Council want to house us opposite paedos!!

[Ilovepugs2017]

I’ll try and cut a long story short.
We are at risk of homelessness due to our landlord wanting to sell. Our section 21 ran out in July.
we have been bidding on properties every week with no luck.
The council bid on a property on our behalf in our local area (for personal reasons I didn’t bid on this particular property - issues with threats of assault from someone living on the same street as the one advertised).
anyway we were no.2 in the queue and couldn’t withdraw the bid which gave me huge anxiety. I’d even emailed the housing officer to say I didn’t bid for personal reasons.
2 weeks later which is today they have called and offered us the property. They have said if we refuse to take it they will help us no further!!
my partner has been to speak to a couple of the neighbours and they have said to be warned that a couple of convicted paedos live opposite the back entrance!

we have three young children how is this acceptable?
Im going to refuse the house and appeal!
anxiety is through the roof!! :(
anyone been through similar?

Around where I am you now always need a guarantor. 2 months deposit and a month in advance. They almost never take people with kids, dogs or on Housing Benefit.
The rental market is fucked. My friend who is a solicitor in a steady job keeps losing out to childless couples.

Of course you accept the house. Do the right thing by your children -and that means making sure they are not homeless. The paedophile thing is irrelevant. You don’t know if it’s true, and even if it is, better to know where he is, rather than the many you have no idea about.

I doubt two would be allowed to live together. But I don't know about stuff like this.

What I do know and have experience of is shit stirrers in council homes who like to put families off from moving in because they enjoy the peace or they want the house empty for their own family (this has happened twice to me!!)

The ex won't bother you. You could always just keep your head down and keep to yourself... if you see him practice saying stuff like
"Oh I forgot you lived here!"
"I don't really talk or see my sister much" (even if it's a lie)
And always be vague.

You seem to be jumping to all types of conclusions at every possible turn. But you need a voice of reason too.

Move into the council house, keep to yourselves, be good neighbours and continue to hunt for a private house to rent eventually (as you currently live in one and you're happy to move miles away)... You never know what's around the corner.

Stay positive!

Better than being homeless and having your children in care.

If the ‘paedos’ are convicted then authorities know about them. They wouldn’t be living restriction freely in a community if they were high risk of attacking a child. Also, you have no way of knowing this info is correct.

Please take the house. That will bring security to your family in the immediate term.
Then if you have to address issues down the line, you can seek advice or assurance with a new thread…and leave all the unhelpful, negative responses behind 😉 Good luck

Is he looking for a second job? People are absolutely crying out for staff in some industries, e.g. hospitality and care.

Hi OP, I’m so sorry that so many people have been absolutely awful to you and they should be ashamed!
I think your main concern should be showing the council police log of the threats you received from your sisters ex.
They should be happy to allow you to refuse this property for that reason as you are at risk of hand if you see him or he discovers where you live.
I wouldn’t push on the risk of sec offenders living close by as there’s no proof over than word of mouth.
I really do hope you get this resolved, so many people are truly ignorant of what renting entails and how difficult it can be to find a private rental right now due to the price increases. Council homes are also like gold dust but I highly doubt anyone would happily move to a home knowing someone who threatens violence on them lived two doors down!
I hope you are able to continue to bid and find a property in a different area, it’s an extremely stressful situation to be in, I’ve been in the same situation twice now so I really do sympathise with you!

OMG, You have absolutely no idea if the neighbour is a reliable source or not. Just because he's been living there a long time doesn't mean he's not a gossip, a nutter or someone with a grudge. The people he's talking about could be entirely innocent.

You're about to be homeless, you don't turn down the offer of accommodation.

What sort of paedo’s? Looking at porn online is different to raping kids? I know neither is good BTW and the internet can lead to worse but good to know the details. Just keep the kids inside if you need to. Sorry this is happening to you but you need a home 💐

I'm so sorry that you're getting so many difficult replies here - it's not an easy situation to be in and I can see why its making you anxious.

Sometimes when we are anxious it is really hard to see the bigger picture but the biggest risk to your children here is homelessness. You know that you can't afford to private rent, and that the council have said that they won't have a duty of care if you refuse this house.

So, I think that you have made a really good decision to take the house and look at it as temporary. Once you have moved in and got settled I think you'll be in a better position to assess other risks. And luckily you have the backup that if something did happen with your sisters ex you know your parents would be supportive.

Although people have phrased it really horribly, taking a second look at the working situation seems like a good idea. Its great that your partner is trying to find full time work and is doing agency in the mean time. If you are well enough to look after the kids could he pick up some evening or weekend work as well to top it up? Loads of shops, supermarkets etc offer just weekend hours and sometimes it can be a foot in the door for something more full time.

Or could you do something online or from home to help support financially? A lot of online work pays badly but can be done at any time and to suit you which helps if you are working round disability or children which makes it worthwhile.

Try and put some of the extra you earn aside - I know its hard to do but having a reasonable pot of savings will massively help by giving you options as you go forwards.

Good luck with everything x

Everyone has anxiety now.

Accept the house, tell your kids about the issue. Report any issues. Calm down and thank your lucky stars you have a roof over your head

Totally get your worry but the thing is there is likely paedophiles living everywhere, most of which unknown and it's the unknown worry's that's would be more of a worry to me! At least if you know, you'll keep distance. You could have one next door and you wouldn't even know!

I know little about housing allocation so
i am not much help on that part.

Oh, the irony, from the person who wrote "Her and her husband are the only ones to blame here." Think about it, "Her" cannot be a subject pronoun; would that sentence work if you took out "and her husband"?

Firstly if you are lucky enough to be offered a house then take it, then opt for a swap. If you don't like it go private there are hundreds on the list behind you who would bite your hand off for it.
You have just been made homeless, you should be thankful that you are getting a place and not in a B and B, try to be positive as it will really help your outlook.

If you are in social housing, this is one of the pitfalls, you can't choose your neighbours.

Secondly sex offenders are EVERYWHERE - most likely in the family sometimes outside of it. Take precautions as you would with any stranger and safeguard your child.

Thirdly, re the threats unless they are a threat to life they won't move you immediately. However, you can sometimes get a swap.

Use this to motivate a 5 year plan to look at changing your situation to give you something positive to focus on

OP if you're happy to move miles away. Then maybe this should be your long term plan?

No jobs and shit housing stock are both good reasons to move to another town!! I think the area you live isn't working for you and your family.

So once settled in your council home - maybe look into this as a long term plan?

That doesn't necessarily apply in every area.

It's not ideal but paedofiles are everywhere many unknown. Those are known ones which means they are MAPPA clients (might be a different name in your area) so it's a multi agency approach to monitoring them. They are most likely tagged and checked on constantly by the police. The reality is most kids who are abused the perpetrator is a trusted family member.

What plumber would agree to do a job on the basis of a hope that someone other than the person who called him would pay the bill? And any housing adviser would tell you that withholding rent is a very bad idea.

@Ilovepugs2017 good morning. Take a deep breath.

Some posters on here have been very hostile and judgemental and should be ashamed of themselves. You come across as very worried, frustrated and if I'm honest, thinking emotionally rather than rationally - which is entirely understandable.

If i were you I'd get straight on the phone to Shelter this morning before you do anything. They should be able to advise the best course of action.

Write down clearly what your situation is and the reasons why this property is not acceptable. I think the main reason is

• a convicted criminal who targeted you with abuse and threats lives in the same street, and that the threats are likely to continue. This will cause issues and potential harm to you and the family.

The paedophile bit is anecdotal and unlikely to be taken seriously. It will look like you're trying to make excuses (which is I think what has infuriated some posters on here- so although unhelpful, gives you a taster of what the housing people might see and think)

Talk to shelter. Now.

Good luck.

You do know that he may be referring to them as Pedo's because they are on the sex offenders register & that they may be on there for something as innocuous as peeing in the street. Have you done any research or checked online to find out if it's true or are you just jumping on the bandwagon ?

OP you would be silly to give up a council home as they are like gold dust.

Your best bet is to accept it and then look for somewhere to rent privately.

I get why you’re so worried but I think you’ll be shocked at how many peados there are around, so never completely trust anyone with your children.

If you’re in a council/housing association property you are more likely to be around a peado as they are rehoused by them when they come out of jail.

On my small estate there were 3 convicted peados that we knew about (probably many more unconvicted ones) and 1 was harassing his victim so he was relocated 10 miles away through the council and the person they swapped him with was also a convicted peado.
So it must be a thing that they do.

Where ever you move to you are more than likely going to live near a peado unfortunately.

Imagine turning this down and either being kicked off the list or given 1 more chance and then next property is even worse!

It’s completely your choice but I was in temporary accommodation for years with not enough bedrooms so I had to sleep on the sofa, but fortunately it was a decent area.

And I know a couple of families currently in awful temporary accommodation as they’re full of people who need accommodation after coming out of prison or homeless on the street and there’s no room in the halfway houses.
And 1 is over an hour away and the other is 3 hours away from the childrens school as they literally just put you where there’s space.

They’re also much further down the list as their situation isn’t as immediate as someone who’s at risk of being homeless like yourselves (even though they’re classed as homeless).
If they were in your predicament they would snatch the councils hand off and then try to move.

Only you and DH can make this choice though and you shouldn’t feel pressured either way.

But surely we all could live near peadophiles? Most of us don't know. Plus you have no concrete evidence. Only gossip.

Your anxiety and closed mind are more harmful to them

You don't seem to be fully understanding the situation that you are in. Usually I'd try to soften this and be more polite but lots of people have done that and it's not getting through.

There is a significant shortage of council properties and you are being offered one. If you don't accept it they aren't going to keep offering them to you.

The paedophile issue could be completely made up by the bloke who lives on the street, it could also be true, or it could be something in between and they are on a sex offender register for peeping or urinating in public. No one knows and ultimately it doesn't change the fact that this is the house that's been offered to you and if you turn it down you might not get another.

The previous threats, you need to be a grown up and stay clear of your sisters ex. If he does try to engage then you remain polite, maybe he will want to put it behind you both and you can be civil. If not them you remain detached, remain civil and you report any inappropriate behaviour from him.

Neither you or your partner are working full time, you aren't working at all, yet you have 3 children and think you have the luxury of turning down subsidised housing because you want a better choice.

You and your partner both need to work more and earn more money, you need to accept the house thats been offered.

Or don't and end up living in a B&B with 3 kids and complaining about how you can't get a house.

Your choice.