How to get a council house -C4

[heyhulahoop]

Anyone watching? It's so depressing. So many zero hours contracts and racist rants.

Thats what i feel too. I think the guy who speaks to camera at the end of each episode is pretty much saying that. He's saying this is just going to get worse. Hes telling us social housing is disappearing. He is right.

I'm still upset by what I saw on this programme. I was disgusted by the manner and attitude of some of the housing officers. As pps have said, particularly the one who was trying to send the young girl off to Birmingham. As if she was in a position to say yes.

I can't stop thinking about the people who had got into rent arrears and debt and had therefore made themselves 'Intentionally homeless.'
Where do they actually go that night and in the future? How do they ever get out of debt and into a home? What if they have no support network?

It must be easy to end up literally homeless as in on the streets.

If I was evicted from my home, I might have a friend I could call on for a few nights then I would be on a park bench.

The whole system is shocking and can only get worse. What do government ministers think?

I think you're right. What will happen to the low-paid or those who can't work then? And who is going to do the low paid jobs like cleaning or catering in London (or the South East in general) if this type of worker is pushed out of the area ? I dread to think what will happen. Back to Victorian-style slums, I suspect. Or people living in very basic hostels, unable to start a family.

Is this really what we want as a society?

IIRC on the first programme in series 1 of this (only 3 years ago) applicants were allowed to refuse the first two properties they were shown and had to take the third offered or were pushed to the back of the queue (but not then told they had no duty to be helped).

I remember a group of applicants near the front of the queue being taken to a location to view a house and taken up one by one. If the first person refused then the second person had a chance and so on. Usually the first person did not refuse so when you were near the beginning of the queue you did a lot of wild goose chases, but at least people had a sense they were getting somewhere.

The numbers they gave for the queue were shocking. Perhaps that is why they are cutting people off?

Then again this might be different boroughs rather than the rules having been changed. But it's not clear. I think the rules have changed since 2013.

I think it would be interesting to watch series 1 again and compare. I might do that. It's harrowing as a whole though.

applicants were allowed to refuse the first two properties they were shown and had to take the third offered or were pushed to the back of the queue (but not then told they had no duty to be helped).

Yes i definitely remember this too.

It's still on the channel 4 website so you can watch it again. I am now unsure if it is the same situation. Because the current series seems to be focusing on people who are actually homeless right now and looking for immediate help rather than people on the council house waiting list, which is a different thing, because you can go onto the waiting list even if you already have accommodation. You just get more priority if you're in a difficult situation like being overcrowded.

It's different if it's a homelessness application, you have to accept the first offer if your homeless. If your just kn the list because of overcrowding etc you can refuse 1 or 2 depending on your councils rules

Some.of the rules are quite petty, We were made homeless because we were offered a 1 bedroom flat, due to move in the day after ds due date, then he was born a week before due date and we were told we were no longer allowed a 1 bedroom place and had to wait for 2 bedrooms, obviously hadn't looked for a private rented place in the months before because we had an offer already, we only found out when we went to pick up the keys with ds that we weren't allowed to move in because he had been born, so homeless with a week old baby. Begged to stay with various famil members for as long as we could then temp accommodation miles away.
Makes no sense to me because he was obviously going to be born anyway

It is not just people on min wage etc and people behind on rent that become homeledd. We have been in this property renting privately for 3 years and have been given notice. Dont know why ..perhaps they want to sell. Never missed rent etc. There have been mould issues here. however we do not have 2k ish to move and would not pass credit check. Do have reference for the 3 years from letting agent saying never missed rent and house in good order. But cannot find anything. We have rented for years and it is much tougher now.

abbinob that is fucking appalling!! I am so angry on your behalf. That makes no sense at all.

From the first series where several people turned up at the same time to view a property and depending if first person refused then the second person got the second refusal , I always thought this was a risky policy open to abuse.
What if second person threatened /bribed first person to refuse the property?
The program openly showed two applicants waiting outside a property waiting for the housing officer to arrive and they were talking to each other about their situations. They were polite to each other but how many cases would people try and intimidate others?

They're just normal people, not gangsters.

I'm not saying people are gangsters but you honestly think no one has put pressure on someone to refuse or tried to bribe them? People are getting desperate.

On other benefit programs people have bribed council house owners to buy tenancies so it's not a stretch to pressure someone

Yes that makes sense.

I remember when I left XP in 2009 I went to the council for advice. They assessed me as being a level 2 of 4 (where 1 is highest priority) as I was at risk of potential violence but not actually experiencing violence or homeless. So I was advised to join the list but they could not house me immediately, which was fair enough. They helped with some details of landlords but ultimately it was luck in finding something. In fact none of the agencies they suggested came through because no landlord wanted to know as soon as I mentioned housing benefit.

In maybe 2012 (I don't remember the exact year) a friend was in a similar situation except that her partner was more threatening. She was already in council accommodation so she could not go on any list but could look at home swaps. She was offered a place in a refuge and they called Women's Aid right in the office. She decided not to go at that point but did later succeed in breaking up with her partner and now she lives in the house they shared alone with the children.

Argh sorry xposted. Too many tabs open.

Abbinob that is silly! Talk about red tape.

I think it would be unlikely that the second in line person would do anything to scupper their position in that queue when it has taken years to reach the front of it. Perhaps it does happen. But I would imagine not a large enough problem to warrant changing that system over.

It is difficult Doobydob. In your situation I would approach council to ask about deposit schemes. Then ask them if they have a list of landlords who take HB tenants or agencies which have landlords taking HB tenants. Phone the agencies every day to ask if anything new has come up. Scour supermarket noticeboards, local papers, post office. Phone every possible link. Make a note of all of this stuff. You'll have phone logs on a mobile etc. It's gruelling. But at least if you get near eviction date you'll have data to show council you've been trying to find a private rent.

It is happening more and more. It happened to another friend of mine last year. We are fairly rural so it's not as rammed as cities are but the council had two properties available, both retirement only.

We have and are doing all that Bertie. We live in a ruralish area too. It seems bonkers that we are in this situation.

More bonkers as we dont get any benefits other than child benefit. We are not feckless just havent been able to save very much at all

I haven't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned the political aspect of the housing crisis. Margaret bloody Thatcher is responsible in part for allowing people to buy their council houses - fine idea IF there had been a massive building project of new council houses, but there wasn't! In fact building of council houses has more or less been at a standstill for many years. Now we have the ridiculous situation where the Council are having to pay landlords for private rents for homeless people. And because there is no fair rent act or any ceiling on what landlords can charge, we the ratepayers are lining the pockets of landlords. Very often the flats/houses they are letting are in a shocking state but they can still charge exactly what they like and the Council have to pay. I think the average rent for a 2 bed flat in London is £1500 per month. It's ridiculous.

Yes I feel desperately sorry for the people we see on the programme and I agree the housing staff seem completely devoid of compassion. I think it's sad that so many of the people were talking of "immigrants" getting the keys to a house straight away. I think the Sun and the DM are responsible for this shit.

I'm not at all sure about the woman with the child being turned away as being "intentionally homeless" and Social Services notified about the child. I am a retired social worker and have some 30 years experience in children's services and the Children Act 1989 specifically stated that children should not be accommodated (taken into care) because of homelessness. I don't know if things have changed but I don't think so. Even if someone is intentionally homeless if they have a dependent child they are in priority need and can't be turned away. Anyway I think she went back to Barbados in the end.

This government have taken us back to the 19th century and the Poor Law - it's shocking, criminal, a disaster - who in god's name voted them in again and if Cameron loses the EU vote, we're likely to have that buffoon Boris Johnson as the next PM, another Bullingdon Eton boy.

Doobydoo have you tried getting in touch with SHELTER - they are an excellent housing charity. There's a lot of info on their web site but you can talk to them - the lines are busy because there are so many people in need of help so you might have to hang on a while.

actually hunted down this thread because I was so angry about that Birmingham offer!! wtf!! as if they actually expected her to drop her whole life and move hours away!!

Anyone watching ?

Yes i am.

Me too!

What a lovely kind priest.

I'm watching too. That priest is absolutely fantastic.