to be pissed off with being offered a council FLAT instead of a HOUSE?

[OMFFG]

We have 4 DCs, youngest 16 months and they think this is suitable!! The flat is 3 bedrooms and on the 2nd floor of a small tower block and has balconies which I would be pretty worried one of the DCs may fall out of.

This is my worst frigging nightmare. We have been 'homeless' for almost 2 years and the council have housed us in temporary accommodation (private rented) which we have to pay market value for (£875 per month) even though we did not choose it and it's a complete shit hole. We could not leave as we would lose our priority on the council bidding list. We lost our house when DH was made redundant and could not afford to pay £1200+ to privately rent.

Now after all this they have offered us a fucking flat. I am furious because every week until last week, there were only offering 3 bed houses but we would always be 3/4 on the list. Now that a flat was offered, less people have bid on it so we got to the top of the list. I did not even bid on it, the council did. Apparently they can bid on 'our behalf' as we are homeless and if we refuse this flat, we will be taken off the housing list. How the hell will we cope in a flat???

The rent is 'only' £380 a month but a house would only be £20 a month more.

AIBU to tell them to stuff it up their arses?

Are you near me (look on my profile) as we bid on things round here. Assuming you are I would take the flat (is it really going to be any worse than where you are?) then look to move and be in the good neighbour scheme and you will get into gold band and will have a good chance of getting something better if that is what you want. Or you could look to do an exchange once you are in.

Regime equals rehouse, bastard phone

In Europe flats are more common as rentals than houses - their kids seem to survive and get outside etc and they are often more spacious. Have you even been to see it ? If there is a lift yabu to refuse. A cheaper rent might make it mroe feasible to save a deposit and rent a property of your choiuce privately longer term

"Ever heard of contraception?"

That is fucking disgusting. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Of course she's being unreasonable with "how the hell can we cope in a FLAT?". Maybe like the millions and millions of people around the world that have children in flats?

Shelter would say EXACTLY what I have just said: If you refuse the property, not only will you be taken off the housing list as the Council will no longer have a duty to house you, but you will also no longer be entitled to the temporary accommodation that you are currently in. So the OP will be homeless.

Hopes that this IS a wind-up - because otherwise I will sit and stew all day that someone in this position could be so bloody ENTITLED, rather than accepting that their dc's NEED for a roof over their head, ANY roof over their head, is more important than any 'wish' of theirparents to have a house rather than a flat.

Oh Squeaky, now you know you're going to get flamed for suggesting some sort of personal responsibility don't you!

So you were a couple of months pregnant when you became homeless by that reckoning.

What's the flat/ area like? That's the only thing I'd consider if I were you making this decision as your dc's can share a room -60's/70's flats have generous room sizes - and the balcony can be easily covered with netting cheaply - or you lock it and dont let them out without supervision.

Opposite me are 6 storey housing association flats in a mixed use development and they sell for 200k, they are lovely, much nicer than our house.

But if it's a horrible area, the lifts don't work, there's drug paraphernalia in the stair well then I'd wait. But contact shelter to see if they can evict you from where you are.

squeakytoy if they've been homeless for 2 years and their youngest is 16 months, she was already pregnant when they became homeless. Hardly helps the situation by asking if she's heard of contraception is it. Perhaps her husband lost his job.

Op it was an 'autobid' you can reject 3 of these. I have just done the same.

Is it the bidding system?

I don't understand your current situation.You are paying full market rent on a private house.So I don't understand how the council are housing you at the moment.It sounds as though you are housing yourselves

Yes, tell them to shove it and join the queue again.
By bidding on your behalf they must have thought you were in desperate need. Obviously not.

To everyone telling OP to be greateful for the "cheap" rent; cheap is relative, isn't it? £380 a month isn't cheap to many people, and certainly not to most people who are so down on their luck that they've been unable to afford a private rental (I'm assuming?) and have been waiting two years to be offered any accomodation.

Who'd be a taxpayer.....

And I can be bloody flabbergasted at the OP - I have spent 4 years waiting for a larger house, am STILL only 15th on the list - with roughly ONE place coming up every 4 weeks - and I would JUMP at the chance of a flat. Which, btw, are often BIGGER than houses in social housing.

I would jump at the chance, and CERTAINLY wouldn't have such a sense of entitlement that a flat is 'not suitable'. I have a 12mo DC - you buy a fucking stairgate to cover off the balcony, DUH!

Have just re-read the OP and it seems that she IS in private housing.

For the love of god, start living in the real world.
You have been offered an incredibly cheap home for you and your children to live in. Get down off your high horse, stop longing for days past and start thinking about what's best for your kids.

I thought 'homeless' meant 'without a home' where have the 6 of them been living for 2 years?

Your on the housing list because you are desperate for a home and can't afford to provide for yourselves.

You are being offered a 3 bedroom home.

Be grateful we have a social housing system

YABVU. Really. Goodness me. A flat isn't a cage or a kennel.
2nd floor? So not so many stairs to overcome (no more than in many houses) and I bet there's a lift.
A balcony? Fantastic. Fresh air, space to dry clothes, grow some flowers. Kids can't fall off if you lock the door.

I thought that OP was currently paying 875GBP per month?

Therefore 380 is cheap by comparison?

HAHAHAHAHA this cannot be for real

If it's autobid, then it's random

I have just rejected a property onthe basis it would be too far from current schools and I would need to move in march. My teens take gcse and a levels in June so it was a reasonable refusal.

I was lucky. Waited and have now got a brand new 5 bed to move into. It's still being built. But this is housing association not council

If this is 380 compared to the current payment of 875, and 1200 for what OP really wants, thats cheap, by any definition. Very cheap.