Need a bit of advice on qualifying for council house

kitty_and_gucci_2008

Hi All,

My partner and I are expecting our first child in December. We are currently living in a private rental property, and the tenancy agreement ends at the end of February 2010.

Our landlord is not selling, but has other tenants ready waiting to move in when we move out. The council have said that we are currently on band B because we are not homeless and dont have any rent arrears with the landlord. They will only find homes for homeless people.

We cant find any other private landlord as we also have 3 lovely cats. We are both working full time and cant aford to give up work so will be paying £680 per month childcare so want to bring the costs down by renting from the council, as we dont have family and friends to rely on. We have also wrote a letter to the council explaining our situation to the coucil.

What shall we do next?

Thank you.

G_M

Find a landlord willing to house cats, or live with your cats on the streets for a period of time, after which the council will house you (though not the cats).

sparkle83

dont give up hope on finding somewhere with the cats, I'm moving on weds with a german shepherd and 2 cats, it is doable, especially if you can find someone at an agency who loves animals

Once the baby is born,you may get more joy from them, but possibly a letter from midwife now stating how much stress it is putting on you might help a little?

Morgan_Ree

Do you mind me asking why you are not renewing your tenany in your current house?

If it has anything to do with wanting to leave in order to get into social housing the council may see that as making yourself intentionally homeless and you won't be a priority case

Come Febuary you may find yourself living in a BnB or even a hostel whilst you wait for a place to become available
It's very common for councils to do this

BitterAndTwisted

They can only find homes for homeless people because they have no available homes at all. A lot of the homeless are being put into privately-rented accommodation for that reason. Being on the list may not guarantee you a council home ever because they are housing families according to need, so homelessness is obviously the most dire need.

It's not impossible to find a landlord willing to let to you with cats but you might find you will need to offer a larger deposit to cover any potential damage the animals may cause. Finding a private landlord rather than through an agency might be a better bet. There's a lot of rental properties available at the moment so a couple on a decent wage with great references and a larger deposit might make you look a much more attractive prospect than you might think

PasturesNew

If only it were that simple ... we'd all love to cut our costs by getting a council house, but it's just not possible for most people.

You'll just have to plan to stay where you are really.

Thermidor

Don't you need a certain amount of points to qualify for a council property?

poppysarah

The council house system is mostly flawed by the lack of properties available.
This is a national disgrace!

Oldham's waiting list is 11,000 which is the same as the number of properties they own.

If rents were cheaper would people be happy not to have a council house? I think so.

You should speak to shelter for proper advice on your housing rights.
You could also go and see your MP and state the case for more council houses OR cheaper rents in the private sector (Bearing in mind most MPs are BTL landlord).

Engelbert

Band b is actually very high for most councils. Have you been bidding on properties? Çertainly at our local council you would be in band b even if you were accepted as homeless

Bufger

Whats more important, a roof over your head or 3 cats? get rid of the cats and look after your family.

ILW

I would suggest that if you are working, you have virtually no chance of getting a council house. Give up your jobs and get yourselves a drug habit and a few Asbos, tell them you have separated and the missus is a single mother and you will get a place in a flash. Oh, and trade in the cats for a Pitbull or similar.