Break up and moving out...anybody have experiences with council housing?

[louisejanep]

Hi,

After plucking up the courage to leave EA partner (MNetters have been a massive support system, so thank you :) ). I am living back at parents with DD, trying very hard to save for a rental.

I applied for a council house mid Jan, they still said they are processing everything. Does anybody have any experiences with waiting for council house?
I would like to know:

1. What band you were placed in 2.) How long it took for you to be offered property 3.) And how long it took for you to move in? 4.) Did you get offered something of your choice?

I work around 25 hours a week (which I have heard will go in my favour) and I'm a student. I feel very greatful I have family helping us out but looking forward to getting into own place.

Any advice would be great. Thank you in advance!

louisejanep it all depends on what process your local council uses, I have worked in the past for my local council and you got points based on your individual circumstances and you bid on eligible properties at this council, so if you bid on a property and was lucky enough to have the most points out of everyone who bid then assuming you fit the criteria for that property you would be offered it. Sometimes people fell lucky and got a house within weeks but for others it took months or even years.

Also the timescale was dependant on where you wanted to live, like most towns there are good/popular areas and the not so desirable so it usually took longer to get a property in the nicer areas but if you wasn't picky and happy to go just anywhere that speeded things up, same as the type of property you needed/wanted, such as a house is more in demand then a flat.