Council house, housing

[Mammystore118]

Hi I’m just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction or any advice. I live in a 2 bedroom house and it’s very small I’m wanting to move for multiple reasons. My area isn’t the best and we’ve had trouble in the area with people causing trouble and theiving etc... I know you can get that anywhere but I’ve never felt secure or safe in my home I’ve lived here for 3 year and every night I’m a nervous wreck and I shouldn’t have to feel like this. I should feel comfortable and secure in my house which I never have in this house. My partner works shift work which includes nightshift so I’m on my own majority of the time with my little boy. I don’t want my little boy to be around this area as the kids around here swear, fight and cause trouble to people’s houses again... I know this can happen anywhere but rather be away from this area. I could go into detail but would be an essay. Anyway me and my partner both work. So we claim no benefits or anything at all and pay full rent and taxes etc... but I want to move closer to my family but I really want a 3 bedroom house. I wouldn’t mind paying bedroom tax. Is this possible? With me only needing a two bedroom I would like a 3 for more space and if we were to have more children in the future I wouldn’t want to keep moving my child about in different houses because I see that as unsettled so I’d like to stay in the house I next get and buy it eventually. We don’t have the money at the minute to put a deposit for a mortgage so this isn’t an option just yet. Is it possible to get a 3 bed? Or any advice it will be very appreciated.
Any ideas how we could go from a 2 bed to a 3?
Tia

Has anyone realised why the OP wants the council house of her dreams? She mentioned buying eventually. First you save by having cheaper rent than private tenants, then you can buy at a whopping discount. Its time Right to Buy was withdrawn, except in areas where its hard to let properties.

If you are in a council or social housing home at the moment then, as a previous poster mentioned, you could try and swap your house.

I haven’t looked into this for a while, so my knowledge might be out of date. You used to be able to swap for one bedroom more or less than you need. So yes, tech I ally you could swap to a 3 bed.

You usually need your housing officers signature to start the process. They check you are t in debt to them.

If you are in private rented accommodation then getting into the council waiting list may be a fight.

There are areas of the country that may have lots of larger houses going spare but this may not be an area where you want to live.

The fact that the OP is happy to commit benefit fraud (yes, council housing is a benefit, you’re getting something subsidised by the public purse) sounds like she’s living in just the right area right now, with those she’s so disparaging of.

Why 2 adults with jobs qualify for SH is beyond me, anyway. I think it should be means tested annually and assets take into account too. Too many bloody shiny Audis and BMWs parked outside social housing.

Gran22 - in Wales, where Housing Policy is devolved, we have successfully got rid of Right to Buy. Hopefully the rest of the UK will follow soon.

and are on BENEFITS!!

😂😂😂 what the fuck?

 no  nothing  like  that  parked  around    our    "subsidized"    housing   <img loading="lazy" class="inline-flex mumsnet-emoji" alt="Xmas Hmm" src="https://www.mumsnet.com/build/assets/fhmm-88yL47iR.png">

@gamerchick

EMS23 In Scotland too AFAIK. I'm an ex housing officer in an area where it used to be plentiful, and some is still available. Obviously not London or the South East!

In the old days when building up waiting time was common, people would remain on the housing list for years to get the house they wanted so they could eventually buy. Some of the best estates I worked on have very few social housing properties left.

And Bunny who would pay for the administration of that scheme because the government floated that idea "pay to stay" but then realised that within current IT infrastructures, DWP and HMRC capacity it was a non starter... And government and IT projects don't exactly have a massive success record of being a) on budget b) on time and c) fit for purpose

I wonder why some are so keen to create ghettos Could it be because THEN when it comes to evicting decanting tenants for regeneration purposes the media and public sympathy will be in short supply if its already a "ghetto"

Why 2 adults with jobs qualify for SH is beyond me, anyway. I think it should be means tested annually and assets take into account too. Too many bloody shiny Audis and BMWs parked outside social housing

SH is not and never has been LINKED TO BENEFITS.

Why people keep trotting out this ignorant shit is beyond me.

Oh and they're not free either just in case you're that far behind.

I think it should be means tested annually and assets take into account too. Too many bloody shiny Audis and BMWs parked outside social housing

You're not actually serious right? I mean I know some people have difficulty in thinking consciously and rely on Channel5 for their opinions but you can't be this hard of thinking in real life can you?

Just in case you are, let's try a simple question.

If people at the bottom know that if they take a step up they'll lose what little they have, do you think they'll take the step up or choose to stay at the the bottom?
(I hope that's simple enough English for you to follow, if any of it needs explaining please DO hesitate to say so)

@gamerchick Its not hard to see the attitudes which lead to Grenfell is it?

Imagine if a Grenfell tenant had posted about the cladding pre fire.

They would have been inundated with replies saying that it was subsidized and they were getting it for "free" and "if i want anything done to my house i have to pay for it myself" type comments.

And then some of them scratch their heads and wonder how it could have happened. The biggest case of cognitive dissonance ive ever seen.

Being as you don't seem to mind lying and cheating to get a house OP, why don't you just borrow a few kids, take them with you to the housing office and demand your rights to be given a house for you and ' your ' kids!
Alternatively, you could just either save and buy your own place or rent. Radical i know.

No chance of a three bed house in my opinion. my children are 12 years apart in age and one has serious mental health problems and we had to get social services to help us get the council agree that the two children couldn't share a room. Council agreed finally. We have been in our 2 bed council house coming up for 3 years and still waiting for a 3 bed to become available. (we also don't claim hb or council tax benefit but it is a case of housing stock just not being available).

Obviously different local authorities will have different criteria but I suspect it will be quite strict in all areas.

OK just seen your benefit bashing comment, you sound like a right piece of work.

The reasons are pretty obvious if you think about it bunny.

Firstly, in some areas there's no shortage of SH per se or certain types of property such as high rises. There are situations and places where it's literally the working couple or leave it empty. Which would be stupid.

Secondly, ghettoisation is what happens when you make SH only for the poorest and most desperate. And two working adults is a pretty low bar. Ghettoisation and high turnover of residents combined are a recipe for all kinds of problems.

Thirdly, it would disincentivise work. If two officially working adults in the household loses the family home, people will refrain from declared work, they will work illegally and they will lie about living together. You are naive if you think this won't happen.

Fourthly, it'd be a twat to administer.

Even individually, these are more significant than a few posh, probably leased cars outside houses that for all you know are ex council that've found their way onto the private market. Cumulatively, they certainly are. This is why the Tories dropped the 30k cap idea. Because it was unworkable.

Well. This doesn't appear to have gone off like a frog in a sock, does it? Colour us unsurprised. Since the OP seems to have deregistered, we're just going to take this down now.

shitme - I hope you work in Housing in some way - you have a really clear way of explaining the issues. Thank you for the common sense.

P.s. - even though Housing Policy is my specialist subject I can sometimes fail to verbalise in a coherent way.
'Twat to administer' is my new favourite sentence and I will be using it, hope you don't mind me stealing it!!

Can it be left up., Otherwise the denial that there is a hostile environment to SH tenants will continue.

I think you'll struggle OP. At the moment, I am pregnant, single parent with a 5 month old, living at my mums.

My two brothers also live here so me, my mum and my DS share a room. There is stuff everywhere as there are just too many people in the house.

I've been on the council waiting list since before my son was born.

I don't 'sit on my arse' all day either. I have a good job and make decent money. Problem being that I work three days a week and it is t enough for me to pay for a private let.

I know housing is more in demand in some areas than others but if I was you I'd be grateful for what you have and if you want a bigger house, look at a private let and allow people who can't afford a private let to have the council houses.

YY to Shitmes great post.

Good point @helenadove. We'll give it some thought here. If we're doing a straw poll, what are people's thoughts? We don't want to delete a thread that's really useful but we did feel that this one sounded a little inflammatory and might do more harm than good. If folk, in the main, feel differently, we'll happily reconsider.

Can you leave it? I think there's some balanced views represented on here and in defence of myself and others, we didn't abuse the OP, just called them out on their benefits bashing comment.