AIBU to feel miserable that I don't qualify for social housing

[Nearlyhomeless]

I live in central London (North Kensington). I have been renting privately for many years but the landlord now has to sell the property. The rent is cheap for the area (600pcm) as the flat has no central heating etc and the landlord was friends with my parents. I live with DH and two teenagers who are at school nearby. We cannot afford to rent locally and even if we move to outer London we are looking at rents of around £1300 a month for a horrible property far away from transport (a whole wage). We both work but in the public sector. A mortgage is not an option as we have never been able to save for one and have poor credit rating due to debts we are still paying off - not extravagent we have never had a holiday since we were married - just living costs when we were lower paid than now.
I know there are a lot of people worse off and they have a greater need for social housing. I do however know quite a few people who have pretended to be single parents for example and get social housing even though they are better off than me financially or have moved into the areas from abroad.

I just wish there was some option for people like me who have a connection with an area to stay here and pay a reasonable rent.

I knew someone would start on about taxpayers paying for your housing needs OP!! I assume you are paying tax yourself working in the public sector??
I think your landlord should evict you. He can give you 2 months notice to leave and then the council has a duty to rehouse you. You might not get the type of house you want, but at least then you are on the system and can bid for suitable houses and you will be a higher priority then.

Should have thought that after all those years of living in the property, you probably are sitting tenants (advice from anyone with relevant qualifications to say yeah or nay would be appreciated) or have the rights to be one. So if your landlord does sell you can probably stay put and new owner would have to pay you to get out....

You need to go to CAB to see what your realistic options are.....

Yes gazzalw - I did ask op about sitting tenant option

Me to kaluki, and it hasnt disappointed! I wonder how long before it will be before this thread degenerates into anti social housing tenants, scroungers, blight on the tax payers rants etc etc. I think some people are just jealous really.

kaluki

well feel free to pick on me! but what you have just advised is a classic example of why SH is fucked, cos people CHEAT by getting themselves "evicted" to jump the queue

so great! OP (who is not desperate) jumps the queue

someone who has been waiting for months gets delayed even further

sweet jesus, I am the only person who has given OP some practical advice other than bleating on about SH

OP knows she is unlikely to get it, ergo she needs a Plan B!

I am not jealous, just pragmatic

Sorry, didn't mean to steal your thunder - just remembering a friend, also in North Kensington (but in the 1990s), who made a serious amount of money being bought out of his sitting tenancy rights...

£600 cheap!?!?! Blimey! I'm from up north though maybe that's why!

I have lived in a Council home for 5 years. I moved into my house from a flat last week because of my DS. If you get your name on the list don't just leave it there. You've got to get your voice heard. Ring ALL the time ask where you are blah blah. In all honesty those that shout the loudest are the ones that get heard.

If you have been in the property for 25 years paying rent then you are imo a protected tenant. the fact that the owner may/may not have declared this is irrelevant. you need to go back to CAB tell them that you have been in there for 25 years paying rent and assert your right to stay there even if it is sold. there are so many people who enter into friendly agreements, dont get themselves proper tenancy agreements only to find that the friend sells the property and wants them out. whoever then buys the property buys it with a sitting tenant meaning the current owner will get less for it. you will fall out with him but better this than homeless. you can then get a tenancy agreement and fair rent assessment done. your rent wont suddenly double fair rents dont work like that but it will go up. its a pity you werent able to save when the rent was low but hindsight is always a wonderful thing and not helpful. so go back to CAB and assert your right to stay as a protected tenant. do not move out or agree to move out until you have exhausted this.

No gazzalw - just meant I think you are right!! I'm sure I remember a friend inheriting a house (great) but with elderly sitting tenant paying pennies in rent ( not great)

I've always had a (not so) secret yen to punch ignorant morons who think social housing is subsidised by the good old taxpayer for working and rent paying tenants. It isn't. It just isn't profit-making. There's a massive difference.

I'm a council tenant and both me and DP work full time. Pay full tax and rent. Does my head in too!!

Have you looked at entitledto.com.

Use figures for the private rent locally and see how much assistance you would get, you may be surprised.

I feel for you, but i think you need to accept that you will not be offered a house from the HA or the council. By all means put your name on the list but dont get your hopes up and start looking at plan b.
I would love a council house, like thousands of others, but because of the shortage of housing it will only go to the most needy or the ones who can play the game

Oh, please, porcamiseria, £255 per week is not a hell of a lot less than £1,300 per month but is a hell of a lot more than the £600 that OP is paying at the moment. Then factor in travel costs and OP is unlikely to be able to afford it.

No-one is suggesting that OP cheats. Her current position is that she has no housing need and will not have any points if she goes on the housing list. BUT her current position is likely to change. She has absolutely no control over that. And, there is a definite possibilty that she will be made homeless in one way or another. People have made plenty of practical suggestions to try and avoid this, but if the worst comes to the worst, she will be homeless and will be given housing priority as a homeless applicant.

RosieBooBoo- and what game might that be?

Yes, Dropdeadfred - I guess how you view sitting tenants would depend on which side of the deal you fall....What happened to your friend's house sitting tenant - did they have to wait until he/she died? You wouldn't really want to see an elderly person out on the streets would you?

Why do I have this sneaking suspicion though that the rights of tenants, when properties are sold over their heads, have changed in recent years?

Think porcamiseria that we are all trying to be helpful ;-)

What we need is a Mumsnet Housing expert - can't believe there aren't some out there? Probably all at their desks at the moment though...

You do qualify for social housing, you just won't get it quickly just like anyone else, unless you go into a hostel which is tbh not a good idea with children. I can assure you that being a single parent (I don't know how people 'pretend' to be one, you either have a partner living with you or you don't) doesn't qualify you any more than having a partner! I don't know where people pick up this nonsense. The only reason single parents may appear to be getting housed faster is because we agree to take things in 'bad areas' due to not being as snobbish (or just being more desperate) as people who are lucky enough to have a live-in partner seem to be. I wouldn't have social housing if I'd waited for somewhere naice and central and in a good catchment area to come up, even though I am a filthy scrounging single mother with kids with different dads so by your logic I should have got a palace in Kensington. HTH.

LST Oh theres so many, but it is very well known that the easiest way to get a house up here is to go to the HA/Council and tell them that you dont get on with your parents and they have kicked you out, you'll probably spend a few weeks in homeless accomodation and b&bs then an offer of a house/flat comes.
This is how 2 of my cousins got houses.

Rules have certainly changed for tenants in the time that OP has been a tenant, but that should not effect her tenancy agreement. I have also heard of landlords offering sitting tenants a lump sum to move so they can sell a property with vacant possession.

WibblyBibble, this thing about single parents started about 19 years ago with something a government minister said about single parents getting priority over couples. Of course, he forgot to add, childless couples. It is having children under 16 which gives you priority, regardless of your single/couple status.

Don't know if this is helpful OP

Think it's just the luck of the draw.....

There are some pockets of social housing in highly desirable areas but more often than not, the social housing isn't where most people would necessarily want to live.... but there's not much picking and choosing is there really?

I would have thought that if you live in North Kensington you could well end up with somewhere like the Mozart Estate which might be less than desirable particularly with teenagers...

This wouldn't be an issue if some people who don't need to be living in social housing weren't taking the 'p' - feel sure that in quite a lot of areas, the gross income of the SH property dwellers is above £60,000 (particularly if they have adult working children still living with them) and quite frankly they shouldn't be taking up much needed housing stock.

And I am not bad-mouthing anyone who has a right to live in social housing - grew up in a council house myself and most of extended family still live in them. But do know of people, particularly in London, who have incomes/careers that really put them out of SH bracket and yet continue to 'clog up the system.'

Of course social housing is subsidised!!!

The government is committed to a significant increase in the delivery of affordable housing. To achieve this it has increased its funding allocation to the Housing Corporation to £8.4 billion over the spending review period 2008-11 (compared with the previous funding allocation of £3.9 billion over two years).
www.pwc.co.uk/assets/pdf/funding-affordable-housing.pdf

How do people think it comes so cheap to the tenants?

cutegorilla - I think the point it that it is of course subsidised for those who are unable to pay full rent - but those who can pay full rent do so and it is then not subsidesed for them.

And it is "so cheap" because there is no-one trying to make a profit from the whole transaction. HA's pay rock bottom prices for their stock.

And I would like to add - I am GLAD that my taxes go to support those in need of assistance. I would far prefer to pay taxes than have people living homeless and children without enough food etc...