council housing - HELP

[bethyoung]

i'm not sure if i will get any replies to this but honestly just want some advice ive recently turned 18, have a partner who's 19 and we have a 3 and 1/2 month old baby (which im sure some of you will have an opinion on) i found out i was pregnant at 16 weeks and applied for council housing straight away as i live with my grandparents and my dad in a 3 bedroom house and having baby there isn't exactly ideal now around 10 months later we've had absolutely no luck. i've spoken to our local council countless of times and they've agreed were overcrowded and should be a fairly high priority but we are still bronze banded (lowest priority) i have explained to them that it's really not working having me my partner and baby along with 3 other adults and a dog in a home where our room is classed as a single room/office and with other things going on is effecting mine and my grandmothers mental health their reply was that they need my grandmother to evict us and they need it in writing before they can do anything else i did this at around the start of may and my grandmother said she wants us out by the end of august but we are now being contacted by the homelessness team but obviously my grandmother would rather us stay in our home and wait for a property rather than in a refuge or a hotel as most people would
i'm sorry this is so long and thank you if you've given the time to read it but i honestly just need some opinions and advice

If your grandmother doesn't evict you in August then you aren't homeless. Depending what area of the country you are in you may be waiting years for a suitable property and without being homeless you will never be priority.

Be very careful, because if you are classed as homeless, then social services may become involved with your baby

Agree with pp.

Being homeless will somewhat bump you up the list - but to be counted as so, you need to fully engage with the homelessness team and probably move into temporary accommodation etc.

The wait might then only be months rather than years but unless you actually are homeless and they believe that's true, you have no chance.

Your choices are to either stay with your grandmother and in the lower band, or go down the homeless route, where you will have to stay in whatever temporary accommodation they put you in and be in a higher band. Even a higher band doesn't mean it will be quick, some people are in temp accommodation for years unfortunately.

Temporary accommodation can be pretty expensive though, does your partner work?

SS don't become involved if you go down the homeless route unless there are other concerns so don't worry about what PP said.

I don't think that is true, maybe if you are on the street, but if you become homeless and present to your local authority they will put you up somewhere (which might be a shit hotel) but you wouldn't be on the street. If social services were involved with all homeless families in my area they wouldn't have time for anything else!

Where was your partner living before - could you move in with him? If he’s working, you could look at private rent. Council houses are in short supply. Depending on where you are, you could be in a hostel or hotel room for months/years - even with a baby!

You are low priority as you have a roof over your head and your partner can look to live elsewhere if it's too crowded. My local authority waiting list is literally years long. If you become homeless, the obligation is to find you a place, which is not necessarily a home - this could be one room in a hostel with shared facilities.
I'd be saving up while living with family and trying to maximise income so you can find somewhere privately - social housing is a very unreliable bet.

I’m not sure what your question is or why there is confusion.

the council have been very clear, you need to be evicted, this is standard. If your grandmother doesn’t evict you won’t be housed.

You are not homeless. You shouldn't be prioritised above homeless people or a whole other host of people in need of homes.

There is nothing abnormal about a couple sharing a room with their newborn.

Time to take responsibility though. You and your partner need to save money for a deposit and first month's rent upfront to privately let. You do not need social housing.

If you are living with your Grandma then you aren't homeless.
What was your plan for after you had your baby?

If you're already housed, you'll take longer to get to the top of the list. There's a massive shortage so they have to prioritise on absolute need, not 'nice to have'. It's rare that you can go straight from living with family to your own property without having to stay in a hostel type place first, a relative of mine was in this situation and the child she was pregnant with is now over 30 so it's not exactly a new thing.

You can speed up getting a property by being flexible about where you live, rather than just looking in your immediate area. Can you bid for properties in other areas?

Alternatively, could you and your partner save all the money you can from your partner's wages while your housing costs are low and then look at private renting? Do a benefit check to find out what help you'll get with rent, and childcare for when you go back to work when you're in this position.

In the meantime, would either your dad or grandmother be willing to swap rooms with you if the three of you are in the smallest room? Alternatively if you don't really all sit in a living room together, the three of you use the living room as your bedroom and use your current bedroom as a living room?

I think you will have to go homeless if you want to get a place. SS will only be involved in terms of confirming your priority, so ignore scaremongering about that.

The reason you have low priority is because your not homeless you have a home it's just overcrowded. It could take years to get housed unfortunately.

Hi all I’m in Harrogate 25 weeks pregnant and have been told I need to leave my mums as it’s overcrowded and my sister is already there with a baby so it’s not possible for me to be there when baby comes. I’m due in June and 20 years of age. I have a meeting next week with the council to come up with a plan going forward I’m assuming temporary accommodation untill somthing comes up but I’m not sure. Just looking for advice and other people’s experience. How long roughly do you think I will be in temporary accommodation and do you think I will get placed into a house before baby comes as the stress of not having somewhere to settle with my baby is stressing me out

It will depend on the area you live in but where I live temporary can be a couple of years.