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

Oh, and for those blaming the tories for the housing shortage and deprivation, house prices tripled under the last Labour government and child poverty rose.

I was trying to be proactive, suggesting work rounds. The reality is that stock is limited in the SE (in many places), anyone coming onto the homeless lists or with very, very serious mobility issues will trump overcrowded but housed, and so the reality is a long wait, getting offered another flat, swap, private or move.

It would be best to channel anger into accepting reality and doing something about it, because as pointed out, everyone wants a 3-bed house in a nice area.

I think you are letting the time you have spent in less-than-ideal council housing so far cloud your judgement.

The only way to improve your situation is to look at it as it as now and decide if private renting would actually improve your lives. Look into it. Or if the chance of eventually getting something that you want is worth holding on for. If you decide to hold on you may want to set a deadline.

I would make the decision based on now and the future, not on the time you feel you have put in already. Because the way that policies keep changing, cutting your losses might turn out to be the best option if you are all so unhappy where you are.

I so agree, decaff.

You are not being unreasonable but your attitude is vile and aggressive. Perhaps this comes across when you speak to the housing department which is why they are less than helpful to you!

Did you read the first line of the OPs post?

awww OP that is just shit. i have heard of this sort of thing happening time and time again. i am so angry on your behalf

you have probably already tried this so apols if you have - but have you tried homeswapper? i have had decent swaps through that

good luck.x

This is the first line of the OP:

"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?"

So yes I see the bit you are referring to usual.
However, she states this is just a rant to see if I'm bu. but when people have said she is bu or slightly u, she hasent accepted it!!! Why ask a question if your not going to like the answer?!

I did read everything the OP said. She continued to get aggressive and list her life trauma as if that will move her up on the housing list. I do think it's unfair that she's over crowded especially given she has a child with SEN but I'm explaining why the housing people might not seem very helpful. I've worked with housing people, it's a bloody tough job without them being slagged off. If the OP has come across so aggressively in all her posts on this thread, I wonder if she's like that in RL?

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this but have you got a letter written explaining your DC's SEN and why they need personal space, plus its impact on you etc?

why don't a lot of you just campaign for it to be made a crime to rent out a house? You'd all feel much better that way.

I'm sorry for you too op

I am really concerned (however) that the same old crap about HA homes/council is being vomited over MN. can't be bothered to remind people again

I'm in an HA home. I joined the homeswapper.co.uk site.

My HA allows us to join for free. Its likely that your council will too.

This is a major stepping stone, especially if you hit a brick wall with your appeal.

I think you will be surprised to see that many tenants are willing/wanting to swap for a flat.

One thing you must be grateful for is your tenancy, it is like gold dust these days...

I don't think it should be illegal to rent out a house.

But longer tenancys instead of 6 month lets would go a long way to make private renting a more desirable option.

There are people desperate for smaller properties because they cannot afford to stay in their homes.

Sadly, very few of them are that "desperate" enough to take a flat. So they can't bloody well pay the extra £15 quid a week and quit bitching IMO.

I'm (like the OP) in a two-bed flat with children and would love to move to a house (wouldn't we all?)

We can't swap this flat away for love nor money though. People looking to downsize still want houses and gardens.

I do get why the OP is moaning, but quite frankly her situation is just life in the SE for most people I know.

I'm a private LL and would support changes to legislation provided there was adequate protection for LL against tenants who aren't decent.

I would have absolutely no problem with longer tenancies at all.

I don't see why someone shouldn't be 'grateful' for having a secure roof over their heads, even if it is not the perfect set up for them. If I were in a situation where I had no other options, then I'd be grateful for the fact that I lived in a country where I actually was housed in a property rather than left on the streets.

You can also be dissatisfied with your current situation. Regardless of whether you live in social housing, private rentals or own your own home (hence why the real estate and home renovation industry are so massive). What counts is what steps you are planning to take to change your own situation, rather than raving about people who don't hand you what you want on a silver platter.

You can be grateful for not living on the streets AND be wanting to live in a different home all at the same time. Humans are complex like that.

as a private landlord then fleta, what protection are you expecting from the government - you would no longer get a direct payment of housing benefit

so what protection?

We have been on the homeswapper site for almost a year. All the houses advertised have said they would like gardens so no flats will be entertained and there are plenty of 4 bed houses on there! There's no way I would move from a house to a flat so I don't blame them and as most of the swappers would be downsizing due to DCs leaving home, they are likely to be older and would not want to manage living on the 2nd floor with all the stairs and be without a garden.

The housing department always spout that line ('try to swop on homeswopper!') when fobbing me off and I know it is utterly unrealistic as do they.

I am pissed off (rightfully IMO) as has been said (thank you Mrs DeVere) hope has been taken away as the goalposts have been moved yet again!

I was looking at a 5 bed ex-council house to rent this afternoon for £1300 a month (we can claim up to £1200 housing benefit but would only need a top up). Shitty area and ugly as fuck house which explains why it is cheaper than most 3 beds in the area but spacious and with a garden. My DC's friend lives in the same road in an exact same house but as a council tenant. Mum and son only in a 5 bed . Older DCs moved on. Mum can afford the £500 a month rent as she has a good job now the DCs are all grown up and it's much cheaper than renting a 2 bed privately (around £800 pm). I mean WTAF!

I also looked around a 4 bed house before we got the offer we could not refuse on this flat. We were 3rd on the list for it before we were put to the bottom of the list as we were put on an introductory tenancy and so could not not apply for a transfer until that had ended (no I was not told that until we moved in) and our 'priority date' was from that date. The council have the top 3 on the list look around it in case No. 1 refuses it (unlikely). The concrete floor was soaked through as they'd ripped up the carpets and the place was full of damp and filth and stunk to high heaven. This was the first council property I'd seen and I was shocked. I was told by the housing officer that an elderly lady had lived there alone and had only lived in one room so had not heated it and had let it fall into disrepair so they were having to replaster the walls and dig up the concrete floor. I mean how is that an effective use of council money? Let someone continue to live in a property way too big for their needs so they can't afford to heat it and are too frail to look after it. While families living in flats too small for them are left hanging (literally!).

I also find it extremely unfair that people who already live in houses with gardens but are in need of an extra bedroom, have a higher priority than us due to their 'date' than us who need an extra bedroom and to have a house. It was the council's policy not to put families with children under 5 in flats above ground floor level (DS was 18 months when we were put here) but they changed that a month before we had to move! It is infuriating.

I mentioned my life history as I get irrationally annoyed when told I am 'lucky' to have a roof over head. I consider myself very unlucky to have even had to approach the council for housing. The circumstances leading up to me being 'entitled' were extremely unlucky. I was not insinuating that I was more deserving at all.

My attitude is an angry one here for a rant on an internet forum but in RL I am bloody lovely. I hold open doors for people, say sorry when people bump into me and let other cars out into traffic and everything . Although I still stand by my original OP!

I suppose I have to let it all go now and get back into the private renting merry go round for the sake of the DC and my mental health. To anyone who's never lived in a 2nd floor flat with 4DC including a screamy toddler and a hyperactive DS, it is really bloody hard and I don't know how we've coped for nearly 2 years. That is an achievement in itself.

OMG I will so appreciate a garden with a washing line and some flowers and walking from the street directly to my front door with bags of shopping and a 3 year old who wont need to be carried up the stairs while having a tantrum as he's tired! Oh and not having rubbish bags splitting down the stairs and having to clean it all up. Oh and not having to constantly keep the DC quiet so the downstairs neighbours don't scream obscenities through the floor! Definitely will make me appreciate things I used to not even think twice about.

Thank you to the posters who have understood my 'rant'. UsualSuspect .

Are you currently in a 3 bedroom flat op? Maybe it would be more likely to swap for a 3 bed house? I think trying for a 4 bed might be less likely as I imagine they are more in demand. Good luck!

I get why you're frustrated, but it really doesn't do any good to compare. Basically, even with high rate/mob DLA, people struggle to get a council or HA ground floor flat or house in many, many areas. Many areas now shunt people routinely to private LLs, there just isn't the stock available.

Go for the 5-bed house and move on. If the LL serves notice, you'll be at the top of the queue and hopefully will not be offered another flat.

But it's a waste of effort to get upset about what others have.

I don't understand - why should working people subsidise people on benefits? I can't afford a 3 bedroom place so why should i be paying for someone on benefits to get one.

She's not on benefits.

SimLondon Is it OK for my DH to subsidise'people on benefits' too? You can claim housing benefit too you know what with you being a 'taxpayer' as well!