Home swapping is ridiculous

[Aaliyah1990]

I’m more than frustrated with the fact that you could bid for years and not get anywhere. Then you think to yourself oh maybe house swap might help? Nope not at all!!! the housing system is a big joke if you ain’t got a garden you can forget it,the demands people are asking for just makes you feel worse and all your hopes are thrown out the window. It’s almost like doing the lottery and hoping you get lucky. I don’t know if somehow these so called serious swappers are getting a power buzz out of it cause that’s what it’s seem to me. In all reality we should all stop compiling to these ridiculous set ups, you waste so many of years being unhappy then you feel as you have to beg in a way to get a property you want. I think it’s all wrong and the council should be responsible if your over crowded etc and the bidding set up is more of a joke you’ll be on there for centuries 🙄. Until the day everyone stops compiling then that’s the day you’ll be able to get what you want but everyone seems to conform to things that are unrealistic,draining and upsetting. From today I’m not doing any of the guideline rules forget it!!! It doesn’t work out and it just makes their jobs easier while we suffer nope not anymore. So on that note I’ll get back to you guys. I’ll update to see that my situation will have improved. And I’ll let you what I did to get out of the flat/cage I’m in.

“Am I the only one that thinks 'house swapping' shouldn't be available.”

Why not?

LAs house people by what’s available at the time, so some people are in areas they’d rather not be, older people quite often want to downsize, other people want more rooms...

What possible logical reason is there for not allowing it?

Exactly

I feel your pain, OP, I really do.

Yes that’s what I’m trying to say. That at one stage things where okay with the social housing but because of all this home swapping business it’s just been making thing difficult for a lot of family’s.

Thank you for understanding what I am trying to explain

I’m not procreating you nutter lol

Older people you might not even be able to get that property they might have an age requirement and yes I understand that people don’t want to be in the area there living in It’s exactly the case for me where I am my family and friends are not based here.

WOW!! The right wing idiots really are out in force and sorry if you dont understand what the housing system is in the uk why the fuck are you commenting with un-educated idiotic responses?

Further more those of you who find yourselves lucky enough to be in a more fortunate situation because you own your own home here IN THE UK havent you been lucky that your house has increased in value through very little input from yourselves and yet feel able to comment on someone else's situation with your judgemental view, I hope all of you that have done that will have some life shattering change of circumstances that put you at the mercy of the state, Im sure you'll change your tune pretty fucking quick.

As someone who was raised in a 3 bedroom council house in the 70s and 80s (2 main bedrooms and 1 box room) we managed with a household of 7 children and 2 adults. Did I need my own room? No I did not. At one stage there were 3 of us in the box room (1 set of bunk beds and my dad built me a raised bed over the stairwell) . As a teenager my brother and I shared one of the bigger rooms with a stud wall (again built by my dad).

OP, If your son is an adult has he applied for his own place? And if not why not?

Or can you split the bedroom into 2 with a stud wall? You just need a room to sleep in and I assume you don't have partners so single beds will fit. (and before I get flamed I slept like this until my late 20's as it was the only house share I could afford as I was saving up to get my own place)

Yes i'm in pretty poor social housing, with some anti-social neighbours, its a situaion thats very hard to change. I'm coming to terms with it more though, and trying to make the best of it. Good luck OP.

should add I'm in a flat, not a house - they rarely build houses with gardens now in social housing.

God only read a few replies and can't believe the arseholes responding!

I so agree with you, clearly Saturday morning is peak Tory women time. Social housing has been slowly eroded and this is one of the consequences. As for not having children when you can't afford them; given the inflated rents in the private sector, and the fact that many are one pay cheque away from disaster if everyone in an even vaguely precarious position took that advice there would be no one to do the jobs needed in the future, insufficient tax payers to fund the health service and other essential social provisions. This is already a concern because of the falling birth rate; and funding is not helped by the fact that the wealthy are so adept at tax-dodging. But maybe these kinds of posters are so wealthy they are all using private medicine, living in gated communities with private police forces and have no need for a society that provides mutual support through interaction and shared taxes. In which case I imagine they assume that pretty much everyone else has no right to reproduce. Presumably there idea of Utopia is a nation of Rees-Mogg lookalikes serviced by robots!

Home swapping does work though. We've done it twice in the past 10 years. Once to move closer to ex's parents as they were ill. Once to move to London for specific opportunities for dcs.

It's definitely not a quick-fix. It takes time to find the right person/property to swap with that also wants to swap with you.

For 'there' read 'their'...Don't want to get shot by the right-wing firing squad for poor grammar...

Also the main issue is lack of council places being built.

Think of how many houses would be freed up if councils built retirement plots!! Once you get to X amount of years old and if you live in a large property you have to move from your council place to these places, thus freeing up any larger places for families that need it.

I was so grateful for the housing the council found for my family when I was little and growing up (mind you mum and dad had to wait 5 years and spent those years living with 3 kids with her mum and stepdad in their 2 up and 2 down house!) but I get the rage when a single person is in a council house with extra rooms going spare.

If you could see the property you wouldn’t be making ridiculous statements like spilt the room what room it’s tiny are you not understanding. And I have one child he’s 14 and In my eyes he deserves he’s own room you don’t know what we’ve gone through so you can’t tell me anything. I don’t have 7 children I had a child 14 years ago and if I did have seven then I would not be complaining to the council I should of taken precaution to stop breeding so it would be my own fault. Don’t be making assumptions of if I’m single or not this has been happening from the minute I’ve put out my thread a lot of assumptions it’s ridiculous

WOW!! The right wing idiots really are out in force and sorry if you dont understand what the housing system is in the uk why the fuck are you commenting with un-educated idiotic responses?

I can and I will comment here about council houses, even though I live in the U.S. I was born and raised in the U.K as was every generation before me. None of us lived in council houses and therefore my ignorance about them and when I left the U.K. 45 years ago, the system was humming along just fine.

But in all honestly I can understand why you believe it is none of people's business who are outside the U.K. having too much knowledge about the system.

Blimey love why didn’t you say.
Look it is going to be very unlikely you are going to get someone want to swap to a one bed.
Disgusting that you have been attacked,is there no way on medical grounds you can get different accommodation with the council.
What about a fresh start in another area where it is easier to get council accommodation.

I have a four bed council house on a lovely cul de sac, as some of my children have flown the nest I now have a spare room and so I could swap to a three bedroom but where is the incentive? I'd want to stay in this area and moving is expensive, do I really want to have to redecorate and buy new flooring just so that the council can have my spare bedroom when the difference in rent is only £10pw? Of the nine four beds on our cul de sac only two are at full capacity and three have single occupants. Until councils make it worthwhile to downsize nobody is going to do so.

People are just not going to swap a 2 bed for a one bed, not unless
its extremely diserable, so gff, garden, much nicer than what they already have. They are giving something up at the end of the day so they want to feel like they are gaining something in return.

None of us lived in council houses and therefore my ignorance about them and when I left the U.K. 45 years ago, the system was humming along just fine.

So you want to comment on a system you had no clue about 45 years ago and how is your incorrect 45 years outdated opinion going to help unless its in offering the OP some support?

Agree justanother I laughed at that comment. No experience of the system at all, hasn’t lived in the country for 45 years but fully informed

ILoveMaxiBondi I mean 45 years thats before Thatcher introduced the right to buy, before austerity and the demonisation of the poor and disabled, some people eh?

Family owns a mortgaged home. Have 3 children, a bedroom for each child. Husband is made redundant. Can’t afford mortgage on wife’s Salary alone. House repossessed, family homeless, placed in temporary accommodation with council. 2 bedroom flat. Overcrowded.

There's such a huge shortage of TA that councils often have to do this. They will be high priority for move on though. The alternative would be b&b accommodation, and that would be even worse.

Gone4Good
It’s terrible to think how the country has gone backwards in many ways since you left 45 years ago. Of course some good things have happened but Maggie thatcher selling off great swathes of housing stock and not replenishing brought a system, which was “humming along just fine” to one on its knees now. Obviously this decision was not the whole picture but the ring fenced money from the sell off of houses just went up in smoke.