living in overcrowded accommodation.

[lexilex]

i currently live in a one bed flat with my partner and 2 young children. this wasnt intentional as it is a large flat and we moved in from a studio flat after having DS1, we had moved here to have more space (it is a very large flat) while we saved for a two bed place, but after about 8 months we tried to rent somewhere else only to be told by all local estate agents that they have set bands of earnings for tenants to rent certain sized propertys. and according to them we had to be earning over £20,000 a year (without any forms of benefits) to be able to afford a two bed place, my partner only earns £14.000 and i refuse to work because i never saw my parents growing up and had one hidious childminder to another as a child and it is very important to me to be there for my kids while they are not in full time school. anyway so we plodded along quite happy with just one child in this flat, but when DS1 was 2 1/2 i fell pregnant compleatly by accident, so we started to apply for council propertys as we are slightly desperate now (we signed on the housing list when we was pregnant with DS1, so we had been on the list for just over 3 years at this point), but now DS1 and DD2 is 4 and 1 and we are still living in the 1 bed flat and we now feel that the walls are closing in on us and dont know what to do. my partners wages havent gone up much so still cant rent privetly, and theres no hope of buying, i have become so annoyed at all these young girls who have babies at 16/17 and get "kicked out of home" and get a two bed house in 6 months but we are a tax paying, working family who are left to rot. thank you for listening to my rant, any suggestions welcome. hope it all makes sense. lex. xxx

Have you told the council your changes - the fact that there are now 4 of you in the 1 room etc? Has someone come out to see you/assess your needs?

which council are you with?

please make sure you keep them fully up to date with the changes.

phone and be really nice and ask where you are on the list.

good luck

phone and phone and phone

every day if nec

please do

it will come right

{{{{{}}}}}}

we are alway down the council, talking to them, phoning them but the just dont listen, we get the same answer everytime, that we are just not coming to the top of the list, and they cant put us on the urgent list because overcrowding is not seen as viable urgency, we have to be homeless and in temporary accommadation. (just like these silly little girls who get pregnant with any tom dick or harry.sorry i get fustrated. lol.) im with eastleigh borough council, nr southampton.

Silly little girls don't just get given houses, by the way....

Is your landlord on your case? you could get them to evict you and go to the temp housing with the "silly little girls" if you needed to?

Have you asked the council about help with deposits/secure tennancy things?

You have a legal right to information from the council that will give you some idea of how much longer you may have to wait. This is usually in the form of statistics that tells you how many people are waiting, how many are on your points or in the same band as you (different authorities do it differently), and how many properties are available. From that data you can get an idea of your chances.

If you really want to explore it further, ask your council for a copy of its full allocations (lettings) policy. This should give details about how the system works - for example, are people on the same points prioritised by length of time on the list? Or by how many rooms they are lacking? You should be able to view the policy at the councils offices for free, or maybe in a library. Some local authorities post their policies on their websites.

Do you bid for accommodation or do you have to wait till the council allocates you something? If you are bidding then it may be necessary to try to find out which areas are less popular and target your bidding there. The more you restrict your area the less chance you will have. if you are waiting for an allocation, could you consider widening your area if you've not already done so?

thank you for that info mgr, i will explore that more tomorrow as i will be down there again, we are on a bidding system and bidding for anything that comes up in the whole borough,(even looked into school transport help for our son if we have to move to the other side of town) we are very flexible on where we live. x

LF- our landlord couldnt give a stuff, we have tried, and girls do just get given houses cos im friends with most round here that have been just given houses after being in a hostel for 6-9 months, and if we make ourselves homeless the council have no obligation to house us, so we would be in even more s**t. and the council will only give one or the other of deposit or first months rent and only to homeless people, it is also very difficult to get accepted for it it because it is a limited fund. x

Lexilex, I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Each local authority deals with houses in different ways. Where I live, priority is given to homeless people, 2nd proirity is given to overcrowding and 3rd band is everyone else.

And like your authority, if you make yourself homeless, you won't be given a place as you have made yourself homeless on purpose.

Have you also tried other local housing associations? Or by avoiding lettings agencies you can get cheaper properties-so keep on looking in the local paper.

Good luck.

Lexilex, I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Each local authority deals with houses in different ways. Where I live, priority is given to homeless people, 2nd proirity is given to overcrowding and 3rd band is everyone else.

And like your authority, if you make yourself homeless, you won't be given a place as you have made yourself homeless on purpose.

Have you also tried other local housing associations? Or by avoiding lettings agencies you can get cheaper properties-so keep on looking in the local paper.

Good luck.