to think i should get the housing points!

[emmymama]

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??

Is it realistic for the father to assist with bigger accommodation or private rental?

I really feel for you as feeling crowded is a horrible feeling and if you thought that you would have got a bigger house and now you havent you must feel disappointed.

However, is your home clean and dry? In lots of areas of the UK families with more children are living in smaller houses with damp and heating problems. Also old people are in damp, cold houses where they dont really know if they will last the winter.

I know that anyone could always find someone worse off and I dont want to belittle your problems, but I think really as long as your children are safe, warm and dry - a bit of hassle getting up the steps isnt a huge deal.

Its not forever anyway.

best of luck xx

I does read that you have one child and one on the way, wasn't aware you had another older child until I read all the thread.

FWIW I couldn't get my double into the house when the kids were younger, I had to set it up outside and then get the kids in, its not a hardship.

Good luck with the housing tho

Well I would have loved a 3rd child but I didn't, because I can't afford to/dont have the space...so am finding it hard to dredge some sympathy for you sorry

oooh, ive just read it adn i didnt mention ds, i have an 8 year old as well!!

i understand that the pram will have to be set up outside, its the distance to the street thats the problem

oh well... thanks for everyones comments

cant you swap rooms to make your livingroom into a bedroom and bedroom into a living room?

obviously i dont know your house set up but this is what my cousin had to do to give her kids enough space in her flat, now what was her bedroom in her living room her living room is kids bedroom and kids old room is her room, shes coping ok

i have to go up and down steps to get into my house i have a Phil and Teds and its blooming briliant

Bunks with DS1 on top, DD1 on bottom (with bedrail thingy) and baby in with you in moses basket.

Also get one of those doubles that has the back and front instead of side by side.

Stairs are largely unavoidable. I have them, am just using a sling for newborm atm. Buggy is too much of a PITA for London (i.e stairs at flat/buses etc).

Now I understand - in your original post it sounded like you only had one child and one on the way.

You'll have to share with the two youngest until one is old enough to go into bunk beds I suppose - if both girls they could stay in your room in bunk beds so that ds could still have his own room.

Or you could change your sofa for a sofa bed and have the living room.

I understand your problem but really I feel that your situation is better than a lot of people on here.

I am in a top floor one bedroom flat with 17 month old DS sharing our room. We have literally no space to move. Been 4th on our HA internal move waiting list for over a year and the council have told us we have no chance of a 2 bedroom with them as we are in a secured tenancy ATM. We would need to make ourselves homeless then be placed in the areas where no one in their right mind wants to live never mind raise a child.

We have 64 steps to our front door, all of them lipped so the buggy will not bump up and down them without the brakes engaging, it has to be lifted. We had to get rid of our pram as we had no room for it. My legs are constantly black and blue because of this as I cannot make 2 trips up and down as my hips get too sore. There is no secure place to leave buggy at the bottom of all the stairs.

I had SPD when pregnant, on crutches and housebound for 3 months as I couldnt manage the steps. I still suffer from this now though not to the extent as before but still very painful.

We do not get overcrowding points and no medical points, we just have to deal with it. However, if I was in the house without my DP and sharing a room with DS I would get over crowding points as he is different gender to me(DP living here means that this is not an issue)....go figure!

As a previous poster pointed out, as long as your children are warm, safe and dry then the council will not see it as a priority case.

My pregnancy came after being told I would never have children so at the time our flat was perfect and we applied for alternative housing as soon as DS was born as we were told we couldnt apply for bigger premises on the account of a child until we could provide a copy of the birth certificate.

It gets me down every damn day but I need to get on with it.

Actually your OP is quite an eye-opener for me as our house is surrounded by a brick wall and I wouldn't be able to fit a double buggy through the gate gap (no actual gate, just a gap IYSWIM) so I'd have the same problem as you if I needed a double buggy... but I wouldn't be able to move as it's our own house. Suppose we could demolish the wall...
No idea if YABU or not, so .

If the small room only fits a single bed, it must fit a bunkbed - therefore the two children you have now can go in there, the baby can then share with you up to five years, or when it's deemed your DS needs his own space... whichever comes first

They're the normal rules, anyway.

Have you got as much storage as possible so that the floorspace is free for wardrobes/beds?

you could let the kids have the rooms whilst you sleep on sofabed in the living room

i have a small 3 bed HA house....with 5 dc,2 of whom are strapping teenagers....we manage just fine

tho we are on the list for a 4 bed.....does your area do the bidding system?

Even when the baby comes you will not be classed as over crowding, as they will count your living room as a bedroom.

Good luck with re-housing tho.

I do think you should get the points, more because of the lack of space - steps and narrow doorways you could work around. However don't hold your breath! A friend of mine had a 2 bed 2nd floor flat, she had one DD, followed some time later by twin boys.

The place was tiny and for 2 years she had to leave one baby in the car while she carried the other up, then leave that one up in the flat while she went down for the other. She never got rehoused, she was never offered any alternative. Her parents eventually shelled out for a private rental for them which is where they are now.

thing is,getting kids in and out of houses/cars/buggies is always a juggling act......its not a disability is it??

Where does your children's father sleep ?

Only read the OP.

YABU.

You don't have access problems. People who become disabled have access problems.

You have inconveniences.

We lived in a 2nd floor flat with NO garden or outdoor space and two kids. Big deal.

You put the kids in a cot whilst you go out with the buggy - you're lucky you don't have to run up and down flights of stairs - then come back and get 'em.

YANBU, despite the general lack of sympathy on here.

Once upon a time in the good old days, there were building regulations that stopped greedy developers building rabbit hutches for people to live in. Old council houses have a minimum size for rooms and a decent amount of space.

Due to developers shocking, unrestrained greed (and no doubt due to Tory's who live in moated mansions relaxing building regulations), we now have cramped little toy town flats and houses springing up everywhere which are difficult to live in for anyone, let alone families with 3 children squeezed into two tiny bedrooms.

So you can sit on your sofa and your feet touch the fireplace? That is not acceptable in 2010 in a wealthy country, it really isn't.

I hope you get rehoused and enjoy a bit more space and I hope other families who have replied to your post who are in even worse conditions also do

Whilst I can see the situation is inconvenient, no, I don't think the council should move you. You have a house, which is more than a lot of people on waiting lists have - did you consider the situation when you found out you were pregnant? If yes, than I imagine you must have concluded you could manage, either that or you assumed the council would move you somewhere bigger.

If the space is really a huge issue, maybe you should consider private renting and paying the rent with housing benefit?

at '
'So you can sit on your sofa and your feet touch the fireplace? That is not acceptable in 2010 in a wealthy country, it really isn't. '

Have you ever been in a Victorian terrace ? One of the beenfits of having a living room as the OP describes is that you don't need batteries for the remote

My house is 2bed. DS room is big enough for a bed, but with the bed guard down, you can't open the door fully, only when it is up and locked in position. There are 3 of us here and it is cramped. We are renting privately, and are moving to a larger house in a couple of weeks. But this post is not about me.

Opposite us lives a woman with 4 kids and one on the way, the DH has had to move out, cos there is no space. Her house is the exact copy of ours, she has no space whatsoever to swing a cat.

She has nowhere near enough points to have any realistic chance of getting a house big enough for her family. The LHA will only pay for a 3bed house when she ought to be in a 4 bed house. The waiting list for a council house here in Hart is...

wait for it (excuse pun )

14 YEARS

As unPC as it seems, when I see DM headlines screaming about people rocking up and immediately getting a 4 or 5 bed house in a matter of weeks, it's all I can do not to weep for my neighbour. Her DH works, she looks after the DC, is a really sweet girl, kids all very well behaved etc etc. Why is she living like this? I helped her write to her MP recently.

OP as miserable as you feel for yourself, you don't really have it all that bad. I do hope you can get rehoused, no-one should have to live in cramped conditions, but it could be a lot worse.

Have you tried going for a mutual exchange, with someone who wants to downsize? You could put adverts up in shops in areas you would consider living in, in local paper e.t.c. If you just want the council to transfer you, you'll be waiting forever!
If you live in a nice enough area, there will be someone who's dc have 'flown the nest' and want a smaller property, you say your in a house, so that would go in you favour as well, cause no-one really wants to give up a house for a flat.
You should ask the council about there mutual exchange policy. Hope this helps you.

Well, I understand - but I don't think it's practical really for the council to consider unborn children when assessing housing need.

I'm in a similarish situation in that at the moment I'm pregnant at we're eligible to bid for a one bedroom place (do you also have a bidding system in your area?) but once the baby is born we'll be eligible for 2 beds. So, can't move til after the baby is born - but also don't want to as it might mean having to change midwives.

With ref to uncomfortable2010, I would have liked to have had two children but can't afford to and don't really have the space. It breaks my heart that ds will always be an only, but I can still dredge up a bit of sympathy!

OP - YANBU. In an ideal world they'd be offering you a three bed already, considering the age difference between your ds and dd let alone dc3. But there are shortages as you know so you'll have to wait.

Friends of mine had their baby and their niece (for whom they have a residency order) in a one bed flat and were not considered to be overcrowded.

Littlemisshussyfit "why is she living like this?"

well, because she chose to have 5 children.