To apply for a council house?

[canidothis15]

Hi

First of all, I own a property in an area of the country I used to live in and I left quite suddenly due to a bereavement. I didn't really feel up to selling it to be honest.

Now I have been talking to friends and some seem quite convinced I could apply for a council house (I work full time) as some houses are actually quite difficult to house people in due to the area being a bit rough.

The problem is that I have pets and so private lets aren't ideal and I am in a flat right now so that's not ideal either.

I would obviously pay full market rent. WIBU to apply for a council house or would the council laugh themselves stupid? My job is pretty well paid and I do obviously have a house.

Thanks.

In my area (Chester) there were houses which nobody bid on because of the estate being exceptionally "rough". We took a small flat rather than a big house because of the area in which the house was situated.

I imagine that at times, some people would get a house even if they weren't high need.

We've emigrated now but I always remember looking longingly at those houses....they were lovely and had a garden.

you can but try OP see what the rules are for your area you may get a council home quite easily.

Op go for it. Not everywhere is impossible. My house had been empty for months - I put my application in on the Monday, got a "yes" email on Friday and picked up the keys the following Monday. Because it had been empty for months the council had time to put in full insulation and a part new kitchen.

There are still empty houses with my council - had a quick look in response to this thread and there are around 20 right now ranging from one-bed flats or bungalows through to 3-bed houses.

Well OP - if it was OK for Bob Crowe to stay in a council house despite his £145k pa salary then it's Ok for anyone to apply for one.

It goes to show how different areas of the country are and how everyone assumes you live in the SE unless you state otherwise

It is difficult private renting with animals.

When I was on the board of a housing association, it was the four-bedders we always had problems with letting, and I think it is probably worse now, because of the bedroom tax.

We got to the point where we were throwing in fridge freezers and washer dryers as marketing inducements to get the things let, incidentally. So yes, it depends on where properties are and what the financial implications there are for having voids (often penalties of one kind or another for the social landlord).

Regina, most people in that position would move out of the area with no housing and start a new life. We were in social housing and moved 60 miles away to get somewhere decent to live. Somewhere with no family connections, and not at all near DH's work. But at least we had a decent home and weren't overcrowded. I think that's a more positive step than bitching about other people mopping up surplus rental capacity.

Some areas of the north east have council properties that they can't let so those applying will likely get one.
Anecdotal I know but someone I know wanted to sell there house to release equity to start the emigration process. They moved into a council house for the 18 months it took and would have been happy to stay if emigration hadn't worked out. That was Tyneside area and very recently in that they emigrated about 6 weeks ago.

It doesn't make sense to me that you own a home but don't want to end the tenancy there so you have somewhere to live as you don't want to hurt their feelings. So your tenants have a home and you are homeless? I'm all for being kind and thoughtful but you're subsidising a family (you said the rent is cheap) and then as a result putting yourself in a position whereby you will need to be on a waiting list and then bid (if it comes to that) for a house.

Do your tenants not feel sorry for their homeless landlady?

Accessing empty homes.

self-help-housing.org/how-is-it-done/getting-property/

Really, there isn't much accommodation in some areas, whereas in others there is a surprising amount and it can be a bit embarrassing for social landlords. This is one of the problems with current housing policy, but don't blame the poor buggers who find themselves in housing need.

It occurs to me that if the OP turfs out the tenants all you are doing is shunting the problem along the line, as presumably they will need new housing anyway then.

I Thought the house op owned was in a different area of the country to where she currently lives? And yes BMW6 its ok for anyone to apply for social housing .

I live in Yorkshire and work in housing. You could apply to join our waiting list but you would get a non qualifying letter in return. We have over 8000 people on our list and house around 2000 a year. Homeowners are not eligible unless they have an assessed housing need that they cannot solve themselves such as a medical need.

Iguana - it isn't about "not hurting their feelings" - but about the fact that they are happy, settled and the arrangement suits us both - to a point.

I currently live in a flat and so I am certainly not homeless! This arrangement is fine for the interim. However, because of pets, it isn't ideal and it's also a fair way to commute (recently started a new job.)

Given that I have been told by friends (which I am willing to accept may not be wholly accurate) that houses, with gardens, are empty, it made sense from my perspective to see if the council would be willing to consider me as a tenant as this offers more security than a private let would (which I am looking into also) and doesn't have the problem around animals.

I am not in Yorkshire, and we also do not have starving children in B & Bs that I am elbowing out of the way to get a council property - this was something I had been told and something I decided to ask Mumsnet about, and the answer appears to be "it depends." :)

as is always the case with mumsnet posters cannot grasp the fact that we dont all live in london and the south east and that social housing in different areas of the country is alot easier to get apply and see what they say!

You may be eligible. Whether 'morally' you should is maybe something different.

Ignore the idiots taking the moral high ground here, because they don't really understand the full picture of how it varies across the country as well as different social landlords.

Each local authority has an empty housing officer, I gather, and they might be a good person to have a phone conversation with first, pointing out that you have been bereaved, and chucking your tenants out just makes another household look for housing anyway, so in numbers terms it might as well be you housed as them.

Obviously if they say that local housing is woefully insufficient, then you are on a hiding to nothing. But if they say that there are, say, 6 rented properties sitting on the books needing tenants, which have been there a few months, then obviously that is a different position.

Around here the housing situation was terrible but suddenly there was a massive development of affordable housing, I mean hundreds of properties, and lots of people I know have been housed as a result. One of those had put another home on the market and been allocated a house while this one was being sold, so was already a homeowner.

Ignore the idiots taking the moral high ground

Calling people idiots for having a valid point of view waters down your arguement somewhat.

Having lived in 6 different areas none anywhere near London/SE there is absolutely no way you would have been eligible at all in any of those.

but if council homes are readily available where the op lives[ and they are in my town] than i,m not sure what the problem is for op applying ,different councils have different rules she may or may not be eligable, it has no bearing on homeless families in different areas of the uk where the lists for council homes are massive.

Right, well, I was on the board of a leading London HA and we had properties sitting there in Wandsworth at the time, which we used to have problems letting.

As I say, until the OP rings around systematically she won't know what's available and whether it's worth making an application. But I think it's pretty disgusting to be vitriolic on here and call her immoral for doing so, even though not doing so would effectively render another family homeless.

The Tories have done a great divide and rule job on you lot, getting you to pitchfork your fellow citizens while empty properties, both private and council, are such a problem in this country. Can you not see the bigger national picture at all?

But.. If OP chucked out her tenants and moved into her owned house then she would be making them homeless, and they would likely end up in a council house, and would probably have to move their dc schools etc.
Either way, 2 households, two houses. If OP moves into council, which she is happy to do (and pay rent in, they are not free as some people on here seem to think!)then that works for her, and works for the tenants of her house.
OP, also check with housing association, as they can have different rules. Also, if you are over 50 this can also qualify you for certain housing options.

The Tories have done a great divide and rule job on you lot, getting you to pitchfork your fellow citizens while empty properties, both private and council, are such a problem in this country. Can you not see the bigger national picture at all?

Yes I can see the 'bigger picture'. I have moved around the country more than most.

People have differing opinions. Just because they aren't the same as yours it doesn't automatically make it the fault of the Tories.

That quite frankly is a lazy arguement.

I don't understand why people get their knickers in a twist, unless OP lies about her situation and makes a fraudulent application she won't get one if there aren't enough to go around those who truly 'need' them in her area first.

I don't know why councils don't work together though and have one large register of housing so people living in the SE could see what's available and potentialIy bid on property in other areas. Some people would probably be happy to relocate for larger properties

I don't understand why people get their knickers in a twist, unless OP lies about her situation and makes a fraudulent application she won't get one if there aren't enough to go around those who truly 'need' them in her area first.

I don't know why councils don't work together though and have one large register of housing so people living in the SE could see what's available and potentialIy bid on property in other areas. Some people would probably be happy to relocate for larger properties

Agree with boffin

Where my mum lives (nw city) there are loads of council houses sitting empty because nobody will take them. The council used to board them up but this made the area look even more grim with every fourth house boarded up. They no replace the glass in the windows with plastic and put net curtains up to try to make them look lived in, many have been empty for years. If the local council would prefer to leave them empty and turn the op away because she didn't have enough problems or wasn't poor enough then they need new management in place with a bit of common sense IMO.