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Original poster

homeless, council offered bond scheme no where found yet :(

15 replies

Downmum · 14/11/2010 03:30

hi all
can anyone advice me in what to do.

Im homeless, council has offerred me help by putting me onto a bond scheme which helps you find private rented accomodation of your choice and once your moved in helps pay for the rent through housing benefit. Problem is no landlord in and around my area wants to touch it with a bargepole as the expression goes!!!! I have seen 2 places so far which were both absolute shitholes so i rejected them, when i went back to the office i was told your homeless youy cannot be picky. In other words the council want me to live ina run down place and risk the health and safety of my child!

Social services cant be bothered to do anything either about the whole thing and i move from one friends couch to another week by week with my DD who's 4 months old.

I cannot afford to pay a deposit upfront otherwise would have found a place by now especially if i was still working full time but i'm on mat leave. is there anyone i can complain to about the whole thing???????????

OP posts:
DooinMeCleanin · 14/11/2010 03:52

Unfortunately this is the way it works. Much sympathy I have been where you are now and it is not nice. Can you not get on the council house/HA list?

I took the least shitty place I could find that would take me and looked for better in the meantime. Although I have to say 'risking the safety of your child' is a tad dramatic. Yes it is not nice when your neighbours are not the kind of people you would usually associate with and your house is poorly decorated with no double glazing (if it worse than that you need to report the LLs to your council) but such is life. You are homeless and atm jobless. I'm with the council on 'beggars can't be choosers' I'm afraid. But I do agree that more LLs should consider HB tenants.

The only person I could think you could complain to would be your mp.

Original poster
Downmum · 14/11/2010 04:08

DooinMeCleanin

both these places should definitely be reported. first place they sent me too was in the middle of nowhere with the nearest bustop 15mins walk, no shops nearby & occupied with teenage gangs - my childs safety was definitely compromised there.

second place was shockingly bad condition, bathroom had a door which opened into the garden, as in you opened the door you were in the garden, i have never in my life seen anything like it, the kitchen had a barely working cooker with everything falling off. walls were cracking, roof leaking... i could go on.

what i dont understand is how the LLs justify charging full rent on these places and yet not even get the basic right?????? Am i alone in this thinking?

OP posts:
Original poster
Downmum · 14/11/2010 04:09

i will need to find out about the council house/HA list? not sure how that works.

OP posts:
DooinMeCleanin · 14/11/2010 04:57

Shelter will be able to give you the best advise on HB/Council housing and homelessness.

Good luck with finding somewhere suitable, when I was in your position there was no recession, which I can only imagine is making things a million times harder.

maiisie · 14/11/2010 06:01

Do not give up.

Approach private landlords as well as landlords via estate agents.

Put an add on gumtree stating what you are looking for and find out from the council what the max HB they will pay for what you need and also read the private landlord listings on gumtree.

If I was in your position I would go the private rented route the standard of accommodation can be a lot better.

I have been on both ends of this. In rented myself and no how hard that is re the lack of autonomy and difficulty finding somewhere to rent. Let out my house and the fact that my tenant was lone parent on HB made no difference to me. What was important was that she was responsible and I thought she would look after my home and return it to me in a good state.

Whereabouts are you?

ohsleepyone · 14/11/2010 07:30

dont take just anywhere coz once your moved in they'll leave you there(did exact same to me, unless you have a need to move they wash their hands of you)

have you tried HA? also the council have a different scheme if your on a low income they pay your deposit and u pay it back 5 a month, may be worth mentioning if i remember rightly its called the access scheme.

Apparently they(the council)also keep lists of landlords registered with them that accept HB,so you could ask for that too

good luck hun xx

Original poster
Downmum · 14/11/2010 16:01

Guys thanks for the responses.

DooinMeCleanin - thanks for the shelter link, it looks very useful. I'm gonna try getting some advice from them.

maiise - thanks gud idea about gumtree didn't think of that. I'm in East London (unfortunately not the best council to be with).

ohsleepyone - i have got the council's LLs list and have been ringing them every other day. It's the same answer mostly LL's don't want council tenants and those that do have places like the ones I mentioned above.

I need to keep searching though I do not want to take any old place and be stuck there like you said ohsleepyone they will then wash there hands of me Sad

The search continues........... Sad

OP posts:
juicygooseylucy · 14/11/2010 17:37

I would recommend going for a council flat and not going down the private renting route. You get much fewer rights in private rental and HB levels are being drastically reduced, which will probably affect you in London. If you're homeless with a child, the council has to prioritise you for a council flat. Once you've accepted a private let, you'll have no chance of being rehoused.

It's a longer wait for a council flat and you might have to go into temporary housing for a while, but well worth it. I have a secure tenancy, can decorate how I like and rents are about a third of the private sector rents.

MollieO · 14/11/2010 17:42

Obviously a leaking roof isn't good but I'm not sure I understand what the problem is with a bathroom door opening on to the garden. A lot of old houses were built like that, mine included! It was changed when I had building work done but there are other houses on my road with this set up and they sell for £400,000 plus!!

maiisie · 14/11/2010 18:12

My former HB tenant posted an ad on gumtree saying what she was looking for, the max rent she could get paid by HB - the HB people will tell you what this is - I saw her ad and it went from there.

xxhunnyxx · 15/11/2010 09:50

I'm a landlord myself (of a nice house) but I also wouldn't get involved with the bond scheme as apparently it's a real nightmare and if anything was to go wrong and you need to claim some money for damages it can take ages to get the money.
The tennant in my house is a lone parent on housing benefit so I've no problem with housing someone on benefits (I'm on them myself) but sadly it's because the councils are so useless that LL's don't wanna touch the bond scheme.

I agree that you are best getting a council flat/house as it's better for you long term (no risk of being kicked out/rent being put up/can decorate etc). I would suggest pestering the housing office every day until they find you somewhere. If you can go down and see them rather than just ring. Write a letter to the head of the housing association and your local councillor.

Also, something u need to think about is if u do find a house on the bond scheme the council will pay the bond but u need to find the first month's rent as housing benefit is payed in arrears.

GypsyMoth · 15/11/2010 09:55

What exactly was wrong with the first property you viewed?

superv1xen · 15/11/2010 09:56

don't go into private rented OP, as others have said once you are in a house they will wash their hands of you. also you have no rights or security of tenancy and as you have seen, landlords just think they can rent out any old shithole for silly money. its a fucking disgrace to be honest, it really is. and you are RIGHT to turn them down for the safety and well being of you and your baby.

try and go for council or housing association if possible. when i was going to be made homeless (LL was going to sell up) my housing office tried to pressure me into going private rented but i pushed and pushed for housing assocation or council and in the end got a nice little place.

also i agree, contact shelter as well, definitely.

best of luck and keep us posted.xx

Original poster
Downmum · 03/12/2010 23:28

hi all no new development still looking. got side tracked recently been ill myself and then my dad went into hospital with heart trouble and then the snow hit. Talk about having bad news again and again and again.

Still persisting so will keep you all posted, thanks for all your advices.

OP posts:
PurpleOne · 10/12/2010 17:23

Hope your doing ok Downmum.

Am homeless too. We live in a bed and breakfast.
Don't hesitate to PM me if you need to, am in North East London so not too far away...

All the best x

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