Getting a council house! is it possible anymore?

lowis

council homes are usually given to those in need, and from what i can see you are not in need - most people would love to be in your situation. if you do manage to get on the waiting list it could take many years.

try and enjoy what you have or try to improve your situation / income. a council home is not the answer for you.

kingofclare

Ok so someone comes on here and asks a question, why all the negative crappy responses ? if you have no interest in the subject or cant help why bother ?.

Council housing in the past was really helpful to people like the thread starter, who work hard but dont earn enough to buy a place of their own, these homes are not giveaways but a home to people who will pay a fair rent for fair accomodation, far better than lining some greedy landlords pocket for a dingy deathtrap.

Problems came when councils ran out of money and sold many of the homes to the tenants at the time for a stupidly low price, most other council homes are now owned by housing associations who run them at very little or no profit.

Grimbo green was quite right in stating that it seems easier to get a home if you are unemployed/single parent/drug addict as the associations use a points scoring system to allocate any spare property, this is not a myth but is merely a reflection of how the authorities run things.

p.s Totally broke you state your concerns regarding the current financial climate i also have heard whispers of a credit crunch ! from reading your comments i have to say i would be devastated should your fears become reality, you seem such a caring grounded individual

Grimbo green you will have a pm.:beer:

ess0two

Changed from petrol to diesel.............the UK is awash with petrol and is always going to be cheaper than diesel.
There just is'nt enough capacity or investment for diesel in the UK,its also costly to make due to product specs(sulphur,particulates)etc.
I work in the industry and demand far out strips supply,compared to petrol.

ShelfStacker_3

kingofclare wrote: »

Problems came when councils ran out of money and sold many of the homes to the tenants at the time for a stupidly low price, most other council homes are now owned by housing associations who run them at very little or no profit.

Don't forget the clause in the right to buy legislation that means councils couldn't reinvest the proceeds of these sales into new housing stock, meaning they'd forever be stuck with a reduced amount of housing. Nice work. This is one reason I could never, on conscience, vote Tory - it was one move that causes incredible harm.

Grimbo green was quite right in stating that it seems easier to get a home if you are unemployed/single parent/drug addict as the associations use a points scoring system to allocate any spare property, this is not a myth but is merely a reflection of how the authorities run things

Single parent yes, unemployed or drug addict no. You can read the policy for, for example, my local council at http://www.chilternhousinginfo.co.uk/downloads/HsgRegister2002ActRevised-mv.pdf . Priority is given to the homeless and those with medical conditions (whether this includes drug addiction I don't know.) At any rate, the only way you're going to get points for your medical condition is if it could in some way be improved by moving home. Unemployment is not even listed as a reason to give someone a home. Having children in unsuitable accommodation, however, is.

The benefits candyland that right wingers like to talk about, where drug addicts and wasters get free housing, does not exist. I know a single parent - she doesn't get much in the way of benefits, barely enough to support herself and her child. The housing association let her rot in a tiny bedsit (about three quarters of the size of my current flat, occupied by just me) in a block of flats otherwise occupied by drug users and alcoholics for half a year, before they moved her out. (I'm not even getting started on the bullsh*t spread around about immigrants getting priority, because it simply isn't true.)

OP: the circumstances you describe are sadly typical, having £50 left over each month, and if I'm honest I'm in much the same situation. However, the housing association will most likely see that, despite your lack of disposable income, you are in secure accommodation, that you've not yet received a notice to quit and that you have sufficient space for you and your family. As a result, you would probably not be considered at urgent need, which the HA/council have a duty to prioritise. Should you receive a notice to quit, this will most likely change, but you may well still not get put up anywhere near the top of the list. I really don't mean this in a nasty way, just going by what you've said and what housing association policies tend to be. If you PM me where you live I'll try and go into specifics, but I doubt it'll be much different.

Bear in mind also that your current conditions will most likely be inspected, so bending the truth or whatever may well not work.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.

kingofclare

Apologies i should have elaborated on the "unemployed" part, i did not mean to sound political but this can earn credit depending upon circumstances, an interesting albeit slightly controversial question would be,

are prisoners given any help if they are released and have no home to go to ?

I would also defend my comment regarding "drug addicts", in my area this does gain credit when assessing an application, (i do include alcoholism as an addiction).

kingofclare

ess0two wrote: »

Changed from petrol to diesel.............the UK is awash with petrol and is always going to be cheaper than diesel.
There just is'nt enough capacity or investment for diesel in the UK,its also costly to make due to product specs(sulphur,particulates)etc.
I work in the industry and demand far out strips supply,compared to petrol.

aichar

avinabacca wrote: »

You mean you're only after getting hold of a council house by fraudulent means, and preventing someone who genuinely* deserves one from having somewhere to live?

Oh, my mistake - that's quite alright, then!


*By which I mean seriously in trouble - there're plenty who'd bite your arm off for £21k per year and a steady house tenancy, even at £650 a month.

Avinabacca - at the moment I am living in housing association with my mum - and we are the only rent payers in the block. Social housing is being abused - just like benefits. I am not a Daily Mail reader by any means however I do think that the original poster quite rightly feels cheated and short changed by a government that refuses to help genuine people who are penalised for going out to work.

ShelfStacker_3

aichar wrote: »

Social housing is being abused not by the original poster who quite rightly feels cheated and short changed by a gment that refuses to help genuine people who are penalised for going out to work

How are genuine people being penalised for going out to work, precisely? I hear this bandyed around a lot and it makes no sense; yes, working people get taxed, but they also have a higher income, can afford more luxury items and have less of a social stigma than people on benefits. So please, how are genuine people being penalised? I work, I pay taxes, I pay bills, I'm in debt, I don't feel "penalised". If you feel "penalised" because of the existence of government handouts, that's a problem for you and your personal pride, nobody else.

sooz

ShelfStacker wrote: »

How are genuine people being penalised for going out to work, precisely? I hear this bandyed around a lot and it makes no sense; yes, working people get taxed, but they also have a higher income, can afford more luxury items and have less of a social stigma than people on benefits. So please, how are genuine people being penalised? I work, I pay taxes, I pay bills, I'm in debt, I don't feel "penalised". If you feel "penalised" because of the existence of government handouts, that's a problem for you and your personal pride, nobody else.

perhaps the poster means penalised by the benefit trap? This is a genuine problem that the gov't refuses to address - trying to come off benefits is very hard when all benefits are lost simultaneously as soon as you start earning.

aichar

I am not stupid enough to be against 'government handouts'. I have a problem with do- gooders forever championing social spongers. There are genuine people in need - of course there is, however come over to the estate sometime and see the 08 cars, plasmas, macs and the barbados holiday and then tell me its wrong to feel cheated in some way.

Sorry OP i know this thread was not about politics but I just cannot understand why people are outraged