Father worried about being homeless

[Kinginthesouth]

Looking for a bit of advice re housing.
I'm currently living with my partner in a two bed rented property, however the relationship is now coming to an end as does our tenancy, so I will have to move put of the property and find somewhere suitable for myself and two dcs, who I have 50/50 custody of.

Due to cutbacks at work I am unable to afford a two bedroom, so was thinking to go to the council and present myself as homeless, however I'm not sure if they would take me on and consider my dc and help me with enough room for them or I would be considered a single male.
If anyone has any advice I'd be grateful.

Not an expert by any means, also not sure how it differs from place to place. What I will say is that the experience for single men seems to not be great. They are not really treated as high priority for housing. I don't think they allocate extra rooms for children who are not there most of the time. It's probably best though to just ask your council directly how they work so you make a more informed decision. They may also know of places to get housing help if they cannot.

Get a 1 bed and you sleep in living room when children are there?
Or get a different job, or an additional job to pay for a 2 bed?
Cant see council being v helpful to a single working man tbh. Can the children's mother have them a bit more temporarily whilst you sort this out?

What about a one bedroom- and when the children are there, they get the bedroom & you get the couch?

What council would you come under OP? Temporary homelessness accommodation used to be my line of work?

I’d be wary that most councils will place you as a single Male in a hostel which if you refuse they take you off the books. The hostels can be really really grim.

Sorry but they won't count your DC's. They will say that they have a home with their mother and it is not their responsibility to provide enough room to facilitate them staying with you. I'm not meaning to be harsh but I have worked with homeless people and this is what they tell fathers in your situation. Their only concern is that the DC's are housed, custody arrangements don't come into it.

As pp's have suggested, your best option is rent a one bed and you sleep in the lounge when the DCs are there.

I'm in the process of looking for a new job, so hopefully I will have one by the time I have to move out therefore illiminating the need for a council property.

I have my dc 4 evenings a week plus eow and would prefer to have a 2 bed for their comfort as well as mine.

King if you go to the council and say you are homeless it does not mean they give you a council property; they place you in temporary accommodation which is very very different, and pot luck.

And echo the above they will not consider custody arrangements if your ex partner had a property they can stay in.

@lastqueenofscotland I live in the borough of Southwark.

I understand I wouldn't be given a property and would have to wait, I'm not assuming I have a right over anyone.
I'm just trying to think ahead for my children's sake, although they do live with their mum they also live with me part of the week, so it will impact on our contact time if I have nowhere to live.

I have my dc 4 evenings a week plus eow and would prefer to have a 2 bed for their comfort as well as mine.

Does that not make you the primary carer? That's more than 50/50 isn't it? So why would the LA house the mother and not you if you have the children the majority of the time?

I sympathise with your situation but if you're in London then you haven't got a hope I'm afraid. Waiting lists are literally years long. There's nothing stopping you registering with the council but I'd be looking for other options because you won't get a council place.

When you say 4 evenings a week, does that mean you have then after school then they return to their DM to sleep overnight?

Cant see council being v helpful to a single working man tbh

I know a few fathers who worked in the council housing dept who got themselves 2 and 3 bedroom flats because the had children over EOW.
(One doesn’t even bother with his kids he sublets the rooms)

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages no they stay 4 nights, sorry for the confusion.

When staying with me I collect from school, then on the alternate week my ex wife collects them and I have them for 3 nights. It's been like this for 6 years and seems to be working well for everyone involved.

Thank you all for your advice, I intend to call the council to also get some advice from there.

Your council is one where council property is either non-existent or very very scarce to the point that there's even language on their application that makes you enter details to see if you have 'a realistic chance' of ever securing. Your chances of getting a 2-bed council flat because you have your kids sometimes are probably astronomically rare, the council will just direct you to the online application.

You need to work more if you want 'comfort' for your children, they are your responsibility.

So if I've read this right they sleep at your house 6 nights on one week, 3 nights on the other (so 9 nights in 14, over half)?

If so I'd be talking in terms of you being the primary carer. Who receives the child benefit, and is anyone paying maintenance? Is your ex wife living in social housing?

Not an expert, but if they spend that much time with you surely it could be argued that you should be considered as a person with dependent children rather than a single person with no dependants.

There's no maintance being paid we split everything 50/50.
Ex wife shares a rented house with her partner 10 minutes away from where I currently live.