Please help me decide on what to do regarding council housing

[whatdoido3]

Hello all, long term poster but changed names as outing.

We currently private rent, £1200 for a 2 bed ground floor maisonette (south east). We are a 5 minute walk from MIL & FIL and 10 minute drive from my parents (they are our main support system with childcare when needed etc). We have private rented since we got married at 22 and we are now 30 with a baby.

We have been on the council list for a number of years and we have just been offered a new build 2 bed flat for £804 a month.

We have only just moved to this flat and have with permission from the landlord decorated how we like it etc. we have an enclosed front garden which is perfect for 9 month old DD and our spaniel.

The flat we have been offered is 1st floor, no garden and we plan on having a second baby next year. My concerns are having a dog who I need to take up and down stairs to go to toilet, a 9 month old to carry up and down with shopping etc. plus another baby potentially next year or the following year.

What do we do in this situation? It would make a massive difference to us financially. We are scraping by right now and have some debt that we would be able to clear if we moved. We fell down the private renting hole and haven't managed to get out of it, we are unable to save due to cost of renting, paying debt off etc.

Honest advice please x

I think you should take the flat and try to save the £400 a month , in a few years you’ll have a decent amount for a deposit and could buy somewhere with a garden if you wanted to.

Take the council flat especially if it’s in a nice area.

Take the flat & then try to exchange for a 3 bed ASAP. You can register on Homeswapper & many council tenants start their own exchange page on Facebook. Don't spend loads on it, just make it look clean & presentable, take pictures & load on swapping sites. Being a new build, you shouldn't have much trouble getting an exchange.

Try for medical/mobility priority, tell them your problems with stairs. Some councils have a policy of only allocating ground floor flats for families with children.

Why is a first floor flat not suitable? I lived in a third floor flat with a baby and managed fine.

Sone posters on here are ridiculous.

The vast majority of people in urban areas on the continent live in flats.

Even ones with babies and disabilities.

I would have loved to be able to get a council tenancy! We were private renting for years, our last one for 9 years, it was our sons only home. The landlord (who was amazing) let us know he wanted to sell up, so we had to leave. We left our home, decorated to how we like it etc. we have been on the council list for 10 years and got nowhere, we have actually managed to buy our house now. I would always go for security over anything else, all the time renting I worried about being given notice. Our landlord was great and gave us as much time as we needed, we actually took 3 months to move out but he was fine with that. During that time we had viewings so we were trying to live and pack and move whilst having people walking round! It was chaos. A year later I am so glad we have our home, it is ours, we are secure. I would take the flat.

Maybe you had a downstairs toilet then? We'd pop up to see DH WFH, for nappy/clothes changes and for the bathroom. Lovely if you had a bigger house but not everyone does

I think it is the dog that makes it a tricky decision. You'll have to take the dog and a baby out several times a day. If it was just the baby it would be straight forward.

But why assume OP will have an upstairs bathroom?

Love how you've assumed a downstairs bathroom equals larger house rather than the tiny 2bed Victorian terrace I actually lived in.
When I was pregnant with DS2 and had SPD I couldn't manage the stairs. So I took clothes and nappies down with me in the morning so we didn't have to go upstairs for those either.
Unless your only bathroom is upstairs (like where I live now) it's perfectly possible not to have to go up and down multiple times per day.

This is my thinking, we lived in a 1st floor marionette when baby was newborn and it was easy to leave her asleep in her Moses whilst I literally took the dog out to the front to wee (I could stand at the bottom of the stairs and see our front door and dog is trained to stay in certain areas and we weren't by a road so he would literally go to toilet on the grass then come straight back in) as baby got older and I couldn't leave her safely for 2 minutes it was so hard on my back carrying her up and down. I know in my head that I have to accept this place, we are lucky to have been offered it and it's security for our family and means we can clear our debt and put plans into place for the future but my heart is saying no because we are so close to family here, we have easy access to our front garden, ground floor etc. but we are going to go for a viewing and are 95% sure we will accept it.

So taking into account your medical needs, the baby, the possible second baby and the dog, whose idea was it to bid on a property with stairs?

@viques It's not ideal but I could manage it, it would be worth it for the security and the savings that we could make. I thought the idea was to bid on every property which meets your criteria, probably 1 or 2 a month pop up so I place my bid on them.

The point I think being made is you’re now saying it doesn’t meet your needs. Due to medical issues, kids and a dog.

I swapped my 3 bed house for a flat last year. Many people want to downsize I’m sure I can’t be the only one. I couldn’t manage the garden anymore.

thats pretty rare though..

How do you know it’s rare? what is your source?
I did it so I think it’s very common, 100% of people I know who moved house last year did it!

I literally posted I am on numerous Facebook swapping groups and can see how hard it is! The same faces have been trying for years. Others have commented the same that getting a swap isn’t easy! My sister has been trying for 10 years for a swap! And I meant it’s rare for someone to give up a house for a flat

My sister swapped a 2 bed flat for a 3 bed house.
I swapped a 2 bed house for a 5 bed house.
My gran swapped her 3 bed house with massive garden for a studio flat.

Lots of people downsize. Especially with the bedroom tax now.

Not what I’ve seen and from the people I know who have been trying for years and years but ok 🤷‍♀️

Realistically you'd never get a place if you only bid on places with no stairs. Worst case you can always go back into private if you can't manage or can't swap. You've not really got anything to lose.

Take the flat! The security is worth everything. We long term private rent (wouldn't be eligible for council tenancy) and the fear of a section 21 is real! We'd be screwed. I'd take anything over that worry ❤️

Op take the flat. Nice area. And get saving. Buying is the only other way to get secure housing.

Private landlords are always going to have reasons why it no longer suits them to have their money invested in property, they may want to move themselves, cash-in their pension pot, help fund their kids, etc etc.

Your in a maisonette so already have stairs. One advantage of a flat is once your in you have no more stairs to climb.

Pensioners are not subject to the bedroom tax. Which is bizarre because they're one of the main demographics likely to be overaccommodated.

Not that I'm advocating impoverishing pensioners but it seems counter-intuitive to exclude so many potential properties if your agenda is to actually increase the amount of available suitable housing.