Housing help and advice

[SingleMama0]

hello im after some advice please. Im in the final throws of divorce from H. Just thinking ahead to when he moves out. Yes he will be paying child maintenance (£400 a month) but thats not going to give me a lot to live on. I do work full time. My rent in this private rental is £850 a month. My wage is £34k per year. We could get by if the rent doesnt go up too much but im wondering if a council house would be the better option? Ive heard they are around £450 a month and obviously much more secure housing (no risk of the landlord selling up). Would i be eligible? How do i transfer to a council house? My kids are 17 (college and costs me £6 a day in bus fare) and 11 still at primary. I dont claim any benefits apart from child benefit. Any advice appreciated. Im just so worried about affording everything 😩

You’d have to register with your local council, and then prepare for a very long wait.

As you already have somewhere to live you'd be waiting a long time

Oh no, what happens if the landlord puts the rent up and i cant pay/i get evicted. Im so worried but i cant continue to live with H. This is really stressing me out 😩

But you’re not there yet.

At the point you are no longer able to house yourself, the council will step in and house you (though this is likely to be in temporary accommodation for several months - even years - until a permanent home becomes available).

For the time being, however, you can afford to rent privately, so you don’t need - and are not eligible for - social housing.

Have you checked to see if you’re eligible for Universal Credit to help with housing costs?

You can apply for a council house, depending in what system your local authority uses you should find out quite quickly how likely you are to get one.

Around here you get a place on the list and you can keep checking to see how far up the list you are. When you hit the top you get offered the next suitable house.

Other places have a system where you have to bid,and they allocate the house to the person with the most points.

Tbh its pretty unlikely you'll get anywhere quickly as you have a home. They don't really hand out council properties because someone wants a cheaper house.

Have you looked into seeing if Universal Credit is available ? as you may then get a contribution towards rent i.e. housing benefit.

Social housing isn't just handed out like that, you are currently housed.
You can apply and go on the waiting list and depending where in the country you are depends on if / when you will be offered somewhere.

Be careful that your 17 year old isn't 18 by then, as s/he may not then count.

If you are evicted due to non payment of rent then the Council considers that as being intentionally homeless.

£850 rent is a bargain ! a 3 bed house where i am is a lot more.

How long have you lived there, and how often has the landlord put up the rent before ? and by how much / by what %

Depending on where you live in the country it’ll likely be a 2-10 year wait from the time you ask to be added to the list.

Use the online calculator at entitledto website. You may be eligible for some universal credit, and maintenance, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't get included in that calculations.

Ok i think im panicking. Im going to check out the entitled to website and see what we might be able to get. Im a natural worrier! 🫠

You can apply to get on the council's list but it's not a queue as such - you don't get allocated housing in turn. They prioritise people on their assessment of their need. For as long as you have a home, you will be very low on the list. Usually you need to be made homeless before they will provide you with emergency accomodation, and once you're in emergency accomodation it will be more likely you'll get pushed higher up the priority list.

The important thing is not to make yourself "voluntarily" homeless. Do not voluntarily leave your home under any circumstances. If you can't afford the rent, don't pay it, but don't move out or serve notice yourself. Your landlord will serve you notice, you still must not move out. Your landlord will take you to court and probably get an order for you to leave - you still must not move out. Your landlord will then take you to court again and the court will order bailiffs to evict you - it's only at this point will the council consider you to be involuntarily homeless, because the bailiffs physically evict you. Once this happens, the council is obliged to get you emergency accomodation.

There are lots of people who end up higher on the list due to all sorts of circumstances. That's the way the system works, those in immediate need have a higher priority.

Omg im shocked. Entitledto has estimated that on top of me working, receiving child maintenance payments, id possibly be able to claim £1451 a month 😮 cant be right surely?! Thats a weight off my mind if so. Oh my goodness 😱

That seems pretty high unless there is anyone in your household with a disability.

I would have thought it to be nearer the £800 a month mark (from others I know in similar situations)

Either way they will figure it out when you apply.

why wouldn't it be right - your rent is £850
so it's ' only ' another 400 or so for you and x amount of children, not even £100 a week as months can be 4 or 5 weeks.

but just to be sure, do it again.

then do it for a 3rd time but making the 17 year old up to 18 or even 19.

and

have you done the CMS calculator to see how much he would need to pay toward the children.

yet again do it twice with the second time your 17 year old being older.

What is your monthly income as is?

Yes its all is correct info. Full time wage, pension contributions, my council tax is £1989 at the mo. Listed my savings i have. Childcare costs currently for 11 year old. Plus the figure agreed for cms. Im in shock its so much?!

Just to check, will the divorce leave you with any savings? Because if you have more than 6k, your UC entitlement is tapered down, and at 16k, you’re not eligible.

Remember also that your council tax will go down when your ex moves out - you’ll qualify for the single person 25% discount (though once your oldest is 18 and has finished college, if they don’t go into further education/training, you may need to pay the full rate again).

You have to register with the council.
You will be given a " band" depending on your circumstances.. seeing as you are adequately housed.. you will be very low priority.. could take up to 10 years these days.. it's on average 6 years in my city and that's for higher priority ( families in B&Bs.)

I privately rent a very cheap (for the area) 2 bed, I have 3 children, a 3 bed would be an extra jump in rent of about £500,I can't afford that, the younger 2 kids share my room,the council won't put me on the list for a 3 bed as I have 2 bedrooms already

When I worked as a teaching assistant my wage was 1,200 a month and my uc entitlement was about £800 so that seems very high on ur wage