Can't afford rent, social housing wait ridiculous, what to do?

[BrownieBanana]

I'm stuck living with a family member sharing a bedroom with my toddler. I can't afford rent as a 2 bed near me is £900+. Childcare fees are the same. That's my salary wiped. Even with universal credit it isn't doable on my wage. I'm going insane as have been living with tm family member for 2 years plus. I have 4000 on savings so that covers rent for 4 months but I 5eally don't want to just spunk it on unsustainable rent. I just don't know what to do as I can't even look at things like house shares with such a young child. What are other people doing? Just living with their family members for years on end? Makes relationships extremely difficult. Toll on mental health is huge. I'm 31. I'm so fed up. Just want my own place and for it to not put me in debt.

The cheapest 2 bed in Hull on rightmove is 360 a month then they jump up into the 400s and rise quite quickly

However, obviously it is still a lot cheaper than OPs local area

Question is, can she work from home and live somewhere far away, does her job require her to be local to where she is?

I'm a research assistant for a large company it doesn't pay very much

I posted similar about 6 months ago so yes. I'm still in the same situation. Not sure what I'm hoping for. Just want to stop feeling so depressed and like I'm treading on eggshells in my own home.

But you may get help with rent if you rented?

www.amrp.co.uk/

Sadly the red hot property market means no where is cheap.

I feel for the OP.

Can you get your family member your living with your say to the council they’re kicking you and your homeless. I think with a child you’ll get put somewhere fairly quickly.

I think having depression anxiety ptsd etc makes everything feel worse than it is too

OP, if you can, its helpful to set out your income and any current benefits and your LHA rate to see if rent near you is possible

If not, then have a think about relocating. Not ideal but it would mean your own space, and financial security as it would be a lot more affordable

One big caveat with this: in some areas, esp in London, temporary accommodation often means people get stuck in tiny flats for years, with no real prospect of getting a long-term home.

A neighbouring council to mine is not much better, although they lease properties from private landlords for temporary accommodation and they can end up being long term. That council are quite upfront now, telling homeless families that in all probability it will be 15-20 years before they get social housing. That can mean that your kids are grown up before you get secure housing, which in turn can mean you're no longer in priority need.

People that say 'Just move somewhere cheaper' have no idea how difficult that is when you rent. You need to find a job in the new city first (unless you can WFH), then have that job for a 3-6 months. Landlords look at your salary, job history (and stability) and lots of them discriminate against single people, people on benefits, people with pets, single parents etc. My advice is to look at entitled to calculator to see how much are LHA rates that UC will cover and find something in that bracket or slightly more expensive (that you can still afford).

There absolutely are cheap places to rent in the UK. People see them as undesirable areas though so make their choices accordingly.

I dont live in the north east so perhaps I have an unclear view of the area but everytime we have visited I love the area and the towns and the people.

But you would get some of it covered if you moved out would you not?

Have you calculated the shortfall in rent what is your Local housing allowance rate for a 1 bed and 2 bed compared to actual rent? Having said that it's not just rent is it? It's the utilities and everything that comes with having to run your own place. How old is your son do you get his funded hours?

They could put OP in some awful hostel, with lack of privacy, noise, vulnerable people with behaviour that could cause her MH to suffer more. It may not even be local, it could be somewhere else the country, a lot of councils are doing this now

OP have a look at the link I posted about the properties in Durham, I have used these for clients before and they have found this helpful

Have you done the benefits check for if you were paying £900 rent? What would that do to your UC claim?

That's fine, good reasons...but you still have to understand in and of itself this is a choice. For you right now your top priority is being near family, understandably so, and living in your own place is a lower priority. There's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we just have to come to terms with the situation and accept we've made the right choice for now?
It might be that there isn't a solution whereby you get to stay near family + afford your own place. Lots and lots of people are desperate to move to a different area but can't afford to do so - at least your family member is able to accommodate you so you are able to have that support network - so straight away that's a positive of your current situation. Yes it sucks not to be able to afford your own place but maybe when you have recovered more from your trauma you'll feel more able to be a bit further away (even 45 mins would no doubt open up cheaper areas) and that might be the right time to find your own place?

See the link I posed, the organisation has specifically removed those barriers and encourages people to relocate to the area.

right but you would get some of it covered if you rented your own place

But you will get help with rent from UC if you move out.

Have you checked what help you’ll get with rent? lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Search.aspx

I think you'll find that many of the people suggesting it did it themselves, and have first hand experience of choosing to move. It's why we suggest it - it was the solution that worked for us? Yes it's hard, but as a previous poster pointed out, so is the OP's current situation, so hard in fact that they feel it's becoming untenable?

I work alongside housing. This is the only way you jump up housing priorities, but you have to be willing to be in awful temp accomodation for a while, depending on your area before you get rehoused into social HA housing. Is this the time you can do that whilst DC are small? Or is it sustainable at your relatives house? Can you claim rent for that or you are paying rent?

Do you have any other relatives that might be more tolerable to live with, or a friend with an annexe, until you can get a better paying job?

Temp accomodation is usually not ideal and might be out of area for a while but it gets funded as rent UC if you are entitled to HB support, and you get one of highest priorities for available housing in your area. If you lived in our area (not London but a county nearby) it's be 4-6 months but if you are a London borough I don't know how long that might be instead.

I think you'll find that many of the people suggesting it did it themselves, and have first hand experience of choosing to move. It's why we suggest it - it was the solution that worked for us? Yes it's hard, but as a previous poster pointed out, so is the OP's current situation, so hard in fact that they feel it's becoming untenable?

Exactly this. Moving somewhere cheaper is not easy at all (probably easier now with remote working opportunities etc) but it comes to a point where you have to decide which is most important to you. Staying where you are in undesirable living arrangements or moving to a new area which will have its own challenges but may in the long run lead to a better standard of living.

I'm from a quaint little village in a touristy area. There was zero change of me either renting or buying in the area so I moved. Made a new life somewhere more affordable.