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?

There are people in much worse situations than the OP with less help available to them. Some of them will never be as fortunate as the OP. Thank goodness for our social welfare system - I'd rather see everybody taking a little less with what's available being given to people in real need.

If OP is paying her own rent then she can take that money and go out to the private sector and choose what she wants.

"Beggars can't be choosers" is an oft used phrase for everything, no need to be sensitive about it. No wonder this country is in such a mess with so many taking, complaining and not the slightest bit willng to concede a thing they feel they might be entitled to.

Bupcakes when did she have them? After they moved into £800+ private rental, before? Do you know her?

FWIW, I do think that Op should take the flat and apply for an exchange further down the line. It's just this attitude to council tenants on here that I can't stick.

What about the OPs own attitude to council flats/tenants?

How thick are you? She didn't have 4 children AFTER she'd been made homeless

You dont get it, do you?

They were obviously struggling with finances already if their house was repossessed so soon after he got made redundant. No rainy day savings that would have carried them through until he got his new job a few months afterwards...

Houses do not generally get repossessed so quickly. It takes time and is normally a last resort for the lender.

I think people are just shocked that someone "homeless" can be offered a large enough flat, at less than half the price they are currently spending, and be outraged that they can't bring their trampoline and have to have a balcony.

If you want to have all your wishes fulfilled, rather than your needs, you need to find a way to pay for it yourself. That is not benefit bashing, or council tenant attacking, its just real life, and its fair.

The "not suitable" thing and this idea that just she's poor she shouldn't "just be grateful" thing are baffling me.

So if you are working and earning money and aren't entitled to the council helping you out and homing you where does that leave you?

You could easily be, on paper, better off but the reality be that because you have your own means, be in a situation where your options for housing are even worse than the OP. There are plenty of families out there who have outgrown the home they live in, perhaps have suffered some sort of illness or accident, or even find their property to have serious defects, all of which make their property "unsuitable" and for whatever reason are unable to move or carry out the necessary home improvements.

It might not be pleasant or particularly easy, but I really do think that councils have a responsibility to provide only the basic minimum. Otherwise the "injustice" of it all, is far worse for those who don't rely on the state when problems arise.

Would the OP prefer to live in the US where there are nice little tent cities springing up?

(And YES, I was working 16 hrs then, at the weekend, and my Ex-P was working 40 hrs a week NMW during the week - we were like ships passing in the night tbh, and this was with a baby, a toddler AND an SN 5yo).

It was bloody hard work, going out and getting a crappy, PT, NMW weekend job just weeks after being medically retired from my 'proper' career due to my disability - but I did it, and got the job when DS2 was just 7 weeks old, and started when he was 9wo.

OP, have you checked this rule that several people have mentioned about getting 3 chances so that you can turn down 2 less suitable places? If not then you should be doing that ASAP.

If you really are stuck with this, then I can see why it's disappointing if others have got houses, but you will have no choice but to look on the bright side. With much cheaper rent you can save for a better place.

I do see the problem in that the poor are now expected to be Uriah Heep-level grateful for whatever they get and I'm not keen on that either. However, it's worth remembering that many people are even worse off. If you all have your health and your husband is now working again, you are luckier than some.

'Beggars can't be choosers' doesn't mean anyone thinks benefit claimants or council tenants are literally like 'beggars' - but it's a fact that most of us can't be too choosy about where we live. With housing costs so high most of us have to take what we can get, even if it isn't perfect. And that goes for private renters and those with mortgages too.

"You dont have to reply to every post no Bupcakes- but your silence speaks volumes. The fact people said exactly the same to someone who wanted to BUY a 4 bed house they couldnt afford just doesnt support your theory we are all out to get council tennants so you will brush over it. Its fine."

My silence says nothing. I just chose not to comment on it because I haven't seen the thread you were talking about so have no business talking about it. Is that OK?

OP says she was 4 months pregnant when they got made homeless. That's what I'm going on.

I am not sure she can turn it down without getting kicked off the list. I thought if you were classed as homeless then, you accept what you offered or they say get lost.

I was once offered a masionette, which i turned down on the grounds of it only having 1 gas fire to heat the whole house, and dd2 had bad asthma ( i also knew that they suffered from damp). The council then chucked me off the list, as they said i'd been offered it on the grounds of my medical points (depression) and not dd2's.

sausagesandmarmelade Don't householders have to take out insurance to protect themselves against things like redundancy?

No.

I understand you being upset but there is a shortage of social housing. Being housed within 2 years is pretty good going. The waiting listing for 3 beds is over 5 years in some boroughs.

Take the flat. Put some of your things into storage.

You're paying £875 now, so should be able to save £400+ per month. Save up for a year or two. Move somewhere nicer.

Thats true Squeaky I can tell you from experience.

We were able to get our interest on our mortage paid when Mr Poisson was off sick. But you cant claim until you have been off a certain length of time. We kept in touch with our lender, arranged a token gesture payment until it was sorted and they were fine with that.
Of course it has left us in arrears, we have spoke to the mortgage company, they have sent agents to our house to sort out repayment plans etc, threatened us with repossesion but each and everytime we have spoke to them and sorted some agreement out, this has gone on over the last 3 years.
I know all lenders deal with things differently but two months and you are respossed im not buying im afraid. And for the record we did our upmost to ensure another child wasn't created when we were in such financial and emotional dire straits too. Maybe that makes me fucking disgusting but hey to us it made perfect sense.

this is quite interesting, and slightly relevant perhaps?

Here you are allowed to refuse two offers but you have to accept the 3rd.
Yabu, they have offered you a place to live. If you can private rent, then do that, of not choices aren't for you to make.

Totem she might not have to put some things into storage

When my friend went from a 3 bed council flat to a 3 bed house (after 7 years)

She had to sell her dining table, 2 cabinets and a two seat sofa because the house was so much smaller

'Have a few more children, then you'll be given a huge detached 8 bedroom house. I read it in the Mail so it must be true.'

arf

as my nan would say-think yourself lucky young lady

Why is everyone so agitated? The more I read the more I think this is a very successful wind-up.

I'm not agitated.

"And for the record we did our upmost to ensure another child wasn't created when we were in such financial and emotional dire straits too. Maybe that makes me fucking disgusting but hey to us it made perfect sense."

I think you mean "utmost".

And bully for you on being a model of respectability! Go you! I suppose you are one of those people who sit there agog when they show Ethiopia on the news and say "but why don't they just stop having children?"

erm.....you are not homeless and you are being given the opportuity to save up £500 a month to get back on your feet and buy your own place again Christ I wish I had that opportunity.

at your "waaaaah it isnt fair I'll have to get rid of the kids trampoline". Stick it on Gumtree, save up a bit of dosh out of your £500 spare that you'll have and then you can buy them another one when you get back into a more acceptable mansion home.

You dont have to have read the thread bupcakes. Im telling you, I said the same to the OP of that thread, she couldnt afford a 4 bed house, she wanted one but didnt NEED one thats life.
So how is that having a bad attitude towards council tennants when this person was buying?
I think we could all do with acknowledging situations when what we want and what we get are at odds and that we sometimes have to live with what we get rather than want. This is why the country is in recession and crippled with debt. People WANTED credit and nice cars, 120% mortgages and credit cards they could never afford to pay off, and they got them. As a result its gone tits up for all of us, even those who exercised their responsiblity and common sense. We seem to be living in a 'what I want I gets' society and it does nothing to teach our future generations personal responsibility but tosimply stamp their feet and demand.

JustHecate nor I!

My friend lives in an ex-council block of flats. Her two bedroom flat is bigger than our entire three bedroom house. You might be lucky OP?