Council housing - wait times..

[LolaPickle]

Good evening all,

If you have recently, say over the last two years, been offered a place with the local authority (standard accommodation / no adaptations) - would you mind answering..

How long did you wait?
What band were you in?

I am supporting a vulnerable person who is about to be homeless

Looking for actual real life experiences on the above questions - not the official lines as am pretty well read up on all that for my local area..... realistic wait times from real people who have been through it, and wondered what my area, along with the rest of the Uk was looking like...

Just looking for real life experiences and wait times - Genuinely don't need any further info and trying to help a vulnerable person who looks to me for help.

PS.... please don't flame me for posting in AIBU..It is my first post, although been a long time lurker...and admit to posting here for traffic and hopefully helpful insights

It really does depend on where you live. My area has ‘kwick key’ property’s with no waiting time (Lincolnshire) - other areas you’d be waiting years

The problem is every area is completely different, London you could be waiting years and years, I'm sure smaller quieter places you would be housed a lot quicker.

My friend waited 10 years in our area and she was band 3.

thanks for that
Im not that far off from you Fos Lady, im in the midands but a large city

Kwick Key properties, I have not heard of them in this area, I shall look into see if it is something that happens around here

In my city there is huge homelessness issues so my guess would be a longer wait..but hopefully not years

TEN YEARS. Oh my god. what did your friend do, in the meantime, MorningCUPPA?

PS can you quote pples posts on here so folk know who yu are responding to?

sorry im just learning

Could you give the name of the city?

Councils do have responsibilities to house anyone who is homeless, but this could mean a long-term placing in a hostel, B&B or other temporary accommodation.

Im in Birmingham x

Ask about what happens with the void property’s. With the area I used to work at they went up through two cycles, if no suitable candidate was found then they went to open offer, it might work like that for you

I waited about 6 weeks but this was ten years ago, there’s far less now —thanks to the fucking tories—

I was Midlands, Leicestershire, it will also vary massively depending on area. London/the south for example no chance, whereas up north there might be a lot more available

Ive applied in 2 different areas and never waited more than a month. I wasn't high banding either, maybe band C? With this house I think I struck lucky more than anything else, official wait times were 9-12 months and I got it after 2 weeks. There were 76 people before me in the queue for the house but we were most suitable. We needed all 3 bedrooms and we had no arrears, other people either had arrears or only needed 1/2 bedrooms.

My friend was seriously over crowded and she was on the list 6 years and gave up in the end.

My niece, in Birmingham waited a year for a 2 bed flat for her and disabled son.

It purely depends on your priority banding and date of entry into the band. Also you can never factor in who you're bidding against and their priority. It's more of a housing register than a waiting list so it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string.

ems137... was that recently ?

Which person?

We were in the lowest band and waited six weeks for the offer and three weeks once it was ours, for repairs to be done. We're in Hartlepool in the north east, and that was considered a long wait for here.

We were considered an 'emergency' due to our rental property having a broken door and not being secure. Two years later, we were thankfully able to move to a different rental property ourselves as we were still waiting.

Glasgow.

Essex. Officially homeless, 2 children, put in a Salvation Army property for 4 months, got offered our current property 4 weeks ago and had less than a week to move everything which was stressful but I'm incredibly grateful to have a roof over our heads.

It depends a lot on the age of a person and the size of the property they need. A single person is less likely to get a higher banding but there's a higher turnover and less competition for one bed flats (because not many single people get accepted on the lists in the first place) Families that need a 3 or 4 bed wait ages because people rarely give up those properties and the vast majority of people on priority bandings have dependent children.

Some councils will share the info about how the previous listings were allocated (band and time on list) to help people know if they're bidding realistically so that might be worth a look?

My friend was awarded a council Flat in Birmingham in March; she'd waited three years in the second highest priority band.

I joined the list in Birmingham as a highest priority case (supported by doctors and social services; it was horrendous), and after 7 months they still hadn't found me anything - I didn't wait around. That was five years ago though.

ems 132 i was meaning you x

''Ive applied in 2 different areas and never waited more than a month.''

i meant that matey,was that recently?

ems 137 sorry got my numbers muddled

My family member was Band 2 I think (priority but not urgent) and waited five years. She had children, which was why she was a priority. She lived with me in the meantime.

Oh god im horrified at some of what I am reading..but completely grateful for honest responses

I waited 1 1/2 years on the emergency banding that was ten years ago . If the person is vulnerable may be worth speaking to social services to see if they can back your claim . The council may be able to provide temporary accommodation in a paid BandB

thanks sunday blues - we have applied to them before but jsut appied again

Osirus what area x

Just under 5 years

West Yorkshire