How likely is council housing after notice in Devon?

[CharlottePotatoes]

How likely is my friend to get a council house? Her landlord gave her notice which runs until July 31st. She’s retired, married, with two adult children at home. Council put them on band C for priority.

She doesn’t want to even consider looking for a private rental and seems adamant the council will house her. She’s in Devon (I’m not) I wondered if there are more homes there? I’m quite worried about her.

Private rental wise she has no credit rating, guarantor or deposit but has said she’s considering asking for her deposit back early to leave her current rental.

Won't the council treat her as intentionally homeless if she leaves without being evicted?

I don’t know- would being served a section 21 not suffice? Does she literally need bailiffs at the door?!

Wow there is a lot to unpack there. Why do you say she hasn’t got a credit rating? I thought most people had one, whether it’s good or bad?

How old is your DF and how old are her DC?

And why does she feel sure she will get a Council house?

She won’t be entitled to temporary housing if the DC are older than 16. Council Homes generally go first to those on temporary accommodation first.

Yes bailiffs would need to be there throwing her out, then she would have to go to the council, who could send her just about anywhere. Devon/Cornwall are horrendous for council accommodation and they often send people out of the area.

There is no such thing as a S21 after 1st May 2026.

Who is listed as the tenant in her current home? Would a council only consider her for a single person property, unless the adult children are severely unwell or disabled and totally dependent on her I can’t see them being viewed as eligible for rehousing by the council.

Around here you don’t have to wait for the eviction day. If you’re eligible for housing then you wait for the eviction notice. Your DF and her adult DC would not be entitled to temporary accommodation here though.

Her only hope of getting a Council Home here is to go into private and wait it out but it could be years.

Hoe would she feel about going into over 55s accommodation and her DC finding their own places?

The s21 was served a while ago. She was originally given 6 months notice but haggled up to 18 months and the landlord reissued the s21 a few weeks ago.

She is retired with multiple debts and a v poor credit rating.

Im worried she’s completely got her head in the sand about this. Kids are 18 and 23, one working one in education.

Landlord has said to stay she’d need to pay £600 more which is the market rate, it was being rented as a sort of mates rate level for many years. So if she doesn’t leave the rent will be increased, she can only afford £150 more she reckons.

I’m not sure whose name is on the paperwork, assume her & her DH

I’m not sure of her exact age, she was a SAHM and has never worked since the kids were born, her DH is over state retirement age but I suspect she is about 60 now. She had the kids in her late 30’s early 40’s.

Ex housing officer from Devon here!
it’s about a 5-10 year wait for a property on band C on Devon home choice
your friend will be told to stay in the property until eviction proceedings complete, at which point she will be removed from the property
after this it is possible she will be put into temporary accommodation
they may not all be offered temporary togetger
there may be questions as to why the adult children aren’t privately renting. They may be declined temporary accommodation if they are not vulnerable, there’s no adverse weather etc - there’s not enough of it and it’s needs led.
additionally if they are lucky enough to get temporary everyone working will likely be ineligible for housing benefit and have to fund the fairly expensive and yet really quite unpleasant temporary accommodation themselves - If you’re lucky you’ll get Newton abbot/paignton/exeter premier inn/travelodge if you’re not it’ll be a grotty bed and breakfast with a shared bathroom that hasn’t been decorated since 1976. Additionally there aren’t really cooking or food prep spaces in the temp accommodation so eating a balanced diet is hard. Even having milk for your morning cuppa is unlikely in some of the places.

her best bet is Devon home choice “homes available now” section (few and far between you can’t be picky) or applying to her local district/city/unitary council for a discretionary housing payment to help her move privately

Is there any reason the adult DC are looking at being housed together
It would be expected that the children if under 35 went into house shares unless there are disabilities in the mix

are there any other health or social flags that should be on their case? It’s important that all information is provided to the council to enable them to band correctly

happy to be direct messaged with any further questions

Yes they will, and they will say they have no duty

Even if she had her youngest at 44, she would still be 5 years under retirement age. If she has multiple debts it doesn’t sound as though she can afford to retire?

Is she discounting private rentals because she has CCJs and she therefore wouldn’t be accepted?

It sounds as though she’s been extremely lucky, having a low rent for so long that it has enabled her to be a SAHM past the point where her youngest has reached adulthood.

She isn’t retired she is unemployed, why should the council house four adults? Between them they can earn enough to pay rent even working part time each.

Sounds like they've had plenty time to prepare for this and have benefited from low rents for sometime.... She's going to struggle with council support I'd expect Long wait lists.

What were their plans for retirement and housing?

Unless she’s disabled so unable to work she needs to seek work and accept the higher rent. This is by far the best option. The children being over 18 are at best likely to be given a list of hostels, as a couple they will at best be offered a room which they will be expected to pay towards, if she’s under retirement age she will be expected to seek work

So there are actually four people living there, a couple, one retired and one unemployed, and two adult children? Why can’t they afford to house themselves at market rates with that much earning potential? If the husband is only bringing in state pension he needs to go back to work at least part time, as does your friend, though she should be full time until she gets her own pension (please say she has always paid her stamp and will get a full state pension of her own?). The earning child should also be making a major contribution to the family living costs if they are all about to be homeless. An 18 year old in education can work a few shifts over the course of a week and a weekend to contribute too. All this is normal.

I think your friend needs a serious talk with Citizens Advice so she gets a clear idea of what she needs to do, and the absolute certainty that they will not be offered a council home for all of them, and that even she and her husband are unlikely to qualify. Or indeed be able to afford to pay the rent, given she seems to have been living on almost no income and therefore their current rent must be ridiculously low.

I don’t want to share too much about her but both her and her husband are disabled and cannot work. The kids certainly could contribute but they are reluctant to ask

Well they need to ask. Do the dc work or have an income?

Being disabled does not mean you can’t work although I appreciate it can be difficult. I have a disability and I work.

Has she applied for PIP?

I believe they’re in receipt of PIP and housing benefit

Then housing benefit (actually housing element of UC) would increase to take them closer to market rent subject to the local maximum figure if they rent privately. They’d be best off looking for a private rental on this basis rather than making themselves homeless and being split up, if what they want is to be able to remain together.

She’s already in a private rental, just with a favourable rent rate currently. Oh dear, I’ll talk to her again as I’m not sure the reality of what the council would offer has sunk in- as you note on paper they are three adults of working age but in reality a family who have been through significant trauma which I don’t want to disclose here.

I think I would take *Leopard’s” suggestion and show her the Homes Available Now section on Devon Home Choice. Do you know if she’s already spoken to the Council?

I’m surprised by Leopard saying that they may be offered temporary accommodation, although not necessarily together. I can’t imagine many areas offer that to families with adult DC. Like I said earlier, the cut off around here is 16. So if your DC are 17 you’re no longer eligible.

Would the sensible first step not have been to report the rent increase to UC (that is being brougt to market rate) to see if is possible to secure an increased contribution. If both adults are disabled and on max benefits (sorry but arnt everyone in these scenarios on MN) then the working child needs to step up (if he wants to be housed with them) to keep the property.