Social housing - newbie

[Dalamane]

Our landlord has given us notice to leave his rented property after nearly 10 years. We have been allowed to register on housing list under homeless service, we have pets and can't get anything private rented due to our circumstances.

So we've viewed about 10 properties and bid on 3 that we thought were OK, the others have been in varying states of too disgusting to even consider stepping in never mind living in. I'm not opposed to cleaning & freshening up by any means but these properties need deep cleaning by professionals, surely from a health & safety perspective before new families move in.

We viewed one yesterday that we thought had potential but looking thro the windows changed that, it looked like a ghetto, scruffy beyond just unclean.

The back garden was a good size but resembled a piece of land where squatters had lived, remains of fires, piles of bricks, stones, rubbish and dog excrement everywhere - we have a dog who we clean up after so been there, done that.

Have others experienced this when looking at council properties? Do they clean any of this mess up from when they advertise properties to when they invite you to view - or are you expected to accept a property as it stands.

Just looking for advice from those who've been through this

In my experience... you can't be picky I'm afraid. We have moved a few times, all social housing/housing association. Unless it's a new build then unfortunately they aren't normally in the best condition.

You will get vinyl/lino flooring in kitchen and bathroom but no flooring anywhere else. The house we are currently in was in a dreadful condition, nicotine stains, just generally grubby, undecorated. We had to replace the bathroom flooring as it had hair dye stains all over it as well as carpet rest of house ourselves.
They did give us £100 decorating vouchers as it was nasty!
Garden was awful, patch of mud, old broken patio. We have been here over 2 years and it's a thousand times better than it was!

If you put the effort in it's a cheap secure rental you can make your own.

'Need' a drive and a large garden indeed. I'm in private rented, have a dog and a company car (so just as much need for both as you, earn an income substantially above the national average and get only a tiny paved back yard. I'm only getting that because I'm moving out of the city I've lived in for years because the rents got too high.

Do let me know how I can sign up to get one of these magic HA properties where I can have a driveway, large garden, low rents, secure tenancy and permission to have a dog for the mere trade off of having to do some cleaning and decorating. If you don't want these homes I'll have one, gratefully so.

You do need to lower your expectations I'm afraid.
Your lucky it's not a 2 bed flat your being offered.

Once your in your in so when looking think what you could do to improve it.

Our Council also offer a voucher for decorating & a discounted handyman service.
I'm sure they'll remove rubbish/waste for you too.

If you turn down all offers it won't go well for you.

Need a drive & decent sized back garden ideally.

It doesn't work like that. Lots of people would like a decent sized garden and a drive, reality is they don't have them.

Your expectations are way to high.

Where we live, a lot of LA houses do have a drive and decent sized garden and we do know there's gonna be cleaning/decorating & other work to be done. There's a reason for the drive and a reason for the decent sized back garden, no need to be clever & judgemental ladies.

Ideally wouldn't we all love a drive and a decent sized back garden.

Well if the drive and garden are in offer prepare to have others get the house ahead of you.... more people will be interested

Doesn't sound like you are much of a priority anyway

Thanks for your help and positivity it's overwhelming.

Some people don't want or need a garden or a drive so maybe i'll get sloppy seconds. Good job we're not all the same eh.

I never said I was a priority.

Don't judge people by your own standards love.

Without knowing the housing stock in your area it is hard to know if you are being realistic or not. However depending on your banding it may not be wise to limit down your choices. Whilst someone may reject a house because the garden is too big they are unlikely to reject it based on a non required drive.

General demand also matters. If you want a house in a higher demand area then you might need to compromise somewhere.

As I said previously it is rare that any house ticks all the boxes for people you just need to work out which ones are the most important.

I am not sure you fully appreciate the demand on social housing, I wish you all the best with your search butte only advice I can give is that you widen your search as much as possible.

PMSL at needing a drive and a large garden.

Starting to think this thread isn't real and it is the council house troll back again....

Actually for all the narky posters,
You can request a drive if you have a mobility car and someone with mobility issues-it's an essential need
You can request a garden for instance with an ADHD child who's health would suffer trapped in a house
The bloody jealousy on here for council houses is ridiculous-they are usually in shit areas with scruffy surroundings and somewhere with shit catchment schools
If they're so good get yourselves on the waiting list.
Poor people are allowed necessary things too, they don't all get condemned to a high rise flat with one bedroom just because people like you think they should be grateful for anything more than a cardboard box
Fucking hell

To a certain degree you can request what ever you like but the longer your list the longer you are likely to have to wait. Lots of properties don't have drives, some properties are street houses, some open onto grassed areas etc so limited options. Even with a mobility car it is rarely seen as an essential need if other parking is available. Beneficial yes, but people can not be offered what isn't available.

A garden is a pretty standard requirement, but again be realistic in what is available.

It is not a case of 'live in a cardboard box' but with limited options and a time pressure it would be wise for the OP to keep her options as wide as possible. She hasn't the luxury of time to wait out for a property that is totally right.

Actually over time the conditions of social housing are improving because people very rarely leave them. So if they do they are likely to have looked after it properly.

I know someone in a ha house and because they have mobility problems they were given a place with a driveway. I know another person in a council house who were given a garden due to their child's SN.

You can 'request' what you like. Whether you will get it or not is a whole different matter.

Needing a mobility car doesn't mean you will get a driveway either.

onetimeposter

Aye, you can request needs resulting from a disability to be met by your housing provider. It’s called “reasonable adjustments” and it’s covered by the Equalities Act 2010. Disability and needs because of a disability are a legally protected characteristic.

Just fancying a drive or a garden isn’t.

What s the average waiting time for a council property in your LA?
In mine it's 8 to 12 years. I know families that have been in temporary accommodation for 8 years+

Are you sure that it is likely you will get a property in 5 weeks?

Yetalkshitehelen

No of course not but OP states there is a valid reason for both.
It's not like she's asking for a swimming pool and walk in wardrobe. For most families with kids, a garden is necessary.
Just because there are too many families in shitty flats doesn't mean it's right.
Here the wait is over 5 years, my neighbour has been waiting 8 and is privately renting an ex council house for 750, when the actual rents are 300 for council tenants. HB pays it.
However I knew a 19 year old housed in 2 months when her mum kicked her out. So no idea about the system, think there are loopholes whereby some people are advantaged way more than others.

It all depends on housing stock in the LA and immediate need. The 19 yo was presumably homeless, whereas the person on the list in a private let wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, the system is shit, but just having children doesn’t mean you qualify as needing a garden.

Need is taken literally when it comes to SH provision. And often need and want is confused.

If OP or a member of their household has a need which requires a drive and garden, they’ll be eligible.

onetime poster - "Poor people are allowed necessary things too, they don't all get condemned to a high rise flat with one bedroom just because people like you think they should be grateful for anything more than a cardboard box"

Completely get where you're coming from, but...as a pp has said, her very good salary can't afford her what the OP is requesting or expecting and this is the case for a lot of us. I can understand the frustration to an extent.

Also, SH is dotted all over the place to avoid ghettoisation and rightly so. Yes, some will be in shitty areas, but some won't be.

I do think the OP was just looking for advice though and if a form asks her to state her requests, then why wouldn't she do that? Maybe she does need to be more realistic, but most of us do when looking for a rental, a place to buy or applying for a council house. We all need to learn where to compromise.

Seems like the garden and drive issue has taken over somewhat, and has led to bringing out the worst in some people but thank you to those who have been reasonable and helpful.

I really don't know what happens if we don't get offered a home via the bidding system but today we've been and looked at a nice 3 bedroomed semi, clean inside, obviously needs decorating and isn't a dire shithole, it has a large garden (all grassed with absolutely no rubbish or dog poo) and room for 2 cars offroad parking. In contrast to the last one we viewed it's a palace. Another family viewing at the same time commented 'ugh it needs a lot of work doing' and they looked a bit rough so i don't know what their expectations are.

Not holding my breath, just have to wait & keep looking.

Wishing you lots of luck.

One of the hardest parts about bidding on social housing is some organisations do odd things when allocating houses. You expect to be housed quite quick if you are in a priority group, but if you check if they publish logs of who they let houses to, you might find that they allocated houses to people who are say lower priority than yourself.

It is worth check and also calling at least weekly to make sure they have all relevant information. So any changes that could go in your favour let them know about ASAP.

It's also worth noting that some councils will help with private rentals, so deposit / admin costs / first months rent. So that's another option you may have.

Wishing you all the best

Thank you

Also, some councils will bid on your behalf if you don't bid or don't make all your bids (my area it's 3 per week).
If your area does this then you may have to bid on something you don't want, but better for you to make that choice rather than the council. I had to make my 3rd bid on a place out of area that I didn't want but that would be appealing to others who did want that area and I managed to swap out of it straight away using homeswapper.

You need to ask them what they'll do to property before you move in. Rubbish is normally removed but yes you will have to clean and decorate.

I live in a part of the country where a drive and good sized garden is the norm but social housing rarely has both and often has neither (just a small garden).

I think you seriously need to change the way you look at this. This isn't like private renting it more like buying a house on a small budget - you get security but you'll need to scrub it clean and decorate and you'll more than likely have to compromise on size of garden and/or have no drive but you do that for lower housing costs and security of knowing it's yours for as long as you want it.