To ask if your income affects getting a council house?

[sarahfairy]

Do the council look at income at all?

My friends are in a crappy situation, been evicted from their rented home with 2 months notice.

They are going down the council route to find a new home.

The husband is self employed and does well. They do have a disabled child which I know they get benefits for - the disabled child is how I know the family. They also have 2 other children. One is a baby.

They are convinced they will be given a council house and considered priority as they have an eviction notice and a disabled child.

I'm just curious to know wether the council take income into consideration as they could easily afford to carry on privately renting?

It's not always below market rent ,though again it's dependent on area,where I live private rent and social rent are comparable ,why do people think only people on benefits are entitled to social housing? So many misconceptions.

Most tenants are working, some are earning good salaries, and they are paying into the system that benefits everyone
But at least some of them will not need a council house, and only go for them because they gain financially. In the meantime, families who really can't afford private rent can't get a property.

There was a thread last week about people owning second homes being selfish, I think that certainly us selfish.

If they move out within the 2 month notice period given by current landlord they run the risk of being deemed intentionally homeless so the local authority’s obligation to house them doesn’t apply. They need to wait until the landlord gets a court order to evict them which could be many months away. They should go and get proper advice from local authority housing officer or an organisation like Shelter or CAB

If they move out within the 2 month notice period given by current landlord they run the risk of being deemed intentionally homeless so the local authority’s obligation to house them doesn’t apply. They need to wait until the landlord gets a court order to evict them which could be many months away. They should go and get proper advice from local authority housing officer or an organisation like Shelter or CAB

^^ This.

When I issues a Section 21 notice to my tenant the council absolutely refused to help her until she had been formally evicted. That was stressful for her and myself. She eventually found a private rental miles away.

I can’t see any reason why they would get priority unless the disability required some extreme housing adaptation which they have previously managed without.

Thanks all - I don't want to say anything the exact area but I will say it's Yorkshire. I'll pass relevant info on to my friends.

I honestly think there idea is they will go straight to the council and be handed some keys to a new home....

The child is not psychically disabled but does require her own bedroom and has a lot of sensory aids in her room if that counts for anything

Their best option would be to apply for the bidding and then call their council once they have a reference number. Housing Associations can also offer advice in this area as well as Citizens Advice without a reference.

We were in a similar position when my twins were born. I’d been made redundant just before falling pregnant (not planned but happiest surprise because I was so ill with Endometriosis and post-op for dealing with that, I’d been told I’d likely never have children) my DH works full time, but on a lower wage and we didn’t know where we stood in terms of needing help.

We lived in a privately rented flat for years before the owner decided to serve us with a notice and gave us 3 months to move out.

My DD was on oxygen following Bronchiolitis and a collapsed lung during her NICU stay.

Renting in our area had gone up hugely and we didn’t have the funds to pay for all the checks, two months advance rent etc. so we applied to the council. We were given top priority banding but it took us 18 months (which is actually relatively short in our area) to be successful in our bidding.

If your friends need the help and are worried about homelessness, they can also approach their local agencies to see if they can be declared as ‘statutory homeless’ - that’s what it used to be called anyway. This means they will be recognised as in accommodation but at risk. It doesn’t have a huge impact on the time it takes to get housed (providing of course they do qualify in their area) but can help.

The only stipulation in my area is that you can pay your 1st weeks rent upfront which can be anything from £85 - £110 pw.
Pretty much anyone can register for SH but priority will go to people with special circumstances.
So you can imagine my surprise, when I moved to London in my 20s and got stiffed by my private landlord, was made homeless and was laughed out of the housing office because I was working and had no dependents. Wasn't even allowed to go on the waiting list. This was in the 90s.

I think that skews a hell of a lot of misconceptions about SH being only for the down and outs in society.
As said a trillion times before, it depends where you live. I moved back to my home town, stayed at my mums (which had ample space) and waited 2 months for my own place.
I will only give up my secure SH when I win the lottery and can buy my own property.

It was the Sheffield branch of Shelter who helped us, not sure if that's anywhere near you? The council can need a lot of persuading regarding certain rights, e.g. disabled child requiring own bedroom.

@SerPants not Sheffield but not a million miles away either. I know my friend has doctors letters that say the child needs it's own room if that would count. I have an sen child too which is how I know them

DH also had GP/ specialist letters stating we couldn't share a room, they still turned us down initially. Perhaps your friends will be luckier than us, but if not getting someone with some clout to write a strongly worded letter reminding them of your rights can help .

I think I've still got a copy of the letter Shelter to the council, feel free to PM me if I can help.

Depends largely on housing stock in your area. Even with a low income, a family in that situation here would be told to rent privately if there is no reason why they can’t. They may be placed in temp Accom if they are evicted before they find somewhere but they would still be expected to be seeking their own accom. They might be able to bid on social housing properties if they have a low income but they’d be much quicker to privately rent again

Thanks everyone - all useful info.

@Havingarethink

John Boughton (author of Municipal Dreams The Rise and Fall of Council Housing) on the welfarisation of council housing.

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-rise-and-fall-of-council-housing-56139

Inthe 1980s, residualisation may have been a partly unintended consequence of housing policies pursued with varying ideological intent

Since 2010, and more so since the return of single-party Conservative government in 2015, we’ve seen something further: welfarisation – ‘a conception of social housing as a very small, highly residualised sector catering only for the very poorest, and those with additional social “vulnerabilities”, on a short-term “ambulance” basis

I'm gobsmacked at the number of posters who've said that the upper limit is £60,000. My Ddaughter and son-in-law(and their then 10 year old daughter) finally managed to get a council flat 2 years ago. While they were in the process of being approved,their finances were scrutinised,and they were told that if their JOINT net income was more than £30,000,they would not qualify!

This must depend on where you are, we are in Scotland and I’ve recently applied for the housing list for our area and never had to fill in anything about our income 🤔

I hope they do get help - it can’t be that easy to private rent with one on benefits the other self employed and with an income of £38k if they’re in a semi expensive area. All areas are different, I’ve read that some areas have empty houses waiting whilst some boroughs of London have many thousands of people waiting for housing. All they can do is apply. I’m sure with vulnerable kids if they are made homeless they will be high priority.

I totally understand every area is different. I was just asking a general question. The area we live in is extremely expensive, massive housing shortage as it is as no one can really afford the high rent.

I'll let them get on with it however I will advise them to contact the council now.

Thanks all x

Not saying this about the OP's friends necessarily as they have a disabled child and I don't feel I know the circumstances, but in general I am shocked that people on high incomes they could easily afford to rent (or buy) privately would take social housing. I don't think it's the perception that SH is for "down and outs" or "scroungers" as some PPs put it - I thought it was for people who genuinely needed it. Not for people who just wanted extra disposable income.

When there is such a shortage of SH and so many people really struggling, I agree with a PP that it is extremely selfish to take a SH property if you don't need it.

There is no point asking on here because no one knows how long the waiting lists are in your area of how they prioritise people ,they need to find that information out themselves .

This.

Your friend needs to go onto the HA website and find their lettings policy. She needs to start the application process, leaving it to the last minute will not help.

But as for upper limit, there isn't one in my area.

It works out at about £570 a week........they're hardly coining it in.

In fact as the parent of one disabled adult child still living at home our income is higher than theres at just under £600 a week. That's with dp working part time minimum wage (( our son requires 2/1 care )) and all top ups / our sons pip etc. And we struggle. God knows what we'd do if we had high rent to pay as well.

They can apply and see what happens.

motherofcats where we live 60k wouldn't get you a mortgage on even a studio flat.

There's a 60k upper limit here because that's what's needed. The affordable housing here is being given to people in the bronze category because of the minimum income limits required. At almost £1000 a month rent, only people with higher incomes can afford to pay it.

And the HA here expects a months rent up front, so not really accessible to people on benefits, only those that bring home a decent salary.

where we live 60k wouldn't get you a mortgage on even a studio flat.

But it's not the council's responsibility to house you because you cant get a mortgage. Council housing should be for those who cannot afford private rent, and even in London you can afford that on £60k in most circumstances. So it's insane that that seems to be the upper limit in many places across the UK

@derelictwreck it's not because councils are protecting the rights of middle earners to get social housing. It's because income is largely irrelevant. The types of circumstances required to gain any sort of priority that would give you a realistic chance of getting a council house these days are so dire that it's very unlikely middle earners would be offered a property. They might qualify to get on the register but that means nothing.
Housing priority is determined by things like homelessness with dependents (and you have to be genuinely homeless with no alternative options) and/or significant vulnerability such as lifelong disabilities (mobility, chronic mental health issues or learning disabilities) caring responsibility (eg need to move in with a relative to provide full time care) or certain specific circumstances such as fleeing domestic violence, leaving a property not fit for habitation or being severely overcrowded (usually with a disclaimer that having kids once you've moved into a property doesn't count).
There are plenty of people who register for social housing who never get offers and are never likely to. Time spent on the register has some but only a small bearing on getting a property - typically if the winning bids have the same points, the property will go to the person who has been waiting longest. But anyone with more points effectively leapfrogs, so for those with low priority that happens every time.
There's a few exceptions of course - some HA's will reserve some properties specifically for working families to try and create mixed communities, but they usually have an upper threshold limit. Some areas have a high turnover of certain types of property so will offer to those on lower bandings - though these are usually studio flats or one beds in high rises in areas with large amounts of housing stock (ie on large sink estates) where people tend to move on from. And some blocks have residents association age restrictions set (eg only letting to over 45s and no kids allowed) which vastly reduces the number of applicants.

Social housing is like an (inverse) job market. Pretty much anyone can apply, unless you've restrictions around immigration status. Means nothing unless you've got the criteria that will get you an offer!

Oh dear..

They don't have a section 21 notice, and they aren't on the councils list and haven't even looked at the councils criteria for housing.

In which case if they were my friends I'd look and I'd tell them - I don't think any council will rehouse until they have actually been legally evicted and then emergency housing will be as others have said, wherever they can be crammed in.. B&B's are commonly used!

It will be massively more stressful than getting on the council list (if they can) ASAP, and also looking for private rented at the same time.