Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to leave council flat for private renting? 5 in a 1 bed flat.

539 replies

Hereforhelp · 03/08/2019 23:04

Hi. So I was housed a 1 bedroom flat with council when I was 7 months pregnant with my first child. Now theres 5 of us in the same flat me, dh, dd 5 yrs, DS1 3 yrs and DS2 4 months old.

Dh and I are both employed, him full time me part time (currently on maternity leave) & don’t receive any sort of benefit.

The plan for our family increase was to return flat and private rent somewhere bigger but now private rent have massively increased £300 more than it was 2 years ago 😅 so that plan failed, leaving us cramped, in a 1 bed 🙃

We’ve tried to talk to council but according to law we’re not overcrowded as living room could be used as bedroom too and according to my room measurements each room can fit up to 2 adults (that’ll be 4 kids in each bedroom as they count a kid as half an adult).

Shall I hang in here and hopefully be rehoused after couple of years or stretch our finances and rent privately? People are calling me mad to be thinking of giving up a council home & I’d hate to give up the security of our home tbh but we are so desperate!!

Has anyone here left a council home for private renting? Or has anyone got a success story of getting rehoused due to overcrowding?

OP posts:
MarieBaroneIsMyMom · 03/08/2019 23:10

Shall I hang in here and hopefully be rehoused after couple of years or stretch our finances and rent privately?

FFS, do what’s right by your kids and do what you can to house them properly. Yes, housing is expensive, but thems the breaks when you have a family of five. That’s your responsibility.

Why did you have three children when you knew your were in a one bed flat?! I’m half aghast/half impressed that you managed to conceive with a 3 year old and a 1 year old in the same room as you.

(And yes, I know I’ll get slated for this, but FFS, why is there no fucking accountability any more?!)

MmeBufo · 03/08/2019 23:11

Brexit is coming. Things are going to get harder financially. I think it would be wise to stay put, at least for a whileSad

bluegirlgreen · 03/08/2019 23:12

We’ve tried to talk to council but according to law we’re not overcrowded as living room could be used as bedroom too.

That's absolute crap.

As if you should use your lounge as a bloody bedroom!

Someone is taking the piss out of you.

Go to citizens advice, or social services or the bloody press or ANYwhere. 5 people (2 adults and 3 kids) in a one bed flat is shocking.

You are VERY overcrowded!

Whoever told you to use your lounge as a bedroom, ask them if they think you should use the bath as a bed too!

FFS! Hmm

Good luck.

Oh and don't give up social housing. You are entitled to a bigger place.

Soontobe60 · 03/08/2019 23:13

Did you think that more babies would equal more bedrooms? I'm afraid you've literally made your bed and now have to lie in it. Either put up with the cramped conditions or rent privately.

WorraLiberty · 03/08/2019 23:15

Go to citizens advice, or social services or the bloody press or ANYwhere. 5 people (2 adults and 3 kids) in a one bed flat is shocking.

That was the OP's choice, so what has it got to do with CAB, SS or the press? Confused

gamerchick · 03/08/2019 23:16

Stay where you are for now until after the brexit thing. You'll have to get a bed settee for the living room and muddle on through.

If you're willing to move out the area, there are places where there isn't a housing crisis.

Banangana · 03/08/2019 23:16

Why would you have two more kids when you only had one bedroom?

1CantPickAName · 03/08/2019 23:17

I don’t have any recent experience myself. In 2008 my Dh and I were sharing a 1 bed flat with his 8yo ds and our 1yo dd and we were moved.

My only advice would be Do Not tell them you are using your living room to sleep in. Tell them that you have a double bunk bed (the type with a double at the bottom and a single at the top) that your baby sleeps in a cot, in the bedroom, and the 5yo sleeps in the top bunk and you and dh share the double bed with your 3yo. Seek legal advice and contact your local mp. Do not move from council to private, I know many people who have done this and have ended up stranded at the will of private landlords

VeThings · 03/08/2019 23:19

If you don’t receive any benefits, how much do you earn as a household? Must be well over 60k if you’re not getting child benefit. On that salary, why should the council sort out housing for you?

msbevvy · 03/08/2019 23:19

Unfortunately, the op appears to be correct, the living room is counted as a bedroom theses days.

From the Shelter website

Check if your home is overcrowded by law
Find out if your home is illegally overcrowded, also known as statutory overcrowding.

  1. Room standard
The room standard looks at the number and sex of people who have to sleep in the same room.

Any room you can sleep in counts, not just bedrooms. Living room, dining rooms and studies count as rooms you can sleep in.

Your home is overcrowded by law if:

2 people of a different sex have to sleep in the same room
they are aged 10 or over
The rule doesn't apply to couples who share a room. Children under 10 aren't counted.

Example
A couple with two boys and a girl all aged under 10 living in a one-bedroom flat with a living room would not count as overcrowded under the room standard.

madderthenaboxofffrogs · 03/08/2019 23:20

@MarieBaroneIsMyMom agree with what you say but didn't want to be the first to say

Why have more kids when only in a one bedroom flat? Did u hope the council would give u a bigger place.

If your both working, where not private rent or save for a despot, stop having kids until you can afford to house them

HUZZAH212 · 03/08/2019 23:20

Have you also registered to look into swapping with another tenant in case someone wants to downsize? Bit of a long shot but you never know.

GimmieTheCoffeeAndNooneDies · 03/08/2019 23:22

Legally you are not overcrowded, but iicr these are standards decided in the 1930s. I think (working from memory) your youngest counts as zero people until their first birthday, possibly your entitlement will change then.

The thing is, once you move out of social housing, with its secure tenure it can be almost impossible to get back. Have you looked at other options, e.g. shared ownership?

1CantPickAName · 03/08/2019 23:22

I know a family who had a child, I think she was 8, in a 1 bed flat. THey had a bed settee in the living room, the local authority said the living room was now a bedroom and charged them rent for a 2 bedroom apartment and refused to move them as they were ‘officially’ in a 2 bedroom apartment

IsobelRae23 · 03/08/2019 23:22

There are loads of family in OP’s position- THERE IS NOT ENOUGH HOUSING TO HOUSE THEM!

I’m What do you want the local authority to do? Magic up a house from thin air?

Jeez some people really do live in another world. I bet you think everyone in social housing has their rent paid too!

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 03/08/2019 23:23

Google your local council name + overcrowding. That will tell you whether you are or aren’t overcrowded (in my area as well as the 3 bordering you’d be short by 2 bedrooms). I agree with pp though, I’d be inclined to stay put as long as is bearable to see how Brexit pans out. Save as much as you can in that time though, you’ll need either a decent deposit & some extra for furniture for private or enough to carpet & decorate a new council house (& still afford extra furniture).

IsobelRae23 · 03/08/2019 23:23

1CantPickAName Bollocks

Tingface · 03/08/2019 23:24

You don’t receive any benefits at all? With three kids?
You must be on a decent combined wage then.

WorraLiberty · 03/08/2019 23:24

I think it also depends on the area.

There is a massive lack of available council homes in my area, so you can be as entitled as you want and have as many babies as you want, but that doesn't mean the LA can magic you up a council home that doesn't exist.

WhyBirdStop · 03/08/2019 23:24

What's your combined income if you don't qualify for any benefits at all? If it's over 60k surely you just go and rent somewhere your family actually fits rather than stubbornly holding out for your 'entitlement'. Some people only have one or two children, because that's how many they can afford to house/raise.

Original poster
Hereforhelp · 03/08/2019 23:25

@MarieBaroneIsMyMom
😂 I’ve heard those same statements before. They used to get under my skin but I’ve adjusted to them now. Funny you should think I conceived my 3rd with my other kids in the same room 🤣 have you been peaking at my bedroom windows to be sounding so sure? Wow. Since you happened to ‘know’ an intimate moment of my life, please tell me more 🙃

My biggest concern is leaving the security of a council home, knowing that private rented accoms come with short tenancy. My question here was looking for advise on wether I should stay put or stretch our budget to private rent. Don’t know if you read my post properly but when we did decide to have family in a 1 bed flat our back up plan was to later on private rent but private houses rent massively increased.

I’m not sounding entitled or demand for a bigger home from council FFS, I’m only seeking general advise. Calm your jits lovey. 🤦🏾‍♀️

OP posts:
Singlenotsingle · 03/08/2019 23:25

I was going to say that, but you got there first Huzza. You might find someone who wants to downsize.

WorraLiberty · 03/08/2019 23:25

1CantPickAName which LA was that then?

showmethegin · 03/08/2019 23:26

I don't understand what you would continue to have more babies when you haven't got the space

MarieBaroneIsMyMom · 03/08/2019 23:27

I’m not sounding entitled

Oh, but you are.

Look after your kids. House them. That’s your responsibility.

Swipe left for the next trending thread