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Fed up of bidding and getting nowhere :(

21 replies

nappyaddict · 04/08/2009 12:05

I have been bidding on council houses nearly every week for the last 3 years and I still haven't managed to get lower than 5th in the queue. Something tells me I'm never going to get anything! Annoyingly they put a whole estate of newly built housing association houses up a couple of months ago during the time that the council messed up my application (They never sent me the letter where you have to renew your appleration every 12 months and so took me off the system) and basically cos there was a whole estate everyone who bidded got one. My friend got one and she has roughly the same or less points than me and it was her first time of bidding.

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nappyaddict · 04/08/2009 12:05

appleration??? I meant application lol

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BexieID · 04/08/2009 15:06

Never heard of bidding on council houses? Except to buy them, is that what you mean? We are on the council list. Keep getting offered the same two 2nd floor flats, lol. Not heard from them since I sent them a letter saying we only wanted ground or first floor due to me being pregnant. Find it hard enough atm with Tom. Had to carry him up an hour ago as he's just had his pre-school boosters. Need to go fetch the buggy now.

nappyaddict · 04/08/2009 15:34

Here they put a list of houses up every Wednesday at midnight and close it Monday at midnight. During that time you can bid for up to 3 houses and you get put in the queue based on the number of points you have.

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saggyhairyarse · 05/08/2009 21:46

NA, call your housing officer about this. Our council office has the same system and it is a new system that is most likely flawed.

saggyhairyarse · 05/08/2009 21:47

What is there is the way of private lets in your area?

nappyaddict · 05/08/2009 23:04

Absolutely bugger all that will allow me to use housing benefit towards the rent

What can I say to the housing officer though? I don't think they can do anything it's just a case of waiting patiently (or not so in my case!) I think.

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serenity · 05/08/2009 23:15

We changed to the bidding system last year and it's frustrating isn't it? Luckily we managed to get one last week (flat though, no chance of a house, always around 80/400 for those) but it's taken 8 years on the transfer list.

Wilts · 05/08/2009 23:23

We are also on a bidding system here.
I have been on the transfer list about 7 years now and very rarely come in at under 100 on a property.

We can only bid on one at a time as well.

saggyhairyarse · 06/08/2009 08:04

I think just to reassess your case, see if you are entitled to more points etc etc.

Good luck!

expatinscotland · 06/08/2009 08:08

Edinburgh had a bidding list and it is absolute shite. My SIL had a silver star and it still took 10 months for her to get a flat in a condemned building (and she and her sons were in a B&B!).

expatinscotland · 06/08/2009 08:15

'Keep getting offered the same two 2nd floor flats, lol. Not heard from them since I sent them a letter saying we only wanted ground or first floor due to me being pregnant.'

In most places, not taking that means you will get nothing.

You must live in a place with plentiful housing.

Even in this rural area, nearly all ground floor flats are one-bedroom to house the elderly and disabled.

It's very common for families to be in second floor or higher flats.

We've got a lot of points as our landlord is coming back to live in this house and we'll likely get offered a 2nd floor maisonette with 3 kids including a baby and pre-schooler and we'll definitely take it as it's way better than being homeless.

We lived in a 2nd floor flat with DD1 when she was aged 2.5 and I was pregnant with DD2.

bbfluff · 06/08/2009 10:12

i would at least write a letter o complaint about them messing up application. Maybe HV or midwie could write letter, although many councils won't take notice of these

expatinscotland · 06/08/2009 11:02

nappyaddict, you might try writing your MP. perhaps that could help.

i think bidding systems are utter shit, btw.

points-based is much better.

nappyaddict · 06/08/2009 13:08

Do you not get points then when you bid? How do they decide who "wins" With ours it's usually the person with the highest points who bids on that house but not always as they also take into account if you are high priority or have been waiting on the register for a long time.

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expatinscotland · 06/08/2009 13:19

i'm not entirely sure how they decide who gets it in a bidding system, nappy.

i do know in Edinburgh at least top priority of course went to those who became disabled and could no longer access their home.

then the homeless.

we're on a points based. no bidding. the HA just offers you what's available. which is nigh on FA.

serenity · 06/08/2009 15:31

With us you get points based on need - so whether you're overcrowded, whether there's medical problems etc, and then you get points for how long you've been waiting (so every year your points go up a bit) Apart from that there are different 'bands' (regular transfers, homeless, vulnerable tenants etc) Some properties (generally houses and ground floor flats) are prioritised for certain bands. Apart from those considerations the property goes to the person with the highest points who wants it. There's no penalty for not bidding, or turning down a place you've 'won' once you've seen it (done that once, was so bad they eventually just took it off the list as no-one was desperate enough - it was rank)

We can bid on as many properties as we want (that you're eligible for - I could only bid on 3 bed places, not 2, not 4)

nappyaddict · 11/08/2009 00:25

Woooo this week I'm 2nd in a house I really wanted so I can hope the 1st person turns it down but unlikely tbh and the other house I bidded on is pending. Perhaps this thread gave me the luck I needed.

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nappyaddict · 12/08/2009 02:43

Does anyone if I was 2nd last night after bidding closed at midnight then why when I've looked again am I now 3rd?

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Deeeja · 12/08/2009 02:56

This happens in my area, when someone who has a very high priority gets a direct offer of a property.

nappyaddict · 12/08/2009 02:59

Oh so they will have been offered it directly without having bidded so the person who was actually 1st in the bidding queue is now 2nd? God I'm glad I wasn't 1st now. How peed off would you be if you looked straight after bidding closed and were 1st and got really excited and then found out actually you didn't have it after all.

The person that won it had 92 points and I only have 77 I think so quite a way off.

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Jess19944 · 04/02/2024 17:01

Does anybody know what pending means on council homes bidding please?

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