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?

I don't know what makes you think letting is only short term. Landlords love having good tenants stay longer. Normally you start on a 12 month fixed AST but can renew and stay on. I'm sure if you asked for a longer tenancy for the contract security they'd be delighted!

@Hereforhelp, my advice would be to stay put for now and go on Pinterest for clever storage solutions. Your living arrangements sound cozy but not end of the world, living in a public toilet, cramped.

Where you are in the country makes all the difference in social housing, in the south east the pantry or airing cupboard make an adequate bedroom but in another part of the country, even pets can get their own living quarters .

Lastly, if only people who can afford and plan to have children they could afford, then our ancestors and the third world would be nonexistent and only the Boris Johnsons of the world would be here.
Yay .

i would stay put for now, and have a look on sites like facebook to see if anyone is looking to downsize. if not, then i would put the kids in the bedroom (bunk beds with a trundle bed underneath to save space) and have a sofa bed in the living room for you and dh. all the best x

Would maybe look at Rent to buy? Lower rent to help save up for a deposit to buy the property or I would save that £300 a month you would spend on private rent and put it in a help to buy ISA or something similar (DD uses Moneybox lifetime which adds 25% a year on savings up to £4000 so £1000 extra) and go into shared ownership or use help to buy

I have to agree with @WorraLiberty. It's madness that you met your dh, got married and the decision was to move into your one bed place. It was already too small for two adults and one child. Moving should have been a priority then, not years later with 2 extra children. You were given the property to accomodate you and one child. I don't get all the angst over private rent. Loads of people do it, you have to deal with the possibility of moving but that's reality.

OP I would move to private rented. I think especially as your DD gets to school age and may want her friends over. I think space is important for DC.

I've never been in council housing, but have always rented - over 20 years. I've never had a tenancy end unless I wanted it to (moved around the country a lot!)- my last landlord of 8 years begged me to stay even offering to reduce the rent, only when I explained I had taken a job 200 miles away did he stop! As long as you look after the property most landlords want a long term tenant as it makes it easier for them.

Yanbu. Just move.

It is embarrassing to be squeezed into a one bedroom flat as a family of 5 if you can afford to rent somewhere bigger.

Do you have friends around? Do you children have play dates? Aren't you embarrassed about living in a space that is smaller than most family holiday rentals?!

I don't understand this dislike and distrust of private rentals. I've never been asked to leave or had my rent put up an unreasonable amount. Landlords have been reasonable.

Staying in a one bedroom place just because it is a council flat is silly. Your family doesn't fit it any more and you don't qualify for a bigger one. Your children are growing up, you both are working and can afford to spend more on rent. So just do the best for your family and this means giving them more space and privacy in their own home.

I would give yourselves a year to save up and then you can have these savings to fall back on if the unexpected happens and you need to move earlier than expected or your rent is raised.

God this thread has put me off humanity to be honest. What a bunch of vile posters on here...too many to name.

OP I hope you don't return to this thread in all honestly because people have loved putting the boot in but if you do, have the considered directly trying to find a house swap.

In the last week I've had 2 people approach me to downsize to my 2 bedroom from their 3 bedroom houses due to their changing circumstances and the bedroom tax.
One person who contacted me is a neighbour but the other was a random note put through my door.

This could be an option for you. I would never have looked or registered to swap my house but because someone proactively approached me it's got me thinking. So what I mean is there could be loads of potential swappers that just need the idea planted in their heads. Start earmarking streets and post notes through.

Your one bedroom, especially on the ground floor with a garden sounds lovely and could be someone's dream home. Many people will have had their children grow up and move out and now need to downsize.

I work in social housing; these circumstances would absolutely mean you're overcrowded. In my borough, you'd be the highest priority banding. It's purely dependent on your allocations policy.

Staying in a one bedroom place just because it is a council flat is silly

It's getting more and more difficult to get moved onto an assured tenancy. With Brexit around the corner OP could move into a private rental (lets eschew advance rent, security deposit and reference for now) and find her family moving continually until things settle, which could feasibly be years. With all the uncertainty, even in cramped conditions, I would be clutching that assured tenancy in both hands.

And I must say some people here are absolutely vile with archaic views.

I would also try www.homeswapper.co.uk

Finally, with changes in section 21 rules you should feel a bit more secure in a private rent.

I can't believe you've had 3 children in a 1 bed flat.

We struggle with me and my 3yo in a tiny 2 bed flat (no room for fridge in kitchen, no wardrobes in either bedroom. No dining table, etc). I wouldn't want anymore people living here. There's built in storage but just simply not enough room for everything and there's only 2 of us and we do regular tip runs to clear out space.

It's housing association so we stay put for the security and tbh I can't afford private rent. Housing association properties are well cared for around here and they have a large maintenance team, often much quicker than getting it done by a private landlord. All of my previous private landlords/estate agents are useless around here.

Deffiently look into a house swap to see if you can get a 2 bed.

Honestly no judgement but that must be very tough space wise. How do you cope?????

Rather surprised nobody has accused OP of shagging in the bathroom to conceive the third, but we do have all Sunday ahead...

I agree with @avocadoincident and @MegaMonsterMunch I sometimes wonder if Katie Hopkins has a few dozen Mumsnet accounts so that she can spill her vitriol all over the place

OP certainly not ideal but your flat sounds lovely and you seem to be making the most of the space so I'd wait it out until you feel really desperate. In the mean time I'd save the difference towards a house deposit.

I came across one woman who only got rehoused from her 1 bed flat when she was pregnant with her 7th baby, so you may have a wait. Hopefully your area won't be as bad.

Stay put. I moved 16 times as a kid and I never want that for my kids.

Save for a shared ownership property. Your kids are young, stay put for 3-4 more years and move out with the funds to BUY a forever home. That is absolutely the point of social housing, to help people move onto something better. Private renting is not better and your set up, with a garden, sounds more than liveable with small children.

Save your money and move when they're older, you'll be counting your blessings when your kids can slam the doors on their own bedrooms when they are teenagers.

In short, the answer to the question is yes, not sensible to give up what you have when you can't afford better.

OP. I'm highly surprised you aren't allowed to join the council's housing register. I'd expect your banding to reflect your current housing situation but I would expect you to be on the register regardless. That just doesn't sound right.

If on the register apply for new build homes with parish connections. Those are hardest to shortlist relevant candidates for.

I wouldn't leave a secure tenancy - no. I'd continue to try and make it work. Save money whilst on reasonable rent too.

My friend managed to get moved to a five bed house from a two bed. She has four children ( this is in the south east) she had to get social services involved. I think she said it was affecting their mental health in the end. At the end of the day the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Your children are your responsibility. No one forced you to have them. Forcing them to live in a one bed flat is not fair and will only get worse as they get older.

If you don’t get benefits then you must be earning a decent combined salary. You should give up your council flat so that someone more deserving can have it.

The argument that you always planned to move to private accommodation but were priced out is garbage. Yes, private rent is extortionate but you still chose to have child two and three even though you had come to the conclusion that you couldn’t afford a bigger place.

I would put bunk beds in the dining room and a pull out sofa in the living room as a temporary measure until you get sorted. My sister privately rented. She saw the rent increase over 5 years from £450 to £600 per month. So she applied for a council house. Now she has one, the rent is so cheap and she feels safe from eviction. She had to wait a few years and chose an area she didnt really like but accepted it anyway. Could you move to a less desired area? As they may have more property than more desirable areas. I would wait for a council house and/or start saving up for a deposit on a mortgage. Is that something you can do now?

If only life was as black and white as people see it on Mumsnet.

You may be overcrowded, but it was you and your DP who overcrowded it. I have no sympathy.

Definitely stay in your council flat and keep an eye on properties becoming available. I think our private rent is about 3 times the cost of a council flat with the same number of bedrooms (although we do have a small house). We also had a tough period of time in private rental where we had to move 3 times in 3 years (twice because our landlords were selling). Also, the ex-council flat we rented is by far the nicest place we've lived! Big rooms and good quality (versus the new build flat which was tiny and kept needing repairs).

Well clearly you're not getting a bigger council house any time soon op. And as you can afford to private rent somewhere with two bedrooms at least, I suggest you do that instead of living like this with your hand out hoping for a bigger one.

Also, the attitudes of some of the posters on this thread 😳

I would think once your baby is 1 you will qualify as overcrowded. Definitely get in touch with Shelter or a similar group for advice.