5 Houses in 1.5 years plus a 1 year old

xcandyman · 17 May 2007 at 10:47AM

Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a mess here and I really dont know what to do, over the past year and a half I've lived in 4 houses (3 rentals and 1 with parents) and have now just been given notice for the house I'm currently living in which I've only been in for 3 months so I will have to move once again. The same thing happened with my last house after 3 months living there so you can imagine that was a very mad christmas!

So I'm being forced to move to my 5th house in a year and a half, it wouldnt be too much of a problem if I didn't have a 1 year old baby! So the next house would be his 4th house already!

Getting to the point, as you can imagine I'm absolutely sick of renting houses and need some stability especially with a young child, it's not fair on him to keep moving as you can imagine it really confuses and disrupts him. Never mind the costs of moving! I really cant afford to move and then a few months down the line I have to move again because the landlady is selling the house.

After moving from my second house I tried going down the line of getting a mortgage but as I'm on a stupidly low wage I cant get a mortgage even for a tiny box house and using 5x my wage mortgages and also tried shared ownership. I even hired a company to do my mortgage search for me to try and find a mortgage because I knew it would be hard but it came to no avail.

I've even tried contacting the council to see if they could help me out with housing but they are saying they have absolutely no houses available (which I know is a lie), have a huge waiting list and even with my circumstances they highly doubt they could ever house us.

I really dont know what to do, any suggestions would be extremely helpful as I'm at the end of my tether. Sorry for all the ranting

Generali · 17 May 2007 at 10:54AM

Does your contract state the LL can kick you out? It's normal to have secure tenure for 6 months.

lypsey · 17 May 2007 at 10:55AM

I am so sorry to hear of your problems . I too am renting (for different reasons) and we have moved 3 times in the last 4 years . The Mrs is not happy.

I know people ridicule me but your situation is EXACTLY the reason house prices WILL crash

I wish you good luck

Debt_Free_Chick · 17 May 2007 at 10:55AM

We should swap places, as I'm having no luck finding anywhere to rent for my circumstances (need a very rural location which permits two working dogs!).

Anyway ... when I make enquiries, I'm being asked by letting agents if I would consider a "long-term let", so I wonder if you should seek the same i.e. a landlord that's prepared to commit to a longer term tenancy

See what others think.

Guy_Montag · 17 May 2007 at 10:57AM

1) Get onto the council housing list - ok you may not have a chance, but if big Gordon is going to build 10Bn extra council houses (or something) it might be a good idea to get your name on now.

2) Find a nice house or flat to rent, don't rush, check out the area & thoroughly check the place out. Then negotiate a two or three year contract. All the LL on here say they'd be happy to give out long tenancy agreements, so I guess you'll have no difficulty finding one in the real world (or something).

xcandyman · 17 May 2007 at 11:04AM

If I rent again and then ask the council to house us they wont as they said that we are already housed and dont need to be re-housed. The last 3 times I've moved I've asked if I could have a long term contract but none of the agents around my area do that, but each time I've asked if they know of any reason I may need to move in the near'ish future and they've said no, and I believe them because the last 2 houses I've been in my mother has been the letting agent! It's just my bad luck I guess.

Thanks

olly300 · 17 May 2007 at 11:14AM

xcandyman wrote: »

If I rent again and then ask the council to house us they wont as they said that we are already housed and dont need to be re-housed. The last 3 times I've moved I've asked if I could have a long term contract but none of the agents around my area do that, but each time I've asked if they know of any reason I may need to move in the near'ish future and they've said no, and I believe them because the last 2 houses I've been in my mother has been the letting agent! It's just my bad luck I guess.

Thanks

Research housing associations in your area. They all have different citeria for renting from them.

Also you are allowed to put yourself on the council list even if you will be placed at the bottom and some housing associations need you to be on the list before you are able to rent with them.

Guy_Montag · 17 May 2007 at 11:15AM

I never rent through agents - remember if you get a three year tenancy, that 6 "renewal fees" they miss out on.

Check out the small ads in the paper & go direct to the landlord.

xcandyman · 17 May 2007 at 11:19AM

olly300 wrote: »

Also you are allowed to put yourself on the council list even if you will be placed at the bottom and some housing associations need you to be on the list before you are able to rent with them.

Thanks, I've asked them to send me application forms anyway, they said it would be pointless but I dont care lol.

pieceoffluff · 17 May 2007 at 12:03PM

xcandyman wrote: »

If I rent again and then ask the council to house us they wont as they said that we are already housed and dont need to be re-housed.

my neighbours were asked to leave after six months but they decided not to leave as they had nowhere to go/not afford to move ...the LL has to go through the courts and get balliffs round to reove them...once my neighbours have the balliff letter they'll show it to the council to get rehoused....however they are on housing benefit so it maybe different to your situation..... do some research heres a good starting point from the citizens advice bureau

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/housing/frequently_asked_questions_about_housing.htm#IhadtoleavemylasthomeandnowIhavenowheret

thesaint · 17 May 2007 at 12:47PM

xcandyman wrote: »

Thanks, I've asked them to send me application forms anyway, they said it would be pointless but I dont care lol.

Like Guy Montag and Olly3000 say, get on the council housing list.
It is extremely hard in most areas to get a property but in my area(If not all), you get points based on how long you have been on the list.

Ask the council for a list of housing asssociations, and phone them all up. Some require an application from yourself, others require you to be nominated by a statutory body/person, could be your council, health visitor etc.

Once on the list call every few weeks because some applications go 'missing'.
With all things of this nature, keep a list of dates and names of people you spoke to, it's time consuming but worth it if you are offered somewhere.

5 Houses in 1.5 years plus a 1 year old

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