To think that the council should not be leaving a single mum, with her three children to kip down on her mothers floor

[ijustwanttoaskaquestion]

I am not entirely sure of all the details but i just feel that the situation my niece is being left in is not right, as in, i think something has gone wrong with her local council housing system.

So, she is 23 has three under three, her partner left her when she was pregnant with her third - he just disappeared. Hes a twunt apparently, well rid. They had a rented place but he didnt pay the rent so they were evicted. Because of this, the council told my neice she was "intentionally homeless" and woudlnt put her on the waiting list. Eventually she contacted her MP who contacted the council, as it was not my niece who was evicted but her partner who she now has nothing to do with. She was told she was a priority case and was given a password for the online bidding system. She since has her third child and informed the council - now, this is second hand, but apparently she was told this "we have changed the system now, you are now on the bottom of the list and you can expect to be living on your mother's floor for the next three to five years".

She has three children, she sleeps on the sofa and the children are sleeping in travel cots. Her mum basically lives in her bedroom, although why its like that i dont know - its a three bedroom housing association house, but there is the my neice, her mum, her brother living there - the third bedroom which was my nieces is a box room and apparently being used for storage.

This cannot be right?? Surely, leaving aside the fact that she was less than sensible to put herself in this situation by not sorting out contraception after the first child, there are still three children living in unacceptable conditions. Apparently, my niece is coping very well but it must be so hard for her.

She does not get on with her housing officer and feels she is prejudiced against her for getting the MP involved in the first instance, i cant say whether this is true or not.

What can she do?? Can she not rent privately and claim housing benefit? The council have told her they wont support her in this.

As i say, i don't know the full situation but wondered if anyone has any advice for organisations to approach etc - people to write too, appropriate thigns to write to the council to make sure her case is being handled properly.

I dont want to say where she lives in case she is a mnetter. But i know it varies from council to council. I just find it hard to believe that someone in her position wouldn't be on the priority housing list.

i do have to say that i feel tht the housing officer could have been more helpful in giving advice re private renting etc. she is quite a vulnerable young girl actually, despite coping well with the children i can imagine that all of the official side of things is over her head

Some councils have an advice centre - I know Preston and Newcastle do, but Sunderland don't, from personal expierience. If not, she should at least try the entitledto website, that is really good and will tell her what she can get in all the different benefits-she should easily be able to afford a private rent, and HB can be paid directly to her so the landlord doesn't even have to know. I would say she might be best off finding a house out of the back of the paper rather than an esate agent though as estate agents ofteen need a frankly ridiculous amount of guarentees, credit checks and so on that would be difficult for her, I would imagine. Landlords out of the back of a paper would usually just want the first months rent and deposit of the same amount (help will be availiable with that) and maybe a letter off a previous landlord (the girls mother would do). I would give up on the council, I know countless people who have been in incredibly shitty situations and the council hasn't been able to help.

It is all down to good old Maggie Thatcher again and her right to buy legislation that included a clause preventing local councils using the money raised to buy new housing stock. Bloody Tories.

Am I the only one that would move muself into the smallest room and let mum and babies have a bedroom between them?
I guess the way the council look at it is, she is housed, safe and children are well, how the family deal with the space is up to them.
I remember a time when we had mum, dad and 4 teens living in a 3 bed.

She's choosing to live with her mum and her brother isn't she? So why should she be rehoused?

I am going to make waves here but... I don't see how she is entitled to a council house. Surely they should be for people who have no willing relatives to fall back on in times of extreme need, who are homeless through no fault of their own (not saying it is this girl's fault she is living with her mum BTW)? The mum's house is big enough (just and for now) to cope with the number of people living in it; if the bedrooms are apportioned strangely then I would think that that is a private matter. There are people in greater need than this girl, sorry.

I would agree that the council have been quite unhelpful and unclear in their advice though.

are you sure they have removed the bidding system? most places are phasing these in not out!!

i just bid on 2 properties myself tonight. loads of places it seems here in bedfordshire...

if she was given a password,as i have,then she's on the list with points allocated....do you know how many? which band?

bidding systems can really suck, though!

my SIL is in an area with a bidding system.

she spent 10 months in a B&B with her two sons after fleeing domestic violence, now housed in a temporary flat in a building that was condemned 3 years ago.

and she has to bid on housing as they're finally knocking the building down.

she has a silver star (the top is a gold star and it's only for people who have become too medically disabled to access their home anymore) and because of demand she's one of thousands who has this status and thus, not getting anywhere with bidding.

she's looking at private renting as well.

spicemonster?? if you mean, she is choosing to live there instead of living on the streets, yeah, i guess so - weird comment!

tiffany, sorry, i didnt mean they were phasing the system out, just that for some reason due to changes in their allocation system she is now low priority, i think it must be a mistake as before she had the third child she was high priority.

As i say, im quoting second hand really, but just wondered if there was any other route for her, I spoke to her nan and have passed on the advice to contact shelter - thanks for that, i have also said that she should go down the private route.

Wizard: Sadly, i do agree with you to a certain degree

also, if she is vulnerable, you really don't want her ending up in council housing if you say what is left is all in dire areas.

Sorry, didn't read the OP properly

But I do kind of think that if young women like her get housed in lovely 3/4 bedroom houses, it perpetuates the (obvious) myth that if you have a lot of kids as a single parent, you'll get a really nice house.

(I am a single parent fwiw so I am sympathetic to a degree)

If I were this girl's mother I would a) clear out the box room so there was a bedroom to use for someone - keeping it for 'storage' in this situation is odd and b) I would try to get a loan/overdraft for the amount necessary for my child to have a deposit on a rented place

I would think these would be the absolute minimum things I would do for my child were they in this situation

Yes councils are there, the safety net is there but it is slow, unwieldy and cannot help everyone at once. Family help is better. And she will of course get income support and housing and council tax benefit when she is in private rented so it's not as if the state is abandoning her. Not to mention child tax credit and child benefit.

sadly, i dont think she gets much support from her mum apart from teh roof over her head

I think she does need to find out if her local council have any schemes to lend deposits.

CAB is what she needs imo.

Hey, Shiregirl. If you are tired of reading them then DON'T BLOODY POST!!! Simple!

I think the worse the economy becomes, the more you will get hard working people who think/feel like Shiregirl.

The Niece being written about has had some terrible things happen, but she also has made a series of terrible choices that have led to her current situation. She needs to do some serious re-evaluating of her life, and take some personal responsibility for her life/future, and the life of her children.

For a practical suggestion: does the brother have the option to move elsewhere in order to help out the family living situation? I'm sure he wouldn't like being asked, but it can't be appealing for him to be living in such crowded conditions.

she might not be a priority.

try shelter england for advice

if you want to give me the name of the council i will see what info i can find.

she should be supported in finding private rented accommodation - if she wants to - some councils even do a deposit scheme - where you can have a loan for deposit.

i know of a house where a family of 11 are sharing a 3 bed house - they have been on list for 2 years - no sign of a houe

ijustwanttoask I think because you have heard this second hand, you might not have been given all the details. I think there must have been a misunderstanding at the beginning of this situation. If your niece had been evicted and told the council of this and physically been put on the street, she would have been rehoused. The problem is that she is now staying with her mother. In an area with relatively high numbers of vacant properties, like where we live, you could be rehoused quickly. For example, my stepson was sleeping on our sofa and applied and given low priorty homeless points, but due to a high number of empty bedsit/single person properties, he was allocated one quickly.
However, if we lived in an area with a waiting list 10 miles long, like most places, he would probably never be housed for years.
The best thing she can do is to get her mum to throw her out. Put it in writing that she can't stay tehre anymore. However, the less stressful way to go, would be to find a private landlord like someone else suggested, from a shop window advert or the back of the newspaper and use housing benefit to pay for it.
Hope she gets sorted soon.

Shiregirl, I agree with you.
The woman in question isn't homeless.
She is living with her family. In a 3 bedroom house. It might not be the best solution, but it's bearable.
She has made some really bad decisions in her life. Let her sort out her own mess.

It is crap but councils have many get out clauses.

Many years ago I knew aMum whose ExDP had just been released from prison,forstabbing her. He'dserved a few years somust have been very close at least.

She was offered housing next to his family (whome he would return to that week) when her Auntwas forced by reason of space to kick her and her 2 dc'sout. She refused through sheer mortalfear. They tok her off priority list.

Tis rubbish

Agree with Shelter, and with PP that she needs to get he Mum to visit council toconfirm she is being thrown out (presume thats the reason mum wont clear room- makes it permanent and viable then).

You can be legally homelesswithout a roof,and no matter what dodgy decisions Mum made the poor kids have done nothing wrong and deserve a home.

Unfortunately, I have to agree (in part) with shiregirl and purepurple. She has a roof over her head and although it may not be ideal - she has more than plenty others have. She is not a priority case.

She can apply for the Deposit Guarantee Scheme through the council, but to be honest I doubt a letting agency would touch her. She would be classed as a high risk tenant - 3 young children therefore unlikely to work, reliant on housing benefit which is notoriously unreliable - all of this make her incredibly high risk in terms of rent arrears.

Shes not homeless while she has her mums house to live in. The council is already providing a three bedroom home for this family by the sound of it. The mum doesnt need three bedrooms just for her and her son, therefore the sensible option is for son to either move out or go in box room, mum in second bedroom and then dn with three children in big bedroom. I am at a loss why it is expected that the council should provide yet further accomodation to be honest. f

Exactly, frog!

anyone can apply for council accomadation....question is,why did the council move the goalposts? priority one minute then not the next?

does she pay her mum rent? am wondering also how she manages financially. if she pays rent,then housing benefit ,is that paid? doubt she will be eligible for income support?
do claiming these benefits give you more credence/points etc??