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

[Hereforhelp]

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?

Can you bid on properties? You probably aren't a high priority right now but its worth a try Also have you looked at home swapping, you might find someone who will swap with you.

I'd double check with Shelter or CAB about over crowding as my understanding was that you can't expect more than 2 children to share, although I'm not sure if that counts babies so it might just be you need to stick it out a few months until your youngest counts in working out how many rooms you need.

Personally I would only go down the private rent route if you have no other choice, private renting with children can be horrible because its less secure, rent will be much higher and there are a lot of crappy landlords out there.

Would you be entitled to housing benefit to help with the rent if you went private?
(I don’t know anything about benefits! Just wondered if that’s worth looking into?)

What has changed since you planned out your budgets for having children one, two and three?

Oh, you didn’t do budget forecasts?

Why not?

Technically, you are adequately housed, so you could either use your funds to make the living room into a bedroom. I don’t know what your area is like. It may be more than a couple of years?

I'd bite the bullet and rent the best you can manage privately. You need the space.

When I was about 10 (late 90s), I lived in a one bedroom council flat with my three siblings and two parents. We had three single beds with about an inch gap between them in the living room! My parents had the tiny bedroom with my fourth sibling who had just been born. I have fond memories of that place, but it was really, really cramped.

You can make it work and it shouldn’t be allowed but unfortunately there are sometimes people who are in much worse positions. As for those saying don’t have kids/made your own bed... you’re all an absolute delight My parents actually ran a really successful business that unfortunately went totally tits up due to my DM becoming unwell. Not everyone pumps out kids to get council houses, despite what the Daily Fail might tell you.

Do you NEED the social housing? It could take someone off the street if you don’t need it. However, if finances would be tight (especially post Brexit) then just hold out a little longer!

@IsobelRae23 Southwark council, it must have been 12 years ago and I’m not making it up. Their kitchen was only a small galley kitchen too do not as if they could use it as any type of family living space either.

We were very lucky, we were moved into a 3 bed housing Association house and I count my lucky stars every day. I’d hate to be in the same situation now.

I would stay put. Unless you are in a position to buy a house, then private renting is just too insecure with young children.

Have the 3 kids in the bedroom, and a sofa bed in the living room for now.

Do you live in a desirable area? I would consider swapping for a 2 bed in a less desirable area.

@Tippexy a budget forecast for having children?! Way to make starting a family sound like a business transaction. Bet you’re fun at parties

You can make it work and it shouldn’t be allowed but unfortunately there are sometimes people who are in much worse positions.

What shouldn't be allowed?

Parents shouldn't be allowed to keep having kids they can't adequately house, or councils shouldn't be allowed to no adequately house absolutely everyone who applies for a council home?

Look for house swap in less sought after area?

If the local authorities allocations policy states that the living room can be counted as a bedroom then you are adequately housed.

Social housing tenancies are like gold dust so id say you should stay put and try to mutual exchange and also ask about whether you can join the housing register to bid/be nominated for other properties, even if you won't have high priority to move it'll be a start.

neverownahouse
The op said they had planned to rent privately, as they were having more children, so she said about budget planning. However they never followed through on the plan. Now it’s the councils responsibility to house their large family?

Why on earth did you keep on having babies? You and your family are not the council's responsibility, you need to provide for you kids yourself.

I think a mutual exchange is your best bet.
I don't use Facebook, but could you put the word out on there that you're after somewhere bigger?

My friend got a really lovel three bed place that needed lots doing in exchange for her one bed flat.

@WorraLiberty it shouldn’t be allowed as we’re supposedly a first world country and shouldn’t be cramming a ton of people into a one bedroom flat.

Don’t come at me with that “people shouldn’t have kids they can’t afford” crap. It’s all snooty looking down one’s nose at those who have more than the perfect two DC. I grew up in a council estate surrounded by families FULL of kids they probably couldn’t afford. 99% of them were far nicer people than Petunia and Eugenie on MN

@Duck90 I get that, but she also explained that rents have gone up! You can budget plan all you like, but the renting system in this country isn’t absolute shit show. Round here it’s about £800 a month for a one bedroom flat - people are working full time and two jobs just to afford rent and bills, and to provide for their families. I can see why social housing makes sense to many - after all, that’s what it’s there for!

Can you swap with someone looking to downsize? Someone with a grown up family will he hit by the bedroom tax and there is a shortage of smaller flats for them to move into.

You have a responsibility to provide for the children you create. Did you not think about that at all? It's awful that you would do this to them really.

neverownahouse
I understand that private let is expensive. It’s awful for those stuck in that situation. It’s been expensive since the op had her first child. I suppose what I am saying that op plans were false/pie in the sky. If they had intentions to rent privately the would have done it straight away, before prices increased.

Your family income must be at least 70k as to not receive any child benefit one parent has to earn 60k plus. You mentioned you were both full time. On that income I would rent to have more space.

Don’t give up a secure tenancy.

I'd stay put it if I were you OP, maybe look for a swap. I'm no expert but council housing is so secure compared to private I think you'd be mad to leave. Also with the current government I'd think you'd have little to no chance of getting back to council if you need it later on. Cling on

Good luck either way though

As hard as it is I would stay put for now. Nothing is certain with private rentals and god knows the situation seems to be getting worse. I would not accommodate the kids in the lounge, your family need some communal space.
Hang on for now, wait until you can find something better long term and affordable. Your local authority will have the necessary overcrowding rules on its website and should you need to check for any benefits on entitledto.co.uk
All the best

@MarieBaroneIsMyMom
I Didn’t state anywhere that my kids aren’t my responsibility. They very much are that’s why we work, pay our taxes, pay our bills, clothe them, feed them and give them all the love there is. Again you are misunderstanding the whole point of my thread Because you are narrow minded So i won’t bother to further explain myself to you, moody Margaret.

And anyone else also asking or saying why did I have more babies when I was in a one bedroom apartment etc, it is none of your business & it should not bother you, unless you’re the one responsible for my family then yes I’ll fully understand your concern 🙃. I came here for advise and unfortunately thats not advice, it’s called judging. All the “whys” in the comments Smh.

Anyways, For the ones with proper useful advice, thank you.
I’ve tried homeswapper been on it for 4 years no luck.
DH and I have looked into shared ownerships but they’re very very hard to come by. Weve registered ourselves with the scheme though.

Our long term goal was to never settle into this 1 bed property, & yes we’ve had kids before moving to a bigger home but who says everything works out exactly the order you want it to in life? We have equipped our home to the best we can for our growing family, but now it’s the time to start looking for a bigger home, so we thought our local council wouldn’t be a bad place to start coz what’s their to loose? while we’re also expanding our options I.e the private rent.

DH and I wage 35k combined for the other mums who were asking. Just because I’m in social housing & overcrowded you lot act as if I play 0% role in my kids life and I’m not “responsible” or I’ve got no “accountability”, brilliant ain’t it.

I know more bashing comments are gonna come for this thread, I’m starting to think mumsnet was the wrong place for advise now. Too many narrow minded snobs who can’t think outside the box. So predictable.

For those with genuine advice. Thank you I appreciate your understanding n time 🙏🏾