Would you give up a council house to go private?

grace1990

The OP stated that a site said she is entitled to a 3 bed house, that is what is wrong with this country, people have more and more children and want bigger houses when they cannot afford it.

Wkdwill

It must be awful having that little space, I know we are having to get rid of things, a chair in the living room a desk and pc in the bedroom and thats only for 4 of us, as we know we have no chance of being rehomed. For us its a small price to pay to live in a nice area litterally a walk up the drive to the High Street, but for you its very much overcrowding, the council should be giving you some sort of higher priority more so when you are trying to swap in the first place.

I dont know where you would stand if you were to leave a council house for a private to need a council house again, I think if you were to be made homeless by your landlord then they would try to help rehouse you but they would also push you to get a private again.

Have you spoken to CAB or Shelter, they may be able to give you some advice. Are there any Housing Associations in your area?

niknaknoo1982

Wkdwill wrote: »

It must be awful having that little space, I know we are having to get rid of things, a chair in the living room a desk and pc in the bedroom and thats only for 4 of us, as we know we have no chance of being rehomed. For us its a small price to pay to live in a nice area litterally a walk up the drive to the High Street, but for you its very much overcrowding, the council should be giving you some sort of higher priority more so when you are trying to swap in the first place.

I dont know where you would stand if you were to leave a council house for a private to need a council house again, I think if you were to be made homeless by your landlord then they would try to help rehouse you but they would also push you to get a private again.

Have you spoken to CAB or Shelter, they may be able to give you some advice. Are there any Housing Associations in your area?

Our local housing associations are in partnership with the council, so i'm on the waiting list for all possible housing associations aswell, a few houses do come up to bid on but we have 4 categorys of housing need. and we are in the bottom!

*From council website*
What is the Banding System?
All applicants are placed in one of four bands. Your band takes account
of your personal and household circumstances.

The scheme has 4 bands:

Band 1 Urgent Housing Need - for example,
High priority medical / welfare needs
Where we have a legal duty to re-house under homeless legislation
People in a clearance area

Band 2 High Housing Need - for example,

Medical / welfare needs
Temporary moves whilst repairs are carried out
Overcrowded households needing 3 or more extra bedrooms

Band 3 Housing Need - for example,

Lodgers
Over crowded households needing 2 or more extra bedrooms

Band 4 Standard Need - for example,

Applicants suitably housed wishing to move to another area
Applicants living in caravans or mobile homes

:mad:

silvercar

I don't understand why you are not currently classed as overhoused. With five of you, even the children counting as halves, you would be entitled to 2.5 bedrooms. If you only have two bedrooms you are overcrowded.

Just read your signature. I know babies under 1 are not counted at all, so that means that from December 2008 you would be counted as overcrowded. Was your assessment very recent? If not, I would ask for it to be redone.

skylight

We are 7 in a 2-bed. We are on the re-housing list and classed as overcrowded.

But I wont give up my council place for a private tenancy. It will take a LONG time to wait and it may never happen, simply due to the vast volume of people on the housing list in the first place. But I think that the kids are better off having to share a small space than run the risk of forcing them to move every year or two (and possibly schools).

mardatha

I would never leave a council house to go private. The LL must be desperate to ge some money in during this credit crunch , when things pick up again he will sell it from under you. My daughter has 5 kids and was in a similar situation. Moved with 4 kids at 7 months pregnant and it was a disaster. The LL split with her husband and wanted "her" house back, and my daughter got emergency housing in a homeless unit. Awful time.

PasturesNew

Stay where you are. A council tenancy is a tenancy for life, the private sector's full of traps and mishaps. If you went private and t hen the LL sold the house you'd not get another council house. You'd be back at the end of the queue.

I had a friend who was with 2 sisters in a 2 bed council house. Her, 2 sisters, parents. She was 13 and slept behind two wardrobes in her parents' room.

I presume the kids have the biggest bedroom and if you've got bunk beds in there then there's quite a lot of floor space still for them to play etc.

kunekune

I would be worried about leaving a secure tenancy for someone who is so desperate for tenants he's almost stalking you. You will not have a secure tenancy, and could well end up in a worse position than you are in at the moment: yeah, if you end up homeless cos he sells the house and you can't find anywhere else, you might get help, but it won't even be a 2 bedroom semi. It does sound very crowded but it was your choice to have a fourth child - either your choice to become pregnant or your choice to continue the pregnancy. I'm not judgmental but we don't live in a country where contraception or termination is impossible, and if you don't 'believe' in those, then you have to take the practical consequences.

Also, I hate to throw another fly in the ointment, but what kind of job is OH waiting for? It sounded like security from what you said. Isn't there a scam going on with job training/offers that never go onto become real jobs? It is unlikely that a conventional employer would wait months for someone's paperwork to be ready.

niknaknoo1982

silvercar wrote: »

I don't understand why you are not currently classed as overhoused. With five of you, even the children counting as halves, you would be entitled to 2.5 bedrooms. If you only have two bedrooms you are overcrowded.

Just read your signature. I know babies under 1 are not counted at all, so that means that from December 2008 you would be counted as overcrowded. Was your assessment very recent? If not, I would ask for it to be redone.

The council are still insisting that with 1.5 children they are ok to share because you need OVER 2 people sharing to be classed as overcrowded and my kids are all under 10 still Even with my pregnancy the child won't count until he's 1 and then i'll only have 2 children sharing, (even though it will be 4 really) so i'd need to wait for my eldest to turn 10 before we'd be classed as needing an extra bedroom, which still only leave us in same category (4) because we only need 1 more room :mad:

niknaknoo1982

skylight wrote: »

We are 7 in a 2-bed. We are on the re-housing list and classed as overcrowded.

But I wont give up my council place for a private tenancy. It will take a LONG time to wait and it may never happen, simply due to the vast volume of people on the housing list in the first place. But I think that the kids are better off having to share a small space than run the risk of forcing them to move every year or two (and possibly schools).

Blimey, how do you manage with 7 in a 2 bed?