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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to ask if you did anything to help get a council house?

24 replies

kerrielees · 13/04/2022 15:06

Please no harsh comments - everyone usually has something to say but unless helpful, please keep your thoughts to yourself.

I've been homeless since October, escaped domestic abuse from exH. Living at my mums with 3 dc. Myself, dd and youngest DS are sharing a double bed in one room. Eldest DS is sleeping in my mums office.

Eldest DS goes to an sen school, has an EHCP, receives highest rates in DLA.

I'm applying for housing (if any that are suitable) each week but not getting anywhere.

I understand there will be people more desperate than me. I get it. But I was told originally that I was priority - now 6 months ago.

Is there anything else I can do to help me with housing? I've had my gp send a letter. I've had my woman's aid worker send a letter. My private therapist has also now sent a letter but the council have told me it makes no difference. I'm in the highest band and there's nothing else I can do.

My sen DS is really struggling now, I just wondered if anyone can share anything else I could do?

Thank you

OP posts:

Sluj · 13/04/2022 15:13

Your housing team are right, if you are in the highest band you can't get extra priority woth letters and they can't magic up a house. Are you waiting for a 4 bed? They are like gold dust.

2 things I would advise - if you aren't already doing this, set your sights lower. Don't restrict your bidding to that nice new build, consider flats and properties which may be less desirable.
Secondly, find out where you are coming in the bidding. If you are in the top 5 or 10 there is hope as one by one the people waiting longer than you are getting housed.
Good luck

Original poster

kerrielees · 13/04/2022 15:22

@Sluj

Your housing team are right, if you are in the highest band you can't get extra priority woth letters and they can't magic up a house. Are you waiting for a 4 bed? They are like gold dust.

I'm either bidding on 3/4 bedroomed. It's more the area for me as ideally I don't want to be too far away from family as I have to rely on them for help with appointments for my son.

Yes I'm in the top 10. I seem to always be anywhere between 2nd/5th in the queue position but by the time the bidding ends, I'm down to 9th/10th. I've asked the council about this and they've said to not take too much notice of it but it must mean something

OP posts:

AchillesPoirot · 13/04/2022 15:24

I had to move area when it was me but that was years ago it might be different now.

weeeeeeeeee · 13/04/2022 15:26

Are you working? I know sometimes they prioritise working applicants over those who aren't. Which might be why you go from 2nd to 9th/10th?

Read their allocations policy from front to back so you can work out if there is anything you can do to improve your chances as all councils are different.

Good luck.

Bellyups · 13/04/2022 15:27

I know someone who was band a and waited over a year. You are priority. But there are people with the same priority who will have been on the list for longer than you. You just have to wait your turn.
Lists take into consideration priority and waiting time.
Also, there is a severe shortage of houses.

Original poster

kerrielees · 13/04/2022 15:29

@weeeeeeeeee

Are you working? I know sometimes they prioritise working applicants over those who aren't. Which might be why you go from 2nd to 9th/10th?

Read their allocations policy from front to back so you can work out if there is anything you can do to improve your chances as all councils are different.

Good luck.

No as I'm a carer for my son. I didn't thank of that, thanks. I'll look into it!

OP posts:

RedHelenB · 13/04/2022 15:33

When you say you rely on them for appointments with your son, what exactly does this entail? Could you widen the area you're looking at at all?

weeeeeeeeee · 13/04/2022 15:36

I could be wrong as all councils are different but it's worth looking into.

Original poster

kerrielees · 13/04/2022 15:43

@RedHelenB

When you say you rely on them for appointments with your son, what exactly does this entail? Could you widen the area you're looking at at all?

My council connects with all other areas in our county therefore the different areas I can bid on can be up to maybe 50 miles away. It's those houses I am not bidding on. Myself and my family have decided that anywhere within a 30 minute drive is enough for them to help me with childcare/school runs etc. Anywhere further than that, I am not bidding on.

OP posts:

RedHelenB · 13/04/2022 15:45

Something will come up, keep bidding.

Okeydoky · 13/04/2022 15:54

I know a few people that have magically been housed after going to their MP. Might be worth a go.

comealongponds · 13/04/2022 15:57

The obvious thing is to widen your search area especially if the ones you’re not currently bidding on are in a less desirable area where fewer people are likely to be bidding for them

gogohm · 13/04/2022 16:03

The only thing you can proactively do is look for housing in the private sector. Council housing relies on someone moving out which people rarely do. You could say you need emergency housing but it will be a private rent

JeremyJordanseyebrows · 13/04/2022 16:20

I was in a similar situation, myself and my, at the time, 12yr old son living on the floor in my parent's spare room (2 bed house with 3 adults and a near-teen). Was on the waiting list 14 weeks and kept being 3rd or 4th bidding for houses.

My Dad sent a letter to the local authority stating that the situation had become unliveable and that they would have to withdraw their offer for us to stay due to overcrowding, so we would soon be homeless.

I got a phone call saying I'd been awarded additional points and was 1st in the bid for 2 different houses within 2 weeks.

Worth a try!

AthenaPopodopolous · 13/04/2022 16:27

Get your parents to evict you so your deemed at risk of homelessness. What Jeremy said above

Sluj · 13/04/2022 16:37

@Okeydoky

I know a few people that have magically been housed after going to their MP. Might be worth a go.

Don't do this, you are just wasting everyone's time. If you are in the top band, your turn will come around. Ask them about providing temporary accommodation though as the situation at your parents is not good, you may get extra priority that way as actually homeless rather than potentially homeless.

Mumofsend · 13/04/2022 16:44

If you are fussy on area then that's the problem. You need to be careful they don't end up saying you are being too fussy and bidding for you and telling you to take it or be kicked off the list.

We were top band on medical needs for a 3 bed and housed within 3 months.

LakieLady · 13/04/2022 16:47

@weeeeeeeeee

Are you working? I know sometimes they prioritise working applicants over those who aren't. Which might be why you go from 2nd to 9th/10th?

Read their allocations policy from front to back so you can work out if there is anything you can do to improve your chances as all councils are different.

Good luck.

I suspect that the change in positions is determined by who else bids on the same property.

When two or more people with the top priority band bid on the same property, most councils will offer it to the one who's been in that band the longest, so the same applicant can be second or 10th in the ranking for that property depending on how long the other bidders have been in that priority band.

Sooner or later, OP, you'll be the one who's been in that band the longest, then you'll come first.

The only thing I can think of that would accelerate things would be if you were literally homeless, ie if your mum chucked you out. But then you'd probably have to go into B&B for a while.

Original poster

kerrielees · 13/04/2022 16:53

Thanks so much for these replies.

The council have already contacted my mum and it was decided by my mum and the council that the best place would be to stay with her due to DS needs and also the fact that he gets a taxi to and from school each day and their would be no way I could take the younger 2 to their schools (which are different!) in the time that i would get for his taxi, their schools are the other side of town to where the hostels are and logistics mean it wouldn't work.

I've asked her to send them another email to state it's getting increasingly difficult though.

OP posts:

IncompleteSenten · 13/04/2022 17:03

Unfortunately it sounds like you live in an area where demand is far far higher than supply. Your mum needs to formally evict you if you want to get emergency accommodation. They'll keep bumping you down while they know your mum will house you.

ChiswickFlo · 13/04/2022 17:07

Contact your MP
Make them aware

Okeydoky · 13/04/2022 17:10

@Sluj I disagree. It might help, you'd be surprised how often things resolve when an MP gets involved. But even if it doesn't get the OP housed quicker, I really don't think it is a waste of time bringing to MPs' attention the real world impact of housing policy.

Sluj · 13/04/2022 17:12

[quote Okeydoky]@Sluj I disagree. It might help, you'd be surprised how often things resolve when an MP gets involved. But even if it doesn't get the OP housed quicker, I really don't think it is a waste of time bringing to MPs' attention the real world impact of housing policy.[/quote]
I'm not talking about wasting the MPs time, I'm talking about wasting the time of the 4 or 5 people in housing who will then have to drop everything else and deal with the MP response instead.

BritishDesiGirl · 13/04/2022 19:19

Hi, OP

If its been 6 months and you are coming between 2 and 5 it means your close. The same thing happened to me, l kept getting into the top 5 and then someone else got the house. I thought it would never happen.

It took me 7 months to get my house, it was actually up for bidding months before as well.

Don't give up.

Flip