Son off to start an apprenticeship and wants the both of us to move into council housing.

[User221]

It's been a tough life for my son, as a single-mother who escaped an abusive family, I feel ashamed that I wasn't able to provide for him the necessary rights that every child should have. Coming here to London in the late 90s, to this day we're living in a 1 bedroom rental flat, not even a 2 bedroom!

My son, who is turning 18 next year and will be starting an apprenticeship which would earn him £22k a year for 3 years, I've been on the council housing list for 15 years however in 2015 I was taken off because I was deemed ineligible as I was told I wasn't exercising my treaty rights as an EU citizen, despite nothing having had changed the previous checks that had be done upon me.

My son argues that if we put some effort in, I could reclaim my 15 years plus additional which would give me a great priority over others when it comes to bidding on a council property, additionally because afaik there is no limit on eligibility for council housing, my son would also hop on the list and hoping to Labour's victory in 2022, we'd be able to get a council housing for 2 bedroom.

Any advice and thoughts would be appreciated, thank you so much in advance.

I am both poor and disabled and still stand by that statement.

By "not exercising your treaty rights" dyou mean you haven't worked here in the UK?

OK so... if I were you I'd get to a CAB pronto and see what they think about your eligibility for social housing EU cases are really complex. But your son is a non-dependant and unless there are unusual circumstances (like him being a live in carer) the I don't think you'd get a 2br regardlesd.

I am both poor and disabled and still stand by that statement.
Oh dear , too early to mention turkeys voting for Christmas?

I've been on the housing list since I was 18 haven't ever been offered a place!
I'm nearly 50 now

OP with both of you working, could you look at 2 bedroom private rentals? The reality is that most people in London need to make their own arrangements. The only person I know who has received social housing in outer London in recent years is a teen single parent who was living in an overcrowded family home with a parent and siblings. The parent worked in housing so obviously knew the key things that would make her eligible but I think she would have qualified at some point anyway.

On one level your son has the right approach - action yields results. But at 17 you are probably too late to get housing on the basis of him being a child. What about key worker housing or other schemes?
Have you been working in the intervening years?