Council/housing association wait time for homeless?

[Maymoo99]

Can anyone around the derby/east midlands share there experiences or offer any advice on council housing waiting time?

I have become homeless in the last 6-7 weeks with my 21 months old toddler, currently sofa surfing in my disabled cousins which has been classified as severely overcrowded. The council has also set up a temporary pay-to-stay arrangement with my cousin to help with the costs of keeping me here. They have placed me in the highest band with a homeless need, severe overcrowding need and a minor medical need.

I have been bidding for the past 5-6 weeks and my bids have been positioning between 3-11 consistently. (Most properties have around 100 bids)

I cannot afford the upfront or ongoing costs of private rent as the average two bed around here is at least £800 per month and LHA only covers circa £450, and even if i could afford the demand for private rentals is very high with around 10-15 attending block viewings. I don’t stand a chance.

I suppose i’m just asking if anyone can share their experience and how long they’ve waited? I suppose at the least i’m just looking for some positive words.

Tia

It’s just so depressing i dare think about it

Are you working op?

You could be years on a waiting list, even with priority.

Longer term you have a better chance at a good life if you give yourself more options and aren't dependent on the dwindling supply of council housing.

I'm assuming you are low income, so you'd get most of your childcare cost covered by UC.

Is your child's father paying maintenance?

Op, my job involves bidding on council properties for people. In a different location to you, but a similar part or the county. When my clients are coming in the top 10 that generally means they will be getting a council property in the next few months. Maybe it’s different in Derby as housing stock and council allocations do vary, but I can’t see how you are going to be waiting years of you are regular coming top 5.

Also, you can be offered the property if you come 2nd or 3rd. Not everyone that comes 1st actually accepts the property then it’s usually offered to the second place person and then 3rd place etc.

@AfterWeights im not working at moment and don’t even know how or when i can make a route into work. The cousin i’m staying with is disabled mentally and physically so i feel the situation is fragile, basically i don’t know wether i’m coming or going and i don’t know where i will be next week or month etc.

@Captnip500 thank you, it’s somewhat reassuring to here that from you seeing as you are maybe involved or have insight into the process. Yes i either cannot see how it could take years when i am positioning high, i expect months and i am prepared to deal with that.

Agree that you need to start working as soon as possible to then be able to make more choices.

Almost all your childcare will be covered by UC and the jobcentre is there to help.

@Dishwashersaurous i agree but it feels near impossible when i have no fixed address and no sense of where i could possibly be located in the coming weeks/months. I feel somewhere to live should be a priority and being on benefits or maternity etc shouldn’t be a barrier to that.

@Startyabastard
There's are huge amounts of homeless families living in B&Bs , temp housing, England has a depleted housing stock due to the millions sold and continuing to be sold off in right to buy. Scotland sensibly abolished this 8 years ago and are building new SH stock.

@HerMammy its ridiculous isn’t it. There is a real need for social housing or a reform on private renting

i agree but it feels near impossible when i have no fixed address and no sense of where i could possibly be located in the coming weeks/months.

The problem is with this attitude, you could be out of work and stuck in limbo waiting for council housing for years? You are more likely to get decently housed sooner if you get a plan in place to get a job. Your post reads like you are treating it that the housing must be sorted before you can even put your mind to thinking about work, unfortunately you don't really have that luxury.

I've got friends who've been on waiting lists for 5+ years. You can be quite high on priority but there will be a steady trickle of people coming on who can go ahead of you.

@AfterWeights why shouldn’t i be able to access housing be that social or private if i’m on benefits which i have legal recourse to? Of course it is going to be my priority to secure accommodation before anything else? A home is a base which life is built from.

If you tell your local authority that you're prepared to go into private rented, they will assist you to do so by negotiating with any landlords that they are aware of. They usually have special schemes (such as 'rent deposit assistance') and there are even exceptional circumstances for housing benefit claims above the LHA. I know this for sure as I've been in that situation in my borough (in London) but they don't broadcast this info.

However, I will caution you this, if you say you're prepared to go into private rented, they can move you out of borough and then by default remove you from their social housing register, or leastways you lose all your points anyhow. Or they can offer you 'suitable' private rented and if you decline, declare you intentionally homeless.

Don't take on board other people's judgement. You don't have to defend yourself about whether you're working or not. You didn't start the thread about whether to get a job or not, you were asking about housing. Frankly I am pretty disgusted that someone has chosen to jump on here and berate you about your work status, it's nothing to do with them and they sound like some kind of Tory scum who are deluded into thinking that people can just get a job and work hard to get out of poverty, disability, or homelessness. It doesn't happen like that.

Thank you @JFT, i have been heavily considering approaching them in regards to private renting, but i do understand the implications of it and that they can discharge the duty. Yes i don’t understand why some people would think having a home isn’t the first priority for me and my child, at the moment i am not expected to seek work so why shouldn’t i dedicate that time to find accommodation.

You'll be moved soon. I waited almost 6 yrs to be rehoused, under a London council after being shipped out of borough with my baby.

When I finally made it to the "top 10", it took a further few wks and even then, the property I was number one for, wasn't allocated to me, they gave me a different one which I hadn't bid on, but ironically had seen available for bidding months earlier, which I thought was strange.

Once allocated, and you've signed the tenancy paperwork, you have to move quickly so have your removal van sorted, etc

All the best x

After weights you clearly have no idea what you are talking about and should probably refrain from posting snarky and judgemental remarks on a thread where someone is genuinely struggling.

The OP isn’t going to be waiting year for a council property, she nearly had one at that priority level.

Working is great and it will be great for OP when she gets settled but right now, while she is homeless and looking after a small child in a house where she isnt entirely wanted, now isn’t the time to be looking for s job. She doesn’t even know where is is going to be living in the next few months so she might well have to quit any job she took soon anyway.

i know it’s a lovely idea that all you have to do is work hard and pay your rent to get out of poverty. But those days are long gone, if they ever existed.

@Raizin oh gosh waiting that long sounds horrible. I really really pity people in and around london as the waits can be severe, hopefully you are settled now

I really hope it happens for us soon so we can make roots and get on with life 🙏 x

@Maymoo99 It was an ordeal to say the least! Drug addicts breaking into the building and shooting up, on the stairs, multiple DA incidents amongst fellow residents, heightened by the stress of their living conditions, major issues with mould in multiple flats, as time went on, as the building which had previously been a large council office wasn't built for long term living.

However, thankfully we're settled now and I'm SO grateful we were allocated a suitable property back in London as some tenants were moved further afield into private properties...Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, after living their entire lives in London. There's no regard for support systems and the impact this has on the thousands of children who are forced to live their lives this way.

It will. Keep the faith and you'll soon be able to start over and start living your life again x

@Raizin thank you 🙏 x

@Maymoo99 How're you doing? I don't think you'll have to wait massively long (although it might feel like it.)

Ignore her, she's clueless.

My brother/SIL/kids are being evicted, they both work and it hasn't helped them at all, there's at least 20 people going for the same house (private landlord)

My landlord has just informed me he's selling now, I also need to find somewhere for me and my Son.

The country has gone to shit.

Hope you get sorted soon x

@porridgeisbae, still waiting at the moment, have been in touch with a housing officer who has advised me from her experience that i have nothing to worry about as my bids are consistently positioning within the top 10, had advised to keep bidding and just wait for an offer so not much more i can do at this point. I realise the wait may not be long but feels as though it will be forever, days feels like weeks etc. x

@SoTired12 its a horrible feeling, i have explored the private market for months but there’s hardly anything affordable and because there is so much competition someone like myself just doesn’t stand a chance. I hope you all get sorted soon x

The thing here is that you have turned down suitable, temporary accommodation to stay in unsuitable accommodation with the hope of securing permanent accommodation.

Not saying that you were wrong to do that, or that I would do otherwise. But, by staying where you are and joining the housing register rather than accepting TA, you are joining lots of other people who are in the same level of need and are also bidding. Pestering doesn't change that - you are already in a strong position comparatively (although in reality obviously it is really stressful and shit).

Some Councils will let you have a 1 bed if you have one child and accept a bedroom less. Usually there are way more available 1 beds than 2 beds.

The fact that you are so high on the list is definitely a very good thing, but there isn't any real way of knowing exactly how long it will take.