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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think i should get the housing points!

181 replies

emmymama · 19/04/2010 12:05

disclaimer... i'm not saying they should give me a house, i got pregnant, thats not their fault, even tho i knew it would be a squeeze, i'm saying i should have the opourtunity to get a house

i live in a very small 2 bed council house (if i sit on the floor with my back against the sofa my feet touch the fire guard).. ds's room fits a single bed and nothing else in

i have a 13 month old and i'm 23 weeks pg, there are steps into my front garden (only access) with a wall and gate (then the steps)that will not fit a double buggy in and its not close to my door

heres what i've explained to the council (ive been on the list since pg with dd so 18 months)

i will be sharing a room with dd and the new baby as the other room isnt big enough for dd's cot (or for me to give dd and ds that room as i wont fit the new baby in with me in the small room either)

i will have to (on the way out) take the double and leave the children in the house, set the pram up on the street then come back for the children and then the opposite on the way into the house (shoudl be fun after ive had a baby!)

so there will be overcrowding and access problems.. i dont get any extra points until the baby comes and i am having these problems

aibu to thing i should get the points now so i can apply for the houses to try and move before the problems arise?

hope that makes sense??

OP posts:
ilove · 19/04/2010 12:07

umm....

no sits on hands

abbierhodes · 19/04/2010 12:12

I've got steps to my garden. Everyone in my street has. You'll manage

runnybottom · 19/04/2010 12:12

Or you could just make do and mend like most people do?

LaurieFairyCake · 19/04/2010 12:12

You have a two bed house.

You are not overcrowded.

A lot of people who own/rent privately have some access problems - I wouldn't be able to get a double buggy in my front door for example.

Take the gate down? then you can get the double buggy through them.

saslou · 19/04/2010 12:13

I think you should get the points now. It would make much more sense for you to be able to move now, before you have the new baby. The council will have to move you eventually so might as well help you now if housing is available

azazello · 19/04/2010 12:13

No. I feel sorry for you and know it is a pain but there are people living in far worse conditions and it isn't a problem yet in any case.

scurryfunge · 19/04/2010 12:15

Sounds very inconvenient but not really a housing issue

LaurieFairyCake · 19/04/2010 12:16

Why would the council have to move you eventually?

The council will deem that you could have the single bedroom and the larger bedroom can have two beds in it.

tethersend · 19/04/2010 12:16

I hate to say it, but the reason they do not award you points until the baby arrives is because they want to make sure the baby does arrive.

A woman from the housing association explained this to me whilst I was pg- perhaps your council is the same?

CirrhosisByTheSea · 19/04/2010 12:18

Get a thin double buggy - one of the ones that has one child behind the other. Or wear baby in a sling and keep a single buggy.

It is absolutely about finding ways round things.

The council can only go on concrete, actual, current circumstances. how could they do otherwise? It would be an absolute nightmare of them handing out points/houses because of possible future happenings in people's lives. Yes pregnancy is a damn good indicator that change is about to happen but of course not all pregnancies result in a baby, tragically. The council can't act on what's not happened yet.

fernie3 · 19/04/2010 12:19

well it doesnt sound too bad to me - I have to set the pushchar up outside in my current house and you just get into a routine with it.If you get one you can attach a car seat to you can just carry the baby out in that. Space wise sound small but not TOO bad you can always share the main bedroom with your baby for a couple of years then get bunk beds (ours will be having bunk beds - never seen it as a problem?)

BertieBotts · 19/04/2010 12:21

It is silly that you can't claim for a bedroom for a baby that is not yet born, the reasoning I was given was that "Advice is for baby to share your room for the first 6 months anyway" - so they expect you to move with an

kissyfurschaos · 19/04/2010 12:21

There are several people on here myself included who'd love even a small two bed council house.
By the time DS was exactly 18 months we moved into our fourth private rental. Had left abusive partner, landlords daughter moved in to another and then lived above a noisy, bullying psycho. I would jump at chance for secure tenancy.
Sorry but baby can share with you and have bottom bunk of bunkbeds in two or three years.
YABU.

Babieseverywhere · 19/04/2010 12:24

Have a look at buying, begging a Phil and Ted prams, they are very narrow doubles.

I have 15 steps outside my house and bump my P&T pram up and down them several times (usually with my 20 month DS in it), from July it will be bumped with a newborn in it as well. Hard work but making access much easier and that way you do not have to leave children or prams unattended.

All the best with getting rehoused.

SecretSlattern · 19/04/2010 12:25

I am in a similar situation to you in that we are living in a 2 bed flat in a communal block (ground floor fortunately). DD and DS now share the small bedroom but all we can fit in there is the bed and the cot. There is no space for wardrobes or storage or toys of any kind, so the kids are limited to what they have got.

I am 35 weeks pg with DD2 (very unexpected). She will be in with DH and I in a moses basket for the foreseeable as again, there is nowhere to put the cot. DS is still too little to consider moving into a bed (age wise, he is ok, but temperament wise, definitely not!) so we are stuck.

We have no wardrobes or storage places anywhere in our flat, and even worse, no where to put said storage so clothes, toys and general household stuff lives wherever.

Added to this, we have a severe case of rising damp which even involvement from the Environmental Health dept failed to sort. DS is chronic asthmatic, DD not so much, it can't be doing them any good.

Your buggy issue I wouldn't see as too much of a problem because many people manage with steps. We have steps to get into the main security door at the front and I can manage that. We will need a double buggy as DS is only 21 months and didn't start walking until 19 months so he is not the most reliable yet at walking.

We are overcrowded, according to our tenancy agreement with the housing association, which clearly states the flat is only suitable for three people. When we approached the housing assoc, we were told we had to go back to the local authority to go back on the waiting list for a suitable alternative. The housing people will not let us transfer within them. We are now at the bottom of band c with very little hope of getting anywhere any time soon.

Alarmingly, we were told that living rooms can constitute sleeping space, so as our kids get bigger, we will have to move out of our bedroom and into the living room, to make room for the kids to sleep.

So IMO YABU to expect the points, because tbh there are people worse off than you. As has been pointed out, you are not overcrowded as it stands atm.

CirrhosisByTheSea · 19/04/2010 12:26

agree with you kissy

No one is going to give me a bigger house. I am stuck where I am - yes I 'own' it, or the bank do - but we will not be in a financial position for years to move. People do get a bit depressed with others who seem to be demanding bigger places at the taxpayers expense.

I am hugely supportive of there being good quality council accommodation to provide the safety net/stepping stone that enables people to make the most of their lives. But it's not there to give you exactly the house you need to support your lifestyle choices eg the exact size of family you want.

ShadeofViolet · 19/04/2010 12:31

YABU - Your disclaimer says it all!

EricNorthmansmistress · 19/04/2010 12:44

You can share with the baby for 5 years according to most housing depts, and since you have a spare bedroom for the older child you are not overcrowded, nor will you be when the baby is born.

Yes you have steps, so do lots of people.

Apply for a larger place when the baby is born, the poster above who said 'they expect you to move with a 6 month old' is having a laugh - as if your baby turns 6 months and you get moved! Try 10 years...some friends of mine have three children in a one bed council flat, the oldest is nearly 10 and as she has brothers she is finally entitled to her own room, and parents are expected to sleep in the living room (as they do)
Social housing is scarce. If you want the benefits of being in SH (such as they are) you live with it. If you can get into private you get more choice obviously - but you pay for it, and live with the downsides.

Original poster
emmymama · 19/04/2010 12:46

sorry, it was the council that said we would get the overcrowding points when the baby came as i would be sharing a room with 2 children.

OP posts:
EricNorthmansmistress · 19/04/2010 12:47

I thought you had two bedrooms?

Original poster
emmymama · 19/04/2010 12:50

i do and in august i will have 3 children... ds (8) has his room, dd is in my room (13 months) as i cant fit her cot in with ds and the baby comes in august...

OP posts:
Original poster
emmymama · 19/04/2010 12:50

i do and in august i will have 3 children... ds (8) has his room, dd is in my room (13 months) as i cant fit her cot in with ds and the baby comes in august...

OP posts:
JaneS · 19/04/2010 12:51

Sounds like the council has got your hopes up with some slightly unrealistic info, unless you're somewhere with a surplus of housing.

With the buggy, can you maybe leave it on the ground floor by the door? Where we are there's a space where loads of people leave bikes, and perhaps you could do similar? Depends on the building obviously.

HappyMummyOfOne · 19/04/2010 12:52

Your OP says you have two bedrooms so you wont need to move as wont be classed as over crowded.

You choose to have another child knowing that space may be an issue but you did it anyway - perhaps in the hope that it would mean a bigger house.

You OP is full of a sense of entitlement. If you want your perfect house then go any private rent or buy one but dont expect it to be handed on a plate because of your lifestyle choices.

tethersend · 19/04/2010 12:54

Here we go...