AIBU to call my local council housing department a bunch of fucking wankers - housing related!

[FeckingFrustrated]

Yes, I know they are just doing their jobs - tis the rules etc and I would never say it to their faces but wish I could I am so bloody angry and yes, this is a rant just to see if I am BU?

Council housed us in a 2nd floor flat far away from the area we lived in 2 years ago. Before that we were in temp accommodation for another 2 years due to being made homeless by private landlord wanting house back (nothing we did wrong). Private rent here (southeast) is between £1000-£1300 pcm for a 3 bed and most of the rentals that come up are ex-council houses that have been bought up. Council rent on a 3 bed is £450pcm . This is a 'new' town and the vast majority of housing is social just for a bit of background.

Due to me being made redundant just before the landlord shafted us, we went to the council for help (so 4 years ago now). Council housed us in a flat too small for us so we are overcrowded but said we had to take it and could then apply for a transfer. After we moved in they said we had to wait a year to apply for a transfer as they could not move us while we were on an introductory tenancy. So we wait out the year in a really hard living situation (4 DC, no outside space, complaints and swearing from neighbours about DC noise which is not excessive, nowhere outside to dry washing, 2 flights of steep concrete step to carry stuff up and down etc).

After the year, we apply to move and promptly told that we will have to wait between 3/4 years to for a transfer as we are 'adequately' housed, even though the council deliberately put us in an overcrowded situation!

Last month we were informed that because the council have changed it's allocation policy, we have been moved down a band and are not a 'priority' as we are only short of one bedroom and children in above ground flats are no longer an issue any more, so we will be waiting forever basically [anger]. I have a DS with SN who has been badly impacted by the lack of outside space and we cannot cope living like this any longer.

Our only option is to go back into private renting (and claiming housing benefit as it is too expensive) after wasting 4 years in an extremely stressful situation waiting for a suitable, affordable, secure home from the council, which the vast majority of people in this town have the luxury of. We have been holding on waiting and waiting for a house and have now been told that we are at the bottom of the queue again. I am so pissed off that I have wasted all these years for nothing and my DC have witnessed anti social behaviour and been cooped up like bloody chickens!

I have never so been depressed in my life as I have been for the last few years but we were holding out for a house we would not have to keep moving from, all for bloody nothing

What an awful situation. I don't think you are being unreasonable. You were led to believe that a) the council knew you were going to be very overcrowded in your present place but b)said you had to take it and c) could apply for a transfer after a year.

To then change the ground rules and decide you are not a priority for transfer to an adequately sized property is really bad. I KNOW there are way too many people after way too few properties but surely you shouldn't just be left indefinitely whilst being really overcrowded.

Are you going to complain? You could take advice from CAB or you could go to one of your local MPs surgeries and see if they will add a bit of weight to your complaint/requests. I'm not surprised you are really miserable about this. It doesn't sound at all fair.

The Council have changed the goalposts for me, too. I am now no longer eligible AT ALL after being on the waiting list for 3 1/2 years (for sheltered retired accommodation) !!

Its sounds like you've had a bit of a rough time but yabu. If you had looked into social housing at all you would have easily found that you would have a 12 month starter tenancy and wouldn't be able to exchange. The council don't overcrowd you 'on purpose' - they offer what they have got. Policy changes happen. Demand by far exceeds supply so the bar is set ever higher. The pressures on social housing are massive. I don't understand why you waited it out for 4 years if you are able to rent privately?

I think YABU. At the moment, people are lucky to have any council housing at all given how short they are on accommodation after the bedroom tax introduction. It's shit that your situation isn't ideal but at least it's not a b&b.

SE is stupidly expensive. Move areas?

So you have 4 children in a 2 bed flat? Sheesh, not ideal.

Can you get a supporting letter from someone who works with your child with SN, stating the importance of the outdoor space for him?

Nottalotta I don't understand why you waited it out for 4 years if you are able to rent privately?

3 enforced moves in 3 years having to find a deposit each time as the previous one would not be given back straightaway. 2 months notice to move and extortionate rents knowing that neighbours in the same houses are council tenants and paying peanuts.

sutekidane after what we have been through the last last 7 years to even get into this situation, I am definitely not lucky. At least it's not a B&B ffs?

Wolfiefan thanks but move areas? DH has a job here. We can't move to an area unless he has a job there first (landlords don't like DSS tenants ). Not many jobs about apparently.

So basically a case of "Everyone else has a council house, so we want one too!"?

YABU as the people you talk to at the Housing Office do not make the rules. It is a hard job in that they have to work the best they can within the guidelines.

There is a massive under supply of Social Housing in this country and the way it is going you are lucky you have a roof over your head.

I do sympathise I really do but I work in social housing and take abuse for decisions and situations that are out of my hands all day long.

I think you are BU to think you're in a particularly worse situation than any of the other families crammed into council flats up and down the country.

Round here it's absolutely the norm for families to get stuck in two-bed flats because the three-bed houses are all under-occupied by the middle-aged empty nesters.

And people still oppose the bedroom tax (!)

I really really doubt you were deliberately rehoused into an overcrowding situation. You might have felt it was overcrowded but I don't believe it was legally, taking into account ages and sexes of your children.

How many bedrooms does your flat have?

I know it's crap but there are so many people on council waiting lists. You have a home. Ok, so it's small with no outside space but lots of families live in flats, either council, private rented or mortgaged.

The only thing I can suggest is a swap if your council allows them. You never know, a coupe who's DC have left home may want to downsize, so ring the council tomorrow and ask if going on the swaps register is possible.

And I can't think of ANY town in the SE, new or not (Crawley?), that is mainly social housing. Social housing is a scarce resource.

I really can't get my head around the fact that I am lucky to have a 'secure'roof. Since when was that something to feel lucky about in this country?

I would have been luckier if I hadn't lost a child, hadn't suffered depression and anxiety so I couldn't work, hadn't lost my house due to DH's business going bust as I needed him to help with the other DC as I could not cope, hadn't been raped or sexually abused as a child, hadn't had to spend the last 3 years in expensive therapy. I could go on.

Fuck me, I don't know that I'm born do I, what with wanting a council house with a garden for my DC so we don't have to move every 6 months and struggle to pay the extortionate rent that is paying off someone else's mortgage for their pension pot .

You said you would have to go back to privately renting so i assumed that you were able to and would have been able to sooner? You have been benefitting from a much cheaper rent for 4 yrs - you could perhaps have saved up a deposit?

What type of accommodation could you afford to rent privately, without housing benefit? How does that theoretical home compare to where you are now? Although not ideal, I think you ARE actually being helped, but don't realise it

No need to be sarcastic. We moved out of SE some years ago. It's not about moaning that your neighbours are council tenants and pay less. It's about you doing the best you can for your family. If you can pay private rental then do.

Of course you are lucky to have a secure roof! Millions don't! The council aren't punishing you, or adding to your troubles. I'm sorry you are clearly feeling crap about many things (from your post above) but the council are helping you! They've given you somewhere to live.

OP, it does sound difficult and I really sympathise, but ultimately I DO think having a roof over your head is something to be grateful for - the other stuff isn't of course but the council aren't responsible for that!

So have you tried swapping? Since the under occupancy levy the RSL I work for have got a lot of tenants who are struggling to pay it and are desperately looking for smaller housing. It's 3/4 beds that we are currently having issues with

Yanbu.

I think I remember your thread from the time you moved in?

Who sleeps where?