AIBU to not understand why we don’t meet social housing criteria?

[Lulubon]

Does anyone have any experience with social housing?
We have been on the register for a year, band C and 13 points

Our situation:
My partner was made redundant during the pandemic and found it hard to find a job, he now works a low paid nhs job, full time.

He has a previous ccj which prevents us being accepted for rental properties. We’ve been turned down more times then I can count.

We live in one of the most expensive areas of the country. (Just happened to be where we grew up and we previously were relatively high earners)

We have a 7 month old son. I am currently receiving statuary maternity pay which ends this month.

I am a nursing student and will be returning to my studies in September full time.

We currently rent a small flat which is £1000pm. We originally lived her a few years ago when both in full time work, well paid jobs.

Rent is almost all of my partners earning and we are left with just enough to cover bills and food. Although I often have to put at least one food shop on the credit card.

Our flat has been sold and we have been served notice.

We have nowhere to go as we have been frantically applying to rent through letting agents and haven’t been accepted for low income and the ccj.

We contacted the council to ask if we have gained priority and they said no!?

I am completely at a loss and so heartbroken to be in this situation, we were living a care free lifestyle with quite a bit of disposable income pre pandemic.
I want our son to have a secure home but the woman we spoke to today from the counsel said we would need minimum 25 point (we have 13) to even be considered for a housing association house.

Can this be correct? If so what can we do in this situation?

Thanks in advance

they make u wait until the day you are literally homeless before you're high priority

You have to actually be homeless to be a priority.

It’s too late for me to go into it but basically you don’t have to leave on the last day of your notice. Council/social housing will tell you to stay and then you’ll be a priority. It might mean temporary housing like a hostel

Unfortunately you won't be the only ones in this situation after last year.

Check you have been served notice correctly. Assuming you have then you are going to have to sit tight and wait for legal eviction (which will delay the sale)... which might be a good while yet, before you gain access to the housing list. If you leave prior to eviction it is likely you will be deemed as having made yourself homeless sadly.

The council will likely tell you to stay put til the bitter end. Priority need doesn’t kick in until you are actually homeless.

Have you spoken to Shelter or looked at their website? They give excellent advice including on requesting a review of the council’s decision.

Even in high priority banding the wait is often years depending on demand in your area. I do some work in SH. Also, if you are moved into a high priority band then that is treated as your relevant date, your previous year on the list won’t count, at least in my local councils.

We were served notice by our previous LL that they wanted to sell. Several months before they finally made us leave, the council helped us get extra time. We couldn't find anywhere affordable & even though we have a child, I'm disabled & not working, & DH only in a zero hours job due to being my carer, we weren't priority until we were homeless. Didn't get anything until we'd been in homeless shelter for several weeks.

If you do get a house you will need to be ready to move in immediately. They don't give you barely any time, we had 18 hours between signing the contract for the house, & having to give the key back for the shelter. On a school day. We don't even have a car, & no family local either.

The problem is they likely have 10 houses but 100 applicants, there has to be some system for allocating fairly based on greatest need. They can’t just magic up a house for everyone that needs it. Who do you want to bump off the list so you get a house first? The family that were in the grenfell fire and are still on a 1 room temp hostel? The woman and 2 kids who fled domestic violence? The family who’s current home is infested with cockroaches? Everyone on the list will have some sort of story and need.
Council/social housing is in such short supply it can’t be relied upon as a choice or even an emergency measure!

I think you need to look at other options - moving area, increasing earnings etc

Looks like everyone is saying the same.

I did forget to mention that the council did say we shoplifting essentially not leave the property. Seems like such a strange and backwards way to go about it. They said they could send Balyliff etc!? Not a situation I want to put my son through.

@BrieAndChilli

Wow. Thanks 😂😂😂

But rude tbh. I didn’t say should knock everyone off the list. There’s a list I was hoping to join to be with a chance to not have to be homeless with my infant child?!

The council IS there to turn to in times of crisis, otherwise I’d happily pay for anywhere to live but like I’ve explained it isn’t possible for us. We’ve tried.

Re a different area… we’ve looked into it but my uni needs to be travelling distance and the further we go the more expensive travel is and it worked out that we would be WORSE off even in a much cheaper area.

Re income… I’m not sure if you’re aware about the current situation with jobs but there aren’t any! you can’t simply increase earnings or everyone would do it 😂
My partner it taking an online course to try and get back into the IT industry but that’s all he can do for now.

I can’t get a job because my son is 7 months old and childcare is more expensive then a part time job- leaving us worse off.
Once I return to uni, I will be working for the nhs for free on placement which are 12 hour shifts plus essay and a dissertation…

Unfortunately it’s standard advice that’s given everywhere - don’t leave until you have to. However once you are within 56 days of eviction date they should be carrying out an assessment and supporting you to prevent becoming homeless

Unfortunately just having received notice of eviction doesn't increase your priority with most councils. They're happy to force landlords to go through expensive eviction proceedings just to delay their own obligations until the 11th hour.

No wonder landlords don't want to rent to families. The vicious cycle is perpetuated.

Keep looking for private rentals even if it seems a thankless task. Keep paying your rent.

Don't move out unless a: you have moved into somewhere new, b: you are evicted by court-appointed bailiffs, or c: you are illegally evicted (in which case call the police and the council; be aware police often don't understand the law and fail to help you, but the council staff usually know their stuff.)

If you're in this situation with a child, can you afford to return to studies instead of getting out there and working?

Nothing @BrieAndChilli said came across as rude to me, why did you think they were?

@Lulubon why haven’t t you claimed universal credit?

Speak to shelter and read your council's allocations policy. It will be online but buried, so google "[name of council] "housing" "allocations policy".

That tells you what procedure they should be following now that you've been given notice.

Our council here would categorise you as threatened homeless and give you higher priority. This is actually better than being categorised as homeless because you've got a better chance of your bid being successful and they can't discharge their duty to you by arranging a private let.

If you believe they've assessed you incorrectly, follow their own procedures in the policy to rectify this.

Once you're on the priority you should be, try to get a feel of how quick the list is moving. When you bid it should tell you how long the person whose bid is successful has been in their own priority band. If their band is the same as yours, you'll probably wait around as long as they have.

Work out if that works for you. If it takes you anything less than six weeks over your notice, you'll likely be ok. Any more, and you'd need to think up another strategy.

Don't worry about going over your notice if it makes sense for you to do so. You're not breaking the law and you're not even trespassing or breaching contract.

Notice is just notice - an intention to regain possession of the property. If it doesn't suit you to fall in with that, you don't have to. Only a court can actually order you to leave and only bailiffs can make you. Do keep on paying rent though and keep the place nice.

[quote Lulubon]@BrieAndChilli

Wow. Thanks 😂😂😂

But rude tbh. I didn’t say should knock everyone off the list. There’s a list I was hoping to join to be with a chance to not have to be homeless with my infant child?!

The council IS there to turn to in times of crisis, otherwise I’d happily pay for anywhere to live but like I’ve explained it isn’t possible for us. We’ve tried.

Re a different area… we’ve looked into it but my uni needs to be travelling distance and the further we go the more expensive travel is and it worked out that we would be WORSE off even in a much cheaper area.

Re income… I’m not sure if you’re aware about the current situation with jobs but there aren’t any! you can’t simply increase earnings or everyone would do it 😂
My partner it taking an online course to try and get back into the IT industry but that’s all he can do for now.

I can’t get a job because my son is 7 months old and childcare is more expensive then a part time job- leaving us worse off.
Once I return to uni, I will be working for the nhs for free on placement which are 12 hour shifts plus essay and a dissertation…[/quote]
Do you not get Universal credit ? They will reimburse up to 85% of childcare costs.
Would landlords be more likely to rent to you if you could pay 6 months rent upfront or have a guarantor - and do you have any relatives who would do this for you?
I understand it's hard with a young baby ( went back to work when mine were 4 and 5 months ) but if I were you I would be trying to pick up some care shifts at the weekends ( especially if you don't go back to your course until sept ) if it would allow me to build up six months worth of rent. Does your course allow you to do this. I don't understand how you are getting smp if you are a student?

There’s so little political willpower to increase council housing stock so unfortunately people in your situation either have to stay put until the bailiffs turn up and then go into a hostel (potentially for years if you live somewhere with high demand) or you move further away or couch surf with friends/family.

@Thatsmydaughterinthewater

There’s so little political willpower to increase council housing stock so unfortunately people in your situation either have to stay put until the bailiffs turn up and then go into a hostel (potentially for years if you live somewhere with high demand) or you move further away or couch surf with friends/family.

Once op is qualified as a nurse though I imagine she will be the main wage earner and could probably secure work pretty much anywhere as long as they didn't mind moving. Things have the potential to improve hugely for them. There's also the option to work around her partners hours. We did this for years and whilst not ideal it does save hugely on childcare costs.

Offering rent up front unasked for might not help, because apparently that's something cannabis farmers often do so landlords are wary.

You’re not priority,no
Stay put until you’re evicted
Your financial situation will change when you qualify as a nurse. Your partner will need to provide childcare if he’s not working. There’s a huge national shortage of nurses.

Depending on where you are, my council considering us homeless the moment we got notice.

Have you asked for their list of landlords and what else they can do to help you? There is a big chance even if you are made homeless, you will be put into emergency accomodation and that might be worse for you as it could be miles away,

If you are not already doing so you need to look into universal credit for topping up your wages right now. They can also pay a portion of childcare when you get back to work. Get some proper welfare advice from CAB or similar.

Good luck with your studies.

One you are ‘officially’ deemed as homeless and demand for housing is high you will be put in temporary accommodation, possibly single sex hostels/ b and b’s. Could be worth it instead of sofa surfing, depending on how long the waiting list is.

Your finances are a separate element here, it doesn’t sound like you and your DP’s situation would have been sustainable between now and when you qualify as a nurse if you had stayed in your current flat.

You’re actually really fortunate that you are being served notice - you would be considered to have made yourself ‘voluntarily homeless’ if you couldn’t pay rent.

Stop putting food shopping on a credit card for starters, you are getting into debt. Get your HV to make a food bank referral.

If you haven’t already, do everything you can to reduce bills too- cheaper phone contracts, switch energy supplier, cancel any unnecessary DDs.

It will be a few months at least until you are actually evicted through the courts.

@WorraLiberty

If you're in this situation with a child, can you afford to return to studies instead of getting out there and working?”

Holy hell as if you've dared say that. What an absolute.... you are!

She will qualify as a nurse, and their family will be in a much better position afterwards. It's not their fault partners earnings reduced due to a bloody pandemic! Or that she started uni in X locality! Bet you are the type to moan if people don't 'better' themselves as well. How spiteful can one person be. Really.

OP, unfortunately, until you are made homeless, nothing will be done. Any relatives you can stay with and push re 'overcrowding' in the mean time?