How do housing associations work?

[bluebear]

Please help me help my brother-in-law (or I'll have him and his wife sleeping on my spare room floor for ever and the kids will never have seperate bedrooms)

dBIL is in full-time employment, his wife is currently unemployed but is looking for work. They were in tied accomodation from her last job but as she gave up the job (to visit her 12yr old daughter who lives abroad), they have been made homeless. They do not earn enough to rent privately in any area near to his work (south london) - we are the nearest rellies to his job and we are 2 hours train/tube away. He has been sleeping on our floor and staying on friend's sofas. She is still abroad for the next 2 months.
dBIL doesn't know what to do - he built up some debts years ago (due to a long period of sick leave) but has been steadily paying them off. There is still some debt left and he knows that even if they get a tiny bedsit he will not be able to pay off the debts anymore.
Dh doesn't want to give them any more money (he has given dBIl several handouts in the past, and let him live here rent-free for a couple of years before we had kids).

Was wondering whether they would get cheaper rent if they went via a housing association - or have they no chance because the only child (dbil's step-daughter) lives abroad and can't get a visa to come to the UK?

Thanks if you got this far!

HA are stricter than councils and their rent is more expensive too. If bil is the only wage earner, couldn't he apply for some help paying rent?
They are technically homeless so I would expect someone to house them, even without a child living with them.

They wouldnt be considered a priority if they dont have children living with them. I would imagine he would have very little luck be housed by a HA or council TBH. He might be able to get some housing benefit or working tax credit though if earns very little. I would get him to go to CAB or a local housing advice unit other wise you will find yourself stuck with him.

Thanks kid.

I don't know if he's thought about approaching the council even, he's always managed to find someone (usually family) to help him out in the past - but it's a tight squeeze to have him and his wife here now that we have a dd as well as ds.

Think I might have to get dh to have a 'serious talk' with dbil, he must be better off trying to get some sort of help than spending all of his money on rent and letting his debts build up again.

Log on to england.shelter.org.uk/advice/housingadvice.cfm
and email them your question. Or ring the free housing advice line.
Without a dependant child or pregnant woman or very disabled person in the household they are most unlikely to be housed through homelessness legislation. Housing Associations, like councils, tend to get the vast majority of their tenants off the "housing register", same as the council. Anyone can go on the register, for any area - so it can be a good idea to apply in an area of lower housing demand. It is rare to find a Housing Association that will take a direct referral - they are more or less the same as the council for practical purposes.

If they apply as homeless they are entitled to a written decision, which they can appeal, and to advice and assistance to solve their homelessness problem another way. eg accessing a rent deposit scheme. In the private sector they may qualify for housing benefit - if they find a possible place they can ask for a "pre tenancy determination" that will tell them how much benefit will be paid.

CAB's a good idea Cori.

I think the main problem is that he's not on a ridiculously small wage but once he's paid something towards his debts there isn't enough left for rent..so unless the debt is taken into consideration I bet he earns too much for any help.

Having said that he earns that same amount I did when I was single and there was no way I could have afforded to rent a 1-bed, I lived in shared accomodation until I got married...most house-shares won't take married couples.

Wish I was brave enough to transfer his debt into our name so we could at least put it on an interest-free basis for a while, but dh has had his fingers burnt too many times with loans that became gifts.

Thanks for the link, merrygoround - will email them and also look into local CAB.

I wouldn't under any circumstances put a debt in my name. I haven't been burnt before but I wouldn't do it, alot of people fall out over money.

Couldn't he rearrange the debt repayment to something he could afford? Most places would prefer to get their money back in small amounts rather than not at all.

You're right kid.

Dh is going to go through dbil's debts with him and try to re-structure them - dbil has made enormous progress in the last 5 years and has reduced what was over a year's salary of debt into almost 1/6 of that..(obviously having no rent to pay for most of this time has helped) - but yes, I think he may have to freeze the debt and offer smaller repayments over a longer period of time in order to deal with the last bit.
I think dbil was hoping for us to put him and his wife up until he had paid off the debt at the current rate - since his family have always bailed him out in the past and we have what he sees as a 'spare' room. (And I am a softy and would probably let them, despite all the aggro involved). Will try to get him advice re: help with rent and also debt restructuring.

(I love mumsnet, help on all subjects!)

CAB are excellent for debt advice (better on that than housing generally).

Well your bil needs to do is contact shelter straight away they are fantastic (as someone suggested earlier).

HA dependant on which area you live in are nowhere near as expensive as councils, for example the housing association closest to us is a non profit making organisation (as a lot are now) so can not charge rent for profit a friend of mine who due to unforseen circumstances was made homeless and now pays £42 a week rent for a 3 bed semi in a lovely village through the local ha.

Your bil should contact the local ha to find out what their homelessness policy is, it may turn out that if his wife and kids come back they will be homeless and will be able to claim as such. If they do this make sure that they force the ha to house them do not let them be bullied into finding housing through the private market as we all know how expensive this is, it may mean that they are put in a grotty house/b and b for the short term (I think 12 weeks is the limit) but they will then be housed hopefully at a very cheap rent.

I am with a housing association and my rent is cheaper than the local council and far cheaper than rip off private landlords.

The HA fix all faults if any in record tme and a lott of my neighbours feel the same.

Think it reall y depends on your area though.

Can't they say they are homeless or you claim overcrowding this can also help rehouse them far far quicker

I'm with HA and our rent is much higher than council rent. We were paying £58pw for 2 bed flat then £104pw for 3 bed house. Both in the same area (Hackney)

I'm a HA tennant and our rent is slightly higher than the councils but the houses are generally in alot better condition too.

In answer to your question though, how HA's work is a mystery to me, as they seem to make the rules up as they go along, just like the council.

As an example, my aunt 's house was repossessed just before xmas and her and her 2 children have been sleeping on the floor of her other daughters flat ever since. A judge ordered the council to rehouse her before the eviction went through but she is still there. Every week they say they will offer her something but it never happens.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I've been looking at the Shelter site and it is great.
I'm guessing that they will be low priority on anyone's list, mainly because the little girl (dbil's stepdaughter) lives with her dad in a country which will not allow her to travel to the UK (it's the exit visa which she can't get rather than the entry to the UK).

I'm going to point dbil in the direction of CAB and shelter (for point read kick :) ).
Thanks again.

Housing associations around here have cheaper rent than private landlords but are quite a bit dearer than the council. We pay £73 pw for a small 3 bed terrace. But on the plus side they are better landlords than the council, repairs are done very quickly and the property is well maintained and has had a nice fitted kitchen installed.

I suppose its worth mentioning also that housing associations generally operate on a points system and you are put on a list according to your points. You would get points for each child you have, but also for overcrowding, homelessness, health problems, lack of security, lack of facilities etc. There are usually several in any one locality and your local council can give you a list of them.