Housing

[mogs0]

Not sure if this should be posted here but I'll have a go!

I have been on the council list for a flat for 3 years but because I'm not high priority I don't stand much chance of getting anything.

I privatly rent a lovely 2 bed flat for my ds and I, which is paid for by HB.

I work as a CM and if I was renting a council house/flat would be able to completly support myself and ds and not claim a penny in benefits. But how do I get a council flat?!! Any ideas?

Have you spoken to the council?
Going back 2 or 3 yrs i know they had to offer you something by the 3yr mark.
Try writing to them - they have to be 100% honest as it is a written doc & they have to reply.
If not go to your local MP.
Think 1st though as they could offer you something crap just to get you off their back.
This is what my friend did, My friend & bubs were given a 1bed flat but it was in a bad area, not nice really, But later on moved areas & now has a lovely 2bed house!

Many places now offer housing on a need basis only. Seeing as you are technically classed as in adequate accommodation you would only classify for a council property if there is nobody else of your 'banding' in need of a home. They do not take benefits and income into consideration unfortunately.

Sorry

Agnes

who has been waiting for months and is technically homeless

im in the same position as you, and it drives me mad. I also work, but dont get any help with rent as they say it is too expensive! Mine is ssooo cheap too for private accomodation. so thats at least £50 a month that i could be saving and spending on my kids

I feel i am working hard just to line the landlords pockets. But as i have a home, im not in need, so not a priority.

Hi GlitteryB - it was interesting to read your post as I living in private renting (It was up for sale for 6 months - so no takers - and they decided to lease it) and I wonder what will happen if they serve me notice. They have to give me two months notice.

Going to bookmark this thread!

Hope you get something decent

My ex gave me a letter of eviction and I was still only banded three out of five, with the top two bands being the priority bands:/

Looks like as with everything it depends on your council

Agnes

I lived in a privatly rented flat which was put up for sale. We were struggling for money so thought we would go on the council list. We were told to wait for our 2 month notice period to expire and then wait for a court order telling us to leave, then we might get housed temporarily, which in my area would have been the homeless shelter. We decided that was not practical with a tiny baby (he was 6 weeks old when they told us this) so have had to rent privatly again and are struggling to pay our rent each month.

My best friend lived in a damp and mouldy 1 bedroom flat for 6 years with her daughter before they rehomed her.

I would stay in my privately rented flat if I were you. You probably wont get anything as nice from the council. Not if it's anything like the council stuff here. There are none left as people have bought them.

Our council has nothing and nowhere to put people.

As it is, some people are living in a building which was supposed to be razed last year, but there's nowhere to rehouse them.

Unless you're disabled and can really no longer live in your home, you're SOL around here.

And even then, they have people who've become disabled sitting in hospital for ages because there's nowhere to put them.

I think the era of the council house is long past.

I would stay put, too, Bunnies.

I cringe to imagine where you'd end up in this council in the even you were ever offered anything at all.

sorry glitteryb but deceit to get a council property?

have you not seen the royal slagging off council tenants get as it is? no wonder we get a bad name. i get stereotyped because of people who lie to get their council property.

i deceived no-one to get my council house, i needed it, i had no other option. it was also a complete shit tip and i cant understand why anyone would chose to live in one.

brain frazzle emoticon.

oh and dont get me wrong, that was no dig at you or your situation glitteryb...i just dont agree with any suggestion that anyone should lie to get a council property.

nightowl - sometimes people have no choice! My sister was pregnant at age 18. She lived with my parents at the time. She needed her own place to live. My parents wrote a letter saying that they wanted my sister to move out.

She got a flat after a few months. It was a dump, but it was a start.
It seems harsh but it's how it works! She would probably still be at my parents house 5 years later if not.

mogs0 - I can totally understand where you are coming from in terms of affording rent etc. If you were offered a Council place you would get only 2 choices. If you don't accept one of them you won't get offered again. You will find that the places you get offered will be a complete mess and you will have to paint, new carpets, curtains etc. So would you really be any better off?

when i said i didn't understand why anyone would chose to live in one, i was referring to mogs as in the original post it seems she does have the choice. a lot of council properties are dumps. even if they look half decent when you go to view, you cant guarantee a wall wont drop off when you try to decorate, and it can take them years to fix these things. (from personal experience). there's a lot of hard work and money involved, although i know many people think its a lovely free ride living in one of these places (am thinking kitchen thread!). its really not. i wouldn't recommend it at all. in my 7 years here i've spend far more money on this house than the council have and i wont ever get any of it back. really mogs, i think you are better off where you are.

glitteryb, you didnt offend dont worry, i didnt mean to snap if thats how it came across

mumfor1 i totally understand the need for your sister to have her own place. what i didnt understand (and i could have read the original post all wrong, im good at that!) is why mogs who has a "lovely 2 bed flat" by her own admission, which is paid for by housing benefit (unless HB means something else too) should be encouraged to lie in order to get a council property. i just dont get it. if her rent is paid for her anyway it cant be a matter of not being able to afford it so of course she is not going to be priority. there are people who need the properties much more.

oh please will someone kick me...i have an addiction problem with benefit and council house threads. just dont let me post on them anymore...purrrleeese. for my own sanity.