How long to get council house?

[kvtie]

So i’m in the north east and I’m on band B, I have been on there since the end of November. I’m bidding atm and I’m usually coming around 10th for properties. I’m just wondering how long other people waited?

@Lakielady I just wish I had realised that before privately renting that I was no longer seen as a priority. I just wanted some stability for my children as it was a very messy time.

@canyoutoleratethis I actually think they should....but they offer them for sale so you can't blame people for wanting a leg up the property ladder..... and these properties are literally handed to them with 12k off the market value... my DD started looking at properties to buy and nothing was coming up or if it was it was gone in a flash.......with her housing asdociation house there was no ovetinflated asking prices.....its a bit smaller than she would have wanted but it was a new build when she moved in so not work to do...... I don't think many would have turned it down.....its all very well having values....but at the end of the day I'm glad to see my DD as a home owner and my GC settled

I agree @canyoutoleratethis . People should not be able to buy council houses as it then removes it for someone whose in need. IMO They should be a temporary measure until private buying can be achieved.

@kitcat15

Took my DD 5 months...she was band A+ in NW .....she has just bought it 3.5 years down the line.....although on council list its a housing association property

And this right here is why everyone else is fucked

7 years, West Yorkshire, Housing Association.

@skintasabint

I've been on the list for 6 years, always in the top 10 when I bid and I bid weekly.

I have family who have been on for 10+
We're in the northwest

Wow. Is this in London? To be fair, I'm in Band B and have been in the list for 10 years.

Rural Scotland. Got a lovely three bed within a month after being given notice after our LL sold up. Horrible new owners cut our clean water off (private supply) and everything.so we would go when our notice was up. Two months we had no clean water, just thick orangey muddy water. I actually wish the council had dragged their heels and told us to wait until bailiffs arrived like in "Can't Pay we'll take it away".
We were very good tenants, Employed, clean, quiet, never missed or was late with rent in the 7 years we lived there. We even did small improvements and decorated it beautifully. There was no reason at all to believe that we would try and outstay our notice but the new LLs didn't want to take that chance I guess.
If I had no kids then perhaps I would have squatted, not paid rent and stayed just to get my own back. But yeah, the council took less than a month to find us a house about 5 minutes away in the village and we hadn't even needed to mention that we had no water supply.

Well, I say council, I mean Housing Association. The council doesn't do houses any more.

I’m currently on the list and I’m quite high priority so I’m always in the top 3 but so far I’ve been on it 3 years and not been offered any.

The only way I’ll get it is if their are no one classed as homeless as they of course get priority but it is so frustrating and I’d hate to be any further down.

It depends how many suitable properties come up. I’m looking for a 2 bed but most weeks either none come up or the ones that do have requirements like over 50 years old etc.

I’m in the south east and can’t even get put on the list. I have a DC with a disability and our rent is crippling, but with a roof over our head, we aren’t a priority. According to a local paper there are about 2000 people on the list, which doesn’t really tell me much about the waiting time but it’s horrific.

A friend of mine did get lucky and got a flat in an undesirable block, which she then managed to swap with someone who wanted to live nearer family.

HA in my area all advertise via the council and don’t allow direct applications any more.

I left a council property in another area that was extremely rural with no jobs or Unis, had to private rent to go to Uni and get a job. That time, I was given one within 2 weeks as I was fleeing DV and was happy to go wherever. After 5 years there, however, it became apparent I’d be on benefits forever if I stayed,

LL is now selling.

Private rents are insane - I can afford them but I’m being passed over for working couples.

Never thought I’d be in this position again and if it had happened next year, I’d no longer be studying and working part time, I’d be working full time in a graduate job on a decent salary and wouldn’t have an issue finding a new private rent.

Sigh.

Im on the list in a London borough that uses a points system instead of banding. Even with overcrowding and medical priority points I rarely come above 50th place. I bid on every single property but I don't think realistically I will ever have a chance. My mental health is at an all time low

@lapasion

I’m in the south east and can’t even get put on the list. I have a DC with a disability and our rent is crippling, but with a roof over our head, we aren’t a priority. According to a local paper there are about 2000 people on the list, which doesn’t really tell me much about the waiting time but it’s horrific.

A friend of mine did get lucky and got a flat in an undesirable block, which she then managed to swap with someone who wanted to live nearer family.

We were in that situation in 2011 - child with disability in the South East and privately renting. An OT came out and assessed the house as unsuitable for DD1. It only had an upstairs toilet and DD1 (5) was having to use a potty downstairs because she couldn't get upstairs fast enough. It was close to a main road and DD1 was an escape artist.

The OT got us assigned to a band B and we were bidding on properties. Finishing 10-15 on the list. One day, we finished 3rd on a 3 bed property with dining room, big garden and driveway. I thought 'oh well, that person will get it, then the next person will get the next one, then it might be us.' I had been warned that it might be 5-10 years. Anyhow, a council officer phoned and said the house was ours, despite finishing 3rd on the list.

So it only took 7 months for us but I think that was pretty miraculous, tbh.

BCP we were on Gold Band for the highest medical needs. Applied December 2020, accepted onto list May 2021, moved into our three bed July 2021. Our area is also one that has a massive shortage

@Lougle similar situation here. We actually finished 4th and still won our home as 2 higher had taken elsewhere and the third who was higher didn't have children so were lower priority for the garden. We were warned years but it was just luck it was a few months.

Very grateful.

It was social care writing a letter re my DD's autism that got us highest banding

Couldn’t agree more with this. Right to buy should be stopped immediately.

[quote Mumofsend]@Lougle similar situation here. We actually finished 4th and still won our home as 2 higher had taken elsewhere and the third who was higher didn't have children so were lower priority for the garden. We were warned years but it was just luck it was a few months.

Very grateful.

It was social care writing a letter re my DD's autism that got us highest banding[/quote]
The letter from DD2s Paed and school re her Autism has got us the highest banding too, although she’s older at 11.

Yes, DD1 is 16 now and we're still in the house. We're still do grateful for it.

6 weeks from start to getting the keys

Sitting in my grim temporary accommodation miles from anywhere my kids know, no friends, school 15 mins away. 4 years we have been in limbo. There aren’t the houses, we are in Scotland. No shower incontinent son and neighbours from hell. I’m praying this year will be our year.

Who knows? We're getting kicked out in February and still in band b. They won't put us any higher despite having kids and nowhere to go.
I actually really fear we might end up on the streets.

It took a family member with two disabled dc 8 years to get housed. By which point her ds was so distressed from constantly being moved and living in places that werent fit for their needs he ended up with OCD on top of everything else and had to go into residential care.

I really wish they'd bring in tenancies with a limited span. The idea of a home for life is lovely, but it isnt so great when entire families are being housed in one room whilst elderly, single people are taking up large homes. Its just not sustainable and id rather see people who actually need the benefit of subsidised rent for a family home. And those people are families on low incomes not grandma who has a house she doesn't really need.

New tenancies now are time limited aren't they?

We have a life long tenancy but our previous home was also the same HA and we already had the tenancy. If we had been with another HA or new entirely to HA we would have only got 10 years.

The problem is also that there isnt enough suitable "granny" accommodation. It's all well to day they should move on from their homes, but to where?

How long is a piece of string?

Depends how many people are bidding that week and how many bids on any one property, and how many are on the housing list.

If you're looking for (and wanting) a nice little 2 bed bungalow, in a semi rural area, you could be waiting 10 years. If you are happy to take a 2 bed flat on the 3rd or 4th floor of a sink estate block of flats, or a 14 storey block in the middle of Telford or Wolverhampton, you could get somewhere within a few months. If you wanted ANYWHERE in London, you could wait 10 years.

It also depends if you're overcrowded, (or you are under occupying - like you are classed as having too many bedrooms,) and if you have a high or low housing need.

From what you have told us @kvtie and taking into account where you live, it sounds like you may be lucky sometime this year. You will have better luck if you bid on 'less desirable' areas.