Getting a council house! is it possible anymore?

honeyD

OP Can you provide more details as to where your money is going?
It seems to me you get a lot more money than many people but you cant live on it for what reason? Do you have debts? Have you tried keeping a list of everything you spend each day so you can see where you are spending unnecessarily? Maybe that is worth a try to help. Also the other boards on here are very helpful with money saving ideas.

From what I can work out from your post, you say you get 21k a year. You also get £19 Child tax credits which comes to approx £988 a year, and Child benefit which comes to approx 977.60 a year. So pretty much, unless you havent deducted your tax on your wages, you take home each month 1,750 plus the benefit and tax credits which comes to £1913.79 a month. Deducting from that your groceries and rent (£200, and £650) £850 and youre left with over £1k. I know there are obviously more bills to pay from that but I do not see how you would need to pay out an additional £950 on bills each month unless you are really not careful with things like electricity/gas, or maybe you just have debts to pay. A little more information would probably help people point you in the right direction.

As for your post I see your point. My Husband and I lived with my parents for 3 years while being on 2 waiting lists with Housing Associations, we dont have council here as they sold to a HA. Each year we would call up one of the HA's and ask how closer we are to getting a house and they always said "2 years" never anything less. Its quite hard living with parents when youre a married couple just wanting your own space and privacy but we had to deal with it. It was obviously annoying seeing people get houses real quick if they had a baby or said they were being evicted but we never went down this route because at the end of the day its your conscience you have to deal with. At least when you finally get that thing you wanted it will be appreciated so much more just because you know you went about it the right way! I know we feel better about doing everything right. If it hadnt been for my parents moving to a smaller house then I doubt we would even be in this place right now. We were very lucky, but we always told the truth! These lies will no doubt bite people on the backside one day and I wouldnt want to be one of those people.

avinabacca

aichar wrote: »

I understand what you are saying about the fraud line but its not as simple as that when you have to live here and deal with consequences.

Yes it is:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/
BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/BenefitFraud/DG_10014876

"Call the National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440. Lines are open between 7.00 am and 11.00 pm, 7 days a week. It is free and confidential."

This means nobody need know you've reported them!

....or is it easier to sit on your ar*e, moan about it and do nothing?

Grimbo_Green

Ok I just want to address some of the points made here:

Firstly, I dont listen to hearsay regarding how much money people on benefits get, and who gets housed etc - I know people who live off benefits and they are alot better off than us and many other people who work. They DO have flat screen tv's, holidays, and nice clothes etc. It's not a myth.

That bloke who said I have no right to have kids if I cant afford it? well when we first got pregnant we COULD afford it. It's not our fault that everything keeps going up in price.
He said how his mum struggled and they didnt have a bathroom etc, etc well does that mean she shouldn't have had you then? and i'm sure if she were given the chance of a council house she would have jumped at the chance? where's the crime in that?

We are on the list at the moment and have been on it for just over a year now.

The house we rent currently is extremely damp but our landlord doesnt do anything about it other than to tell us to keep the windows open which we wont do as we have a young baby.
I suffer from asthma and it has gotten worse since living there to the point were I am needing to take my inhaler very frequently during the night!
We have also had to throw a lot of clothes away because they were covered in mould! and everytime we take a plate or cup out of our kitchen cupboards they need to be washed again because they smell really damp and musty!

I work for our county council on the education dept but I dont know if this is considered a key worker or not?

I have written to our local MP who wrote to the head of the housing department on my behalf because he agreed with my views on the way they prioritse the housing but I got a snotty response back from the housing dept.

After informing them of all of this we are still told we stand no chance!

Here are our monthly outgoings:
Rent: 650
Ctax: 100 (that is stretched over 12 months, still v expensive for a band
Groceries: 200
Diesal: 170 (partner works 23 miles away and has been looking for a job closer to home for over a year)
Car costs: 100 (that is for repairs, road tax, insurance, MOT)
Gas: 60
Elec: 60
Water: 38
Phone: 20
Lnternet: 15
TV liscense: 12
Debts: 120
Childcare: 275
Total: 1695
AND I DID NOT DEDUCT TAX FROM OUR WAGES, its £21k before deductions

At the end of the day who wants to spend their whole lives working hard for nothing? we all want easier lives hence why you are on this website in the first place so why the hell are some of you getting hernia's over my question??

Yes so what I admit that I do find it annoying when I watch shows like jeremy kyle (lol!!) and there is some chav moaning because he is a drug addict and cant work because of his addiction (as if its an illness) and he is given every benefit going and a council flat
It's just wrong.
Council houses should be for hard working people who are struggleing to afford to live.
I totally agree if you are homeless then of course you should have priority, what I dont agree with is the people who have never worked a day in their lives, got themselves addicted to heroin, or got sent to prison for being a paedophile then getting housed.
I cant change the way the houses are prioritised so as I said before, if you can't beat 'em then join 'em.

TotallyBroke

kingofclare wrote: »

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

I'm never sure on written forums if sarcasm is intended or not. I have a rule that if it is not stated as being sarcastic then that is not the way it was intended. At this moment in time I am worried about the credit crunch. The company I work for is being bought out and redundancies could happen. Myself possibly one of them. So maybe i should also put myself on the council housing list and lie on my application forms so that I can claim all the benefits and live off the state. But I won't because I am a caring and grounded individual therefore I will find any job I can that will provide for me and my family.

Grimbo_Green wrote: »

All i'm saying is if YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM THEN JOIN 'EM in other words - tell a few porkies to get a house.
Ive lived my whole life doing the right thing, working hard and it has gotten me nowhere, so what other choice is there??

As I have said before two wrongs do not make a wrong.

aichar wrote: »

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.

The OP should not feel cheated at all they should be proud that they are not adding to the problems that are happening.

ShelfStacker wrote: »

"Do-gooders" don't champion "social spongers". Why would they? And sorry, but I refuse to believe that anyone on benefits could afford the stuff you're talking about. No way. Do you even know that the people on the "estate" are on benefits, bearing in mind that many council houses have been bought up and sold on to other people? Do you actually personally know any of these people? If you know that these people ARE on benefits and DO have all these things, why have you not contacted the anonymous benefit fraud line to report them, as there's no way a family on Income Support or whatever could possibly afford a holiday in Barbados!

You have obviously have never seen an episode of Wife Swap then. A few months back there was a family that had not worked in over 3 years. He had given up work due to a knee problem but was still able to walk to the pub and genuinely treat his wife like rubbish. They had computers and plasma tv and wooden flooring throughout. Infact his idea was that his kids would learn more from the computer than they could in life.

SingleSue

Can I just point out that the majority on benefits do not have luxury holidays, new cars, new clothes etc.

The vast majority have to make do and mend...my car is over 15 years old, the last item I bought myself (clothes) was a £2 pair of jeans nearly 8 months ago, before that it was a £3 jumper 6 months before that and my recent holiday was taken in my parents caravan which cost me nothing...my holiday budget was my normal weekly amount for food and fuel. I do have a flat screen TV but that was obtained via insurance when our old telly (purchased when hubby was still here and we were both working) went bang after someone slammed the door and something fell down a smashed a blooming great hole in the thing. I had to take what was offered as a replacement under my insurance companies terms.

I do not go out socially, so there are no weekly runs to the pub and everything is budgeted to the last penny to make sure I can eek out some kind of existance.

So it's not all happy happy, loads of money on benefits and it would be very handy if people would actually think about this before posting on something they really have no idea about.

For the record though, I can see where some are coming from because before it happened to me, I had exactly the same views......but the grass is def not greener on this side.

Grimbo_Green

Can I just make this clear where in my post did I say I wanted to claim benefits? I just want to get a council house. We will still work and pay our way.
WHAT IS THE CRIME IN WANTING CHEAPER RENT????

SingleSue

Grimbo Green - just had a look at the breakdown

Are you sure your WTC is correct? It just seems that your childcare cost is not being covered to the right level.

Also could you try to go for one of these plans where you get the phone and internet combined? It would work out a little bit cheaper or are you tied in for the moment to your current providers?

Edited - Also looking at your gas and electric, it seems to be quite on the high side, I currently pay less than £40 a month for each (less in the summer) on a 3 bedroom house via a prepayment meter. Have you tried the comparison sites to see if this could be made any better?

SingleSue

Grimbo_Green wrote: »

Can I just make this clear where in my post did I say I wanted to claim benefits? I just want to get a council house. We will still work and pay our way.
WHAT IS THE CRIME IN WANTING CHEAPER RENT????

My response was in reply to others who had posted that those of us on benefits live the easy life and have loads of dosh to slosh around everywhere.

It was also in response to this from yourself

Firstly, I dont listen to hearsay regarding how much money people on benefits get, and who gets housed etc - I know people who live off benefits and they are alot better off than us and many other people who work. They DO have flat screen tv's, holidays, and nice clothes etc. It's not a myth.

avinabacca

Grimbo_Green wrote: »

Can I just make this clear where in my post did I say I wanted to claim benefits? I just want to get a council house. We will still work and pay our way.
WHAT IS THE CRIME IN WANTING CHEAPER RENT????

No crime there, we'd all like to have to pay less!

The crime is defrauding the council to get it.

And that's all - because once you've said that this is your intention, you make yourself no better than any of the "spongers" you seem to look down on.

How come you can't see that?

leyla-aurelia

Hi Grimbo Green,

First things: is your name on the waiting list? Then after that get your doctor to support you--your asthma/damp house could mean that your accomodation qualifies as unsuitable. Best of luck with that, I think some areas do still have counci houses but they're few and far between. I've chosen not to apply because:
1) Council houses are subsidised by other taxpayers!
2) My area has very few council houses
3) Those that there are, aren't in areas I'd want to live in--I want my children to go to a decent school, and I like feeling safe when I go out. To me having to struggle is a lesser evil than living in an area with lots of social problems (been there and done that!), and my children being bullied/failing in school.
Basically I want to support my family and choose where I live.

It does get easier--nursery fees don't last forever, debts will be paid off (looks like you'd be OK'ish without those)

In the meantime you could see if there have you looked at the HMRC website here or on entitledto (less reliable though), to check that you are recieving the right tax credits, and have the right tax codes. I they're right you could also try negotiating with your creditors to reduce your payments.

Is moving also be an option? Newer houses often don't have the damp issues of older ones.

Otherwise air the house as much as possible. I live in a damp rental but it's manageable with a dehumidifier, lots of cleaning, airing the bedrooms each morning whilst we eat breakfast, and airing the downstairs rooms as we can. Each weekend I air the whole house (heating off) for a couple of hours. Wrap yourself and baby up warm first, an hour of fresh air won't harm him! My kids slept with a little window open (in my room) and they're both extremely healthy.

Good luck, hope things start to improve soon.

ETA people on benefits that I know only have 'luxuries' because their family subsidises them, or because they buy them from catologues then regret it!