Council houses

[MummyOfTwo92]

Hi,
Can I ask how long you were on the council list for before getting a house and what band you were in?

We are currently band four (no priority)
We are living in a private rented house with lots of problems that have not been fixed for the few years we have lived here. I do have a meeting with the housing soon but we never get below 15 on the bids.

Its completely dependent on area so no one else's experience here will give you any indication of how quickly you may be allocated a council house in your area.

I would say though that if you have no priority the chances of you getting anything any time soon is probably slim no matter where you are.

You might be better off looking for somewhere more suitable in the private rented sector than holding out for a council house you may never get.

Some housing associations will let you apply directly to them. You could also try that?

2 years with high priority your going to be waiting a wile

5 years on general (non-priority) and then 9 months on priority after no fault eviction

Depends on area. I'm in nw and there are plenty of two bed, flats ext but three beds + are few and far between.

Where do you live?

We are north east. We are expecting an eviction letter within the next few months

How long ,s a piece of string, ? I'm in the North West,we got a two bed house within a,few months of being on the list, no priority this was four years ago, my friend in the same town is currently bidding and having no joy and she is also in danger of being evicted we were lucky that when we applied there were quite a few houses and not many people bidding but it's changed over the course of a few years .

I was Band B. 2nd highest priority. West Yorkshire
4 1/2 years. Bid every week

Thanks ladies.
We have been offered one. Just have to view it. Thank you for your replies

Brilliant! Just bear in mind that there probably won't be any flooring , or wall paper etc

18 months in London on the top band, it was for a four bed which are pretty few and far between. It would have been sooner had it been a three bedroom.

@x2boys thank you. Yes I did wonder about flooring. Can I ask what happens? So we will go view it and then do you sign forms there and then? X

In my experience we viewed our house and said we wanted it , they than needed a reference from our previous landlord and one from my dh,s place of work it was just, to check what his wage was and wether we normally paid our rent It was very quick though and they expected us to move in pretty much straight away ( I don't know how much notice you have to give in your current hous?) We also got some decorating vouchers , so that might be worth asking about ?

@x2boys we have to give a month I think. No actual contract were we are. Just rolling 30 days. We already have given them references when we signed up and filled out a financial form so maybe won't have to do that again?

Hopefully not, when we signed they allowed us two rent free weeks as there are four a year (in my council) so the rent overlap wase,nt to bad .Also they generally don't give you much time to think about it we had to say pretty much straight away that we wanted it.

We know we want it so that isn't an issue. I'm just trying to find out now how much notice we will need to give the current landlord and praying he may let us out earlier but doubtful lol

I was wondering this too, live in Scotland, privately rent and applied to be on the council housing list. No priority but am number 1 on the waiting list for a few of the areas I’ve picked?

@Cerseilannisterinthesnow that sounds promising. We were 21 on the list but the only people that bid that had a connection to that area which is why we were offered it. We viewed it yesterday and now have to wait 7 days for any work to be carried out on the property as previous tenants have damaged a lot, To then sign contracts. We should be in by the end off the month. They did mention a decorating voucher or money of rent.

The decorating voucher I believe is upto £25 per room and is a b&q voucher, or it was a few years ago when I moved into mine.

@Littleduckeggblue I've read so many different amounts and then seen on the councils website it depends what state the previous tenants have left it in. It is a mess so I'm hoping we can get the keys before the end off the month

8 months on band c ( lacking 1 bedroom) going from a 2 bed to a 3 bed. Been on it again for 3yrs now, also band c, but waiting for a 4 bed which are few and far between so unlikely to move anytime soon (I imagine by the time we are offered we will no longer need it)

Can i ask how long after signing contracts did you all get your keys?

We got our keys as soon as we signed the contract , we also got £250 of decorating vouchers, our house was a mess though ,it's only a two bed with a lounge and kitchen downstairs and bathroom upstairs so more than£25/room.

Exciting times,OP! congratulations!!

@Katinski thank you 😊

@x2boys I hope that's the case as it's going to take at least 3 weeks to sort everything. We need to carpet the whole house and strip the walls and paint every room. Yes everywhere is pretty grim at the moment. The council hadn't been in so they didn't know what state it was in till we all went in together. Two bedrooms are painted and wallpapered black. They were obviously smokers so the house absolutely stinks. I just can't wait to finally make somewhere a home for our family! We've had lots of problems with houses as always been private rent and the landlords just don't care. I'm excited but nervous at the same time for the amount of work it's going to take and it's a new area.