Anyone know about council housing transfers within an area?

[Wallace]

I have few questions which probably can't really be answered (unless you work for my local council, that is!)

We live in a 2 bedroom house (3 kids) and recently heard that there is/may be a three bedroom council house coming up close by. We then applied for a bigger house (hadn't bothered before because we knew there wasn't anything of the size we need in the area - v small village)

We received a letter today saying they need to do a home visit to check our property "before our application is given consideration"

So first question: Does anyone know if they usually do these checks when you go on the list, or just when they think they are going to offer you a house? (Yes, I'm getting very over excited here )

Second question: Does anyone know the sort of things they look for when "inspecting the condition of your property"? I want to make sure there isn't anything that may slow it down.

Thanks if you got this far!

Hmmmmmm not sure. Round here your property only gets inspected when you have been offered another one.

Tbh I would be very surprised if you were offered something so soon after going on the list, how long ago did you apply ?

Hopefully though I am wrong and it is because you are getting the house.

Thanks, nutty. We only applied last week

I have spoken to the housing officer, and she said we would be considered for it if it came up (she wouldn't even say if it was coming up for certain) "Along with anyone else who needed a house of that size in this area"

It is a very small area, and houses of this size don't come up often and we have strong reasons for needing to be in htis area

I am probably getting my hopes up too much, but I do hope you are right

it sounds like they are doing a check to consider putting you on the list. Round here they do that, all they do is check your room sizes are what you say they are and how many people are in each room. they will also check if you have outside space or not (if you have said you haven't)

i would be suprised to if you got an offer straight away unless you are the only people on the list needing a 3 bed which seems unlikely. it goes on waiting time so you would have to be the only ones on the list for the whole area. also homeless go ahead of people who are housed.

i have been waiting to move for 1 1/2 years, had my home visit before they put me on the list

Thanks. I found their allocations policy on the internet, and it looks like we would have about 70 points. You only get 4 points for each year on hte waiting list - quite shocking really!

We are already in a council house so they should know that we are telling the truth about rooms, etc. I'll try not to get my hopes up, but it'd hard!

Just found this on website

"We will inspect your house before we confirm an offer of another tenancy. What happens next will depend on the condition of your house. The offer may not be made or you may be asked to carry out some repairs before you leave if there is any damage to the house, fittings or decoration that is not just fair wear and tear."

Seems hopeful!

Wallace good luck to you if you live in an area where the council moves so quickly!

We have been on the home swap list for 2 1/2 years and should have been on the council swap list for the same time only someone misplaced our application so we are 1 year behind. The whole region we want to move into is completely static with large, family size properties (3 bedroom plus) full of pensioners, i.e. one person with their family ready to buy their house and take another one off the stock list!

It is frustrating and depressing and infuriating when people get to jump the list for matters of pcness!

Sorry, Wallace, that isn't helping you one bit. I really have my fingers crossed that you can beat the system and get a move so quickly!!

Fingers crossed then

oh that seems hopeful wallace, will keep fingers crossed.

overcrowding does give you more points.

hnaks all. twoifbysea - that sounds awful for you - hope you get something soon.

Our area is quite similar - most of the council houses are bought, and many of the rest are occupied by pensioners. There are no four bedroom houses, and only a handful of three-bedroom houses. The two most recent housing association developments have only been one and two bedroom houses - how crap is that!

I probably am being a bit too hopeful about this house. Just because there is no else I know of in hte village that needs this house, there may be someone that has been waiting for ages in a nearby town.

We are overcrowded - i hadn't realised until I was looking on the council website that ds1 and ds2 should have seperate rooms because there is a more than 4 year age gap. But no chance of us getting a four bedroom!

Thanks for all the crossed fingers btw.

Anyone else?

(bumping this on the off-chance the council housing officer is a mumsnetter)

Hi. I work for a housing association so constantly meet people in your situation. Some authorities/associations home visit everyone applying for register, some dont, and practice can be varied within organisations and authorities anyway. Usually the purpose of the home visit is to verify that things that are on your application are legit and discuss any queries in more detail. Its also a good chance for the landlord to check that the property is not trashed, and give any advice on anything that you might be expected to do to it before moving to avoid being recharged afterwards. It really is astonishing how much damage is done to a minority of properties. Sometimes its not damage that they want you to put right but alterations, for example if you have taken down bog standard light pendants and put up fancy fittings that they wont want to maintain for the next tenant. None of this should really delay any offer that you might be made provided that the property is generally in a reasonable condition. My advice would be to try and not get your hopes up till you have been made an offer formally and to keep in regular contact with your housing officer/rehousing team so that they know who you are and are aware of your need. One positive thing worth knowing/checking out is that some authorities operate a "local lettings policy" for thier small rural sites that means they'll look at applicants within that village first, then work outwards if there are no takers, so if you timing is just plain fortunate then yo can sometimes get rehoused quicker that you might expect. my last bit of advice would be to make sure that your rent account is up to date. If its not, but you cant clear the arrears in one go then ensure that you make regular arrears payments to reduce the balance by installments. Sorry for extended waffle I have been on maternity leave so its nice to feel useful again. I really hope that you are sucessful, best of luck.

Gosh thank you very much, that is a lot of useful information I am very grateful.

Our rent is up to date now so that's good.

Are there any questions I should be asking our housing officer? Last time we spoke (I phoned her to confirm she had received our application) she didn't even say if the house was definitly coming up for allocation. I have heard on the village grapevine that it is.

I suppose I will just have to wait and see! I hate waiting!

cant really think of anything more you should ask, but it wont hurt to enquire if there has been anymore news about the property, and it will keep them focused. Although people are supposed to give four weeks notice, often the housing officer wont know for sure whats happening till the last minute, as moves can fall thru, evictions can get suspended and circumstances can change. Sometimes the reason for someone moving can be very sensitive, so your housing officer might have to be a bit cagey about the whole thing, particularly if you live somewhere where everyone knows everyone else.

wallace you need to check regarding the age issue between siblings cause I was led to believe that if they are the same sex they are expected to share a room no matter what age they are, its only if they are boy and girl then they need seperate rooms if they are aged 10 or over.

I was recently told by HA that if you have 2 kids of the same sex but one is over 9 then you can ask for seperate bedrooms, which tbh I found odd, but thats what I was told.

Thanks, this is the policy on our council website:

"To calculate overcrowding points, the Council considers that separate bedrooms are required for -
husband/wife or similar partnerships
each person aged 16 years or over
children aged 6 years or over of different sex from other children of any age
no more than two persons of any age should occupy one bedroom
children of the same sex where there is an age difference of 4 years or more between the elder and the younger child"

I have spent the day tidying the garden

shockingbadmother(I'm sure you are not a bad mum btw!) - the old lady that lived in the house in question has gone into an old people's home.

have a 7 year old ds, a 5 year old dd, and a 10 month ds btw

copy and paste went a bit odd, but you can still get the gist

okey dokey. usually when someone goes into a home they retain thier tenancy for a period of 6 weeks to make sure that its right for them. At thet point they'll either come back (never actually had this happen to any on my patch) or relinquish their tenancy. Sometimes the property might be empty for ages if they have been there donkeys years as there might be plenty to do to bring it up to todays standards. let us know how you get, on have my fingers crossed etc but please try not to let yourself get too excited till you get some thing proper from the council.

Hooray!!! We have been offered the house!

thanks for all your help btw. The council haven't actually got the keys back yet, but it will be ours

what fantastic news, best of luck in your new home, I'm really pleased for you and your family!

wow well done..

well done!!