OP would have been offered one of them.

@TheEllisGreyMethod it's not subsidised housing. Also everyone should be entitled to affordable security housing, it's not a race to the bottom

I grew up in a council house. It is subsidized. It's supposed to be cheaper.
And I do feel very strongly that a 4 bedroom or a 3 bedroom should be for young families in need, rather than being in a hotel temp.accom. Not a family where there are 4 adults all capable of working and at least one of them is on £37-38k.
We have a housing crisis. If you are lucky enough to be offered one, don't be picky about box rooms for your adult children. It's absolutely entitled.

I understand that and for what is worth I don't think the poster is a real person, I'm just saying - social housing isn't subsidised.

'Yes, social housing is heavily subsidised through a combination of government funding for construction and reduced rent levels for tenants"

It's only subsidised in the sense that councils could be charging more for it. We need massively more council housing and available to ordinary workers people, including higher earners. Instead social housing has become almost impossible to get and ghettos of poverty and deprivation. There is absolutely no need for it to be like that. It's a political decision made by government and ultimately voters. Social housing could (and should imo) be available for everyone who wants it. It wouldn't cost the state money in the end because people pay rent. Voters in the UK seem only to think short term though. They would rather save £1 now and pay £10 (or their children pay it) later.

Are you saying a person pays the same rent (no housing benefit) for a 3 bed social housing property as an identical property rented privately (no housing benefit)?