Offer of a council house does this seem fair?

[SuzieX]

Hi. I’m newly registered but not new to Mumsnet as I’ve been reading through the forums for a while. I’m wanting peoples opinions on this matter as I’m not at all happy with the way my local council allocate their homes and don’t think it is at all fair. My set up is i’m married with two children. A dd age 14 and da age 6. We have been in private rented accommodation since we first moved out of parents 17 years ago. Long story but the top and bottom of it is the house prices here are way out of our league and even if we had saved a set amount each month since we first got together we still wouldn’t have a big enough deposit.

So a few years ago, I think 2012 we registered with our local council for housing. We were told we could register but wouldn’t be a priority as we had a roof over our heads. Fair enough, and so we expected to be waiting a long time. Six years later we still aren’t a priority but are moving up the list so again that’s fine. What’s not fine is that a friend of mine (I say friend but we hardly see each other anymore) who owns her own house has recently been given and moved into a council property.

Her and her partner bought a house a few years ago. They have three children and out of the blue they announced that they were separating and following this her partner moved out. She went to the council and got put into band 2, the second highest priority (we are band 4) and within two months she was offered a house. I’ll be completely honest with you and admit I’m at a loss as to how she got this house and I’m pretty pissed off with the fact she moved in and then within a week the father of her three kids also moved in despite her telling everyone that they had separated. The house that they own they have now got a tenant living there so they are getting their mortgage paid on the house they own whilst living in a heavily discounted council property. Aibu or is this completely unfair?

Like I said we have been in private rented for years and whilst I agree we aren’t a priority compared to people who are homeless or about to be homeless but our ds is registered disabled. He has Asd, adhd and PDA and has a lot of issues and living in private rented accommodation doesn’t help. For example we need to fit locks to the bathroom and kitchen doors due to safety but our landlord won’t allow us to do this. We need locks to the windows as he’s tried to climb out on more than one occasion but again our landlord won’t allow this. We need a bathroom with a low level access shower (wet room) as our son can’t tolerate the bath and hates water but somehow he copes better in a shower but won’t get in the bath to use the shower.

With this issues our son has and the supporting evidence we got from the occupational therapist and paediatrician we were told by the council they couldn’t move us into a higher band as our son doesn’t have any physical disabilities. So why oh why can a person who has no need whatsoever, or her children, get a house when she already owns a house of her own?

And yes,OP, your friend has almost certainly acquired that property by fraudulent means. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was split up from her partner when she made the application. Even then, the situation has now changed and the fact they are both living in a council property while renting out their owned house is fucking taking the absolute piss.

Was the house just in her partners name only?

Because we don't know

The fact that the partner is now living with her in the council house whilst renting out the property makes that a moot point, I’d think.

Sometimes I bid every week. It just depends if there are any houses that come up in our area. We need to be near our ds’s school family and work. Our ds is excluded at least two/three times a month and it’s always me that has to collect him. At present my work and Home are only ten minutes drive away. If we move to the other side of town I’d be fighting through traffic to collect him. Also it’s a possibility he may get a place in the specialist School I’ve opted for. If so he might be able to go on transport if not it will down to me to take him as Dh starts work at 6am. So I need to stay local. If this wasn’t an issue we’d have happily bidded on houses in other area. My dd makes her own way to school and she’ll be starting college in just over a year but I still ha e my da to consider.

No. I know for a fact the house is in both of their names.

Quite easy to check land registry to see who owns property.

Report them....

It's wrong that people play it... But there's lot to win by playing system/outright lying...

It doesn't really matter if you're 100% certain or not.... They will do their own investigation and will have access to far more resources that you do!

But surely they did their own investigations and prying etc etc in the first place? The local authority don't just blindly accept everything they are told.... they require proof etc

OP,
How does your DS manage to keep himself clean if he won't shower or bathe?

i manage to get him in the bath but it usually takes half an hour of him crying running off hiding clinging on to door frames to even get him to the stairs. I have to carry him to the stairs whilst getting hit and my hair pulled. He usually lunges forward grabbing hold of the banister whilst me calmly trying to get him off. He runs upstairs taking the plug out and then hiding it. Once I’ve finally got him into the bathroom I’m usually covered in sweat he pushes against me knocking me into the sink toilet and door handle leaving me covered in bruises. Once I’ve lifted him into the bath I race to get him washed and hair done in under a minute as he can’t tolerate it. I can only fill the bath a few inches as he thrashes around and has flooded the bathroom on a few occasions. He can’t stand the smell of certain bath products so I can’t use them. He hates his ears getting wet and will scream none stop if he gets any in his eyes so I have to use those baby protectors. It’s hard work.

My sil has got a council property by cheating the system. I say sil she's my bil gf. Her and bil lived in his 1 bed flat with their 1st child. She got pregnant with twins. People assumed he would sell his flat when twins arrived but noooo. She told the housing people she was a single mum of almost 3 and was offered a council house. She hasn't lived here very long at all. Me and dh were very fortunate I thought to be on the list until ds3 was 6 months to get a place. We have a house we are very proud of. Apparently they can legally stay at each others houses 3 nights a week. Totally wrong when families are in b&bs. I've washed my hands of them

That was very outing if she were to read it but I don't care.

She must have said something. I knew someone who had a mortgage with her dh. He did a runner. She couldn't afford the mortgage and was being theatrened with repossession. Her and her children went to the council who put them in a hostile for two weeks while they looked into things. They did a check on her name and when it came back she was on a mortgage they kicked her out the hostile and told her to come.back when they took her house from her. I don't speak to her anymore so don't know the outcome but the woman u know definitely pulled a few strings