To ask how much are Council or Social Housing properties in London in general, or Camden in particular?

[sofedup123]

I'm so beyond fed up of living in shit private accommodation (cold, vermin, inconsiderate flatmates) I'm going to put some time into researching and applying for social housing if I can.

However, would it really be much cheaper than private rents in London? I can't find any examples of rents for a studio flat or a one bedroom online it is so frustrating. I don't want to spend hours jumping through hoops if I couldn't afford it at the end of the day anyway.

And yes I know it might take years to ever get the chance to even bid on a council property, but I need to try several things to save my sanity. Another plan is to raise my income so I can move out of the borough to a cheaper area I could have a decent private rented studio, but that's obviously difficult too, to just earn more money. I'm working on it however.

I know it's rude to ask what people pay in rent but please if anyone has any idea of zone 2 London social housing prices could they share it with me?

We charge between £114 - £157 for a studio and £125 - £210 for a one-bed in our Camden properties, depending on where they are and how desirable etc. (housing association)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the situation is much, much worse than you probably think it is. Camden cut their waiting list earlier this year, essentially removing anybody who had absolutely no chance of ever getting a home - which is to say, anyone who isn't absolutely and utterly desperate. On average, 600 people will bid on each available property. Of course go through the process of being assessed to get on the list, but don't think of it as a realistic option unless your circumstances change.

Is shared ownership, intermediate rent or rent to buy an option for you?

Southern, One Group, A2Dominion, Newlon and L&Q housing associations all have fairly sizeable intermediate rent sections (rent at up 70% - 80% of market value, if you meet the criteria, for fixed tenancies of up to 5 years.) Have a look at them. It's still in great demand and you have to apply and be selected to view then be successful in being chosen for the tenancy but it's a much more realistic prospect for somebody single, able-bodied, in work and not a priority for social housing.

I am a Housing Benefit assessor for a North London council (but not Camden, although it borders Camden) so I see a lot of claims from HA tenants, and obviously council tenants too.

For one bed properties, you're looking at £100-£130 depending on the area. Get your name on every HA waiting list that you can, as well as the council's, and good luck!

Have a look at Peabody Trust, Guinness Trust, Apna Ghar, Bangla, Peter Bedford, Affinity Sutton, Circle, Hyde Housing and Notting Hill Housing Trust as well as the ones Comtesse mentioned.

Good luck. I live close to London, and the council wouldn't even put my name on the list as we didn't have a 'recognised housing need'. This was even though our LL was selling our place and we were completely broke and couldn't afford to move. I think you also need some sort of local connection in order to apply, so you can't just apply for areas that you fancy living in.

It's a shit system. Massive sympathies to you.

There are 22,000 people on the waiting list in Lambeth. For example.
As I understand it places in HA and other social housing providers are also allocated via the council list.

I pay £118pw for a 2 bed flat council flat in Hoxton (Hackney Council). It's very hard to get enough priority here, I was allocated my flat 12 years ago and it was hard even then - I managed to get enough points as I have a disabled child and I'm disabled myself, plus I was homeless due to leaving my ex because of DV. In my borough you can see all the properties available for bidding (with the rents) in a weekly publication you can pick up at libraries, council offices etc - there might be something similar for your borough.

Camden. You have to have lived in the borough five out of the last seven years to even go on the list!

Look here;

camden.homeconnections.org.uk/my-cbl/property-search?area=select&propertytype=select&housingcategory=999&checkbox=

Also investigate intermediate rent schemes. This one will give you an idea;

www.peabody.org.uk/find-a-home/intermediate-market-rent-listing?l=1141&bd=&am=

We pay £146/week for a 3 bed house in zone 6.

Our council has just written to us to tell us that council rents will be increasing, in line with private rents, for household's with an income of more than £40,000.

Just getting to read my thread now. Thank you all for posting, I'm going to look up all of these ideas. I'd never even heard of intermediate rent for example!

The system does seem very tough. I'm certainly not in a position to buy with shared ownership. Maybe in 10 years but whinnies what things will be like then!

Would you be better to move out of London and put up with a commute? I'm a teacher in London but made the decision to live in Slough as I can get a decent one bedroom flat there for £750 a month. The commute is really long, but I don't have to have flatmates, and the flat is really nice.