2 steps forward 5 steps back.

[Emmielu]

I'll put this in a list because i dont want to waffle:

1st house i look at is very promising. Direct through landlord. Gorgeous place & i love it. Deposit alone was over £1000. I cant pay it. So i let the house go. Then he rings with a lower deposit. I agree to pay deposit & first months rent because it gives me time to sort out housing benefit. Thats not enough for the landlord. He moves someone in without telling me 2 weeks before we meet to sign the contract.

2nd house i look at. Very small. Only room for DD's bed & a single bed in what would be my room. & very expensive.

Been on the council list for 3 years. Only bidded on 1 house & that was last week. 34 bids im against. Problem: I still live at home with my parents. Yes its crowded but probably not enough to move straight away. DD is 5. She hasnt had a friend round at all not even after starting nursery. I refuse to look after other peoples children if it means bringing them back to my parents house. I just dont feel comfortable since its not my house & i know id be in for a big argument if even the slightest pen mark was on the table that i couldnt scrub off!

Get offered to look at another house for a much cheaper rent. To find out today that i cant have a guarantor. The credit rating on my parents is really bad. I have no one else to be my guarantor. Ok, im disappointed but its ok, i can move to bidding on council list. Problem is. I cant be made homeless, they will rehouse me in a place 30mins away in a b&b leaving DD without schooling i refuse to do that to DD when i can live here a little longer. But im really at the end of my tether with everything right now. I dont want to be at home. Im 21 next month. I want to go into full time work but cant because childcare is very expensive & no my parents cant help look after DD because they work full time long hours & as my dad rightly pointed out, if i ask my friend to do it regularly & i get caught i'll be in trouble because its not qualified care.

I've been advised by my friend to talk to the council & tell them there is dampness in my parents house & that there are arguments going on. I dont want to lie. Especially if they come to investigate the "damp" & find there is none. Its not a good impression to make at all. I feel like im failing in everything. I feel like im depriving DD of having a childhood she could really have to the maximum where her friends are concerned.

Bugger....i waffled.

If you get a full time job then with working tax credits you would get 70% of childcare paid. I know living with your parents isn't ideal but you will get a place of your own once you find work because then having a guarantor won't be necessary.

Do they still pay 70%? I thought that was only if you work 16 hours or less? I could easily work over 16 hours. Id like to not rely on my parents or even anyone for a guarantor.

I work full time, mon-fri, and I get child tax credits, working tax credits and childcare tax credits. It is all based on your last years income an you have to provide your P60. When I was looking to rent, i was told that as i had not applied for my benefits, my wages alone were not enough to secure the property, so I had to get a guarantor. Luckily my sister was one for me. However, once I had my benefits in place, I was able to provide proof of my income and the guarantor was removed. I do hope you get things sorted, and it is worth making sure that you claim all benefits that you are entitled to (i.e council tax benefits, housing benefit etc. Good luck xx

it is if you work more than 16 hours (or is it 24 now?)

get a job, sort the childcare and then move out

Worth getting biddign on the council list every week. You won't get anywhere if you don't bid - and if you've been on the list 3 years and share a room with your DD and a house with your parents, that should get you somewhere up the list. You need to bid as much as possible, and look out for how many bids places are getting and which bands they're going to (the council should tell you all this if it's not on the web) - eg you might have no chance of getting a house, but find that flats are going to people in the same band as you, so worth bidding for.

Otherwise worth going to the council to ask whether can get you any help with finding a private rented place - they may have a list of landlords who take housing benefit, or a rent deposit scheme to help you. I wouldn't lie about damp (councils will hear that all the time and won't give you any extra priority without checking it out first) but you can tell them that the relationship wtih your parents is strained and that you need to find somewhere on your own fairly soon.