Council tenant

volvic09

Thanks everyone for replying.

What I don't understand is they (council) would probably give my house to a family who have never worked and have no intention of working. The council then only get £5 per week. Would they not prefer someone who is able to pay full rent, full council tax. I know there is a shortage of housing but don't see why really.

I really think its quite hard for people like me (24) who has recently left uni and working full time to actually get on the property ladder as I can't get a mortgage as I don't have 20% deposit. Private tenacy is probably the only option in the future. I would have loved to have kept my house on if my dad passed away

exitroute?

I know exactly what you mean..my son is 23 and employed and folks seem to think he can afford to have a home of his own. I will need to go back and read over what became quite a busy thread but as already said, my Houisng Assn allowed my son to become a joint tenant and I now know that he would have a right to succession anyway. I still think you have rights and I would contact Housing Ombudsman to check out where you stand. In an ideal world..things would be a s perfect as some posters may prefer but the real world is very different. Those of us in Social Housing have first hand knowledge of things and every RSL has powers to make discretionary decisions. I dont know if you have a girlfriend but that could make a difference.

viktory

volvic09 wrote: »

What I don't understand is they (council) would probably give my house to a family who have never worked and have no intention of working

That is quite a sweeping statement. What facts have you based it on?

volvic09 wrote: »

The council then only get £5 per week. Would they not prefer someone who is able to pay full rent, full council tax.

I am sure they would - but the point is not everyone can afford to pay full rent and that is what HB is for. It would hardly be fair for the council to discriminate based on people's ability to pay full rent! You are rather missing the point of social housing.

volvic09 wrote: »

I know there is a shortage of housing but don't see why really.

Really? It is fairly obvious why there is a shortage.

volvic09 wrote: »

I really think its quite hard for people like me (24) who has recently left uni and working full time to actually get on the property ladder as I can't get a mortgage as I don't have 20% deposit. Private tenacy is probably the only option in the future. I would have loved to have kept my house on if my dad passed away

Yes, it is difficult for people like you. Mind you, it is difficult for a lot of people. I still don't think that allowing people to under occupy social housing properties is the answer though.

Perhaps the person that lives in a property too big for their needs should be moved to a smaller property and perhaps be offered a financial inducement to sweeten the deal. This way, they are not homeless but nor are they under occuping.

Jomo

exitroute? wrote: »

I know exactly what you mean..my son is 23 and employed and folks seem to think he can afford to have a home of his own. I will need to go back and read over what became quite a busy thread but as already said, my Houisng Assn allowed my son to become a joint tenant and I now know that he would have a right to succession anyway. I still think you have rights and I would contact Housing Ombudsman to check out where you stand. In an ideal world..things would be a s perfect as some posters may prefer but the real world is very different. Those of us in Social Housing have first hand knowledge of things and every RSL has powers to make discretionary decisions. I dont know if you have a girlfriend but that could make a difference.

Has your son ever thought about shared rental.

A lot of people are in the same boat!

Paparika

volvic09 wrote: »

Hi,

I live in 3 bedroom council house with my dad who has recently been made redundant and is on job seekers allowance and we are still paying full rent and full council tax. I have asked several times if I can be put on the rent book however they said 'no' because if anything happened to my dad I would not be entitled to a three bedroom house as I have no children. Even though I am paying the bills.

Have they really stopped putting other people's name on the books? If I am responsible for paying all the bills surely I should be entitled to something. Or is this not the case?

Any advice would be helpful

They have stopped putting people on the tennancy so that, IF it didnt work out all parties would have to leave the home.. council would then have to rehouse you all..
that was what i was told.

I want to put my son on the tenancy when he is older they said no

exitroute?

Real world: I am in a large 2 bed house built to accommodate 4...both bedrooms double. I was a single parent with a 10 month old baby when I moved in and was facing homelessness before the offer came. I didnt need the space but needed a roof over my head. i wasnt going to argue about other folks needing the house more than me. One of my adjoining identical joining houses was later let to a young woman. No kids..not pregnant..no partner. This is how rules are bent. All landlords are interested in is rent. What do they care about who comes in? Policies and rules on paper are required but who ya know, what ya know and how to work the system is the key. The young man wanting to take over his dads home in future would save a fortune in allocation processes for a start and a known good tenant can work out many thousands of pounds cheaper than an anti social one who has no respect for property or neighbourhoods.

exitroute?

Shared rental? My son has a shared rental situation with me and we want to move to a smaller house so that when he can afford a mortgage and move out, i wont be left as an adult underoccupying a large home. We have been trying to do that for a very very long time and cant get out.

seven-day-weekend

volvic09 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for replying.

What I don't understand is they (council) would probably give my house to a family who have never worked and have no intention of working. The council then only get £5 per week. Would they not prefer someone who is able to pay full rent, full council tax. I know there is a shortage of housing but don't see why really.

I really think its quite hard for people like me (24) who has recently left uni and working full time to actually get on the property ladder as I can't get a mortgage as I don't have 20% deposit. Private tenacy is probably the only option in the future. I would have loved to have kept my house on if my dad passed away

It is hard, yes. It is even harder for people your age and slightly older who have never been to Uni and because of various problems and disabilities will probably never have more than a minimum wage job.

I can see my son and his girlfriend living in our family home (not social housing) for ever; they can't afford private rent or a mortgage and stand no chance of getting social housing. They do both work part-time but don't earn enough to pay these things. Because of their particular problems they both find it hard to work in an extra job.

The only answer appears to be more social housing, but I realise that this is not going to happen.

emmasmum01

i've been in social housing for over 15yrs now and i know a few things have changed since then, except one....If you look at most exchange websites and council exchange lists you'll probably notice that most people are after homes with 3 or more bedrooms, now have you ever noticed that when councils and H/A are building new properties the majority are 1 and 2 bed? thats because they build the houses that are more in demand. (single mums waiting in b&b's and evicted families etc)
Well 15yrs ago i asked my h/a why and they said because those sizes are in more demand (yet if you look on the exchange sites you'll see differently and it was no different 15yrs ago). So i suggested that they forget about building the smaller homes and build bigger ones for the families who are over crowded in the 1 and 2 bed places, then the people on the list waiting for 1 and 2 bed places can have the ones the families move out of and as per usual it fell on deaf ears and yet would, unless i'm mistaken seemed quite logical.
Now if you go around most 1 bed flats in your area they're either left empty for years or overcrowded.
I hoped the housing situation would never have become what it has but it has and like somone before said you can't just keep building houses. unfortunately there are 100's if not 1000's of homes that are greatly under occupied with elderly tennants or people who's children have moved out long ago and we are now in desperate need of these houses. if there is no underlying health reason then these tenants should be re housed into smaller properties and the councils must be allowed to do this without the fear of the so called human rights monkeys butting their nose in. if they want to open our flood gates to any tom !!!!!! or harry and whether we think it right or wrong they need to do something it's not going to sort itself out!!!.
I'm fortunate enough to have what is now a very lovely 6 bed H/A house (it was a pig sty when i did an exchage) and it's taken me 15yrs of decorating my properties to a fairly high standard and searching tirelessly for exchanges and not once have the councils or H/A ever moved me except from temporary accomodation to my first proper tenancy which was a small 2 bed flat. but when my children have all moved out i will not need this large house and i will give it up. My husband and i can just about afford the gas and electricity to keep this house warm which combined is £200pm so when were drawing our pension i'm not gonna want to spend it on trying to keep warm.

A report in the paper today said our population will grow by a city the size of bristol every year til 2033,
thats a 10 million predicted rise in uk population by 2033 7 million of that due to immigration
and a 700% increase due to brits living past 100yrs.
Now where are all these people supposed to live because i don't think that the people who die each year will counter ballance the people who are born or arrive in this country.

Now i'm not racist and don't wish to be classed as such. However i am realistic and I think that this is just one of a very good few reasons why our immigration rules etc should be tightened if not stopped altogether. this country is litterally running out of room.

Macro_3

Thanks everyone for replying.

What I don't understand is they (council) would probably give my house to a family who have never worked and have no intention of working.

Pfft. Really? I was under the impression that LA housing was allocated according to need, not employment status.

The council then only get £5 per week. Would they not prefer someone who is able to pay full rent, full council tax. I know there is a shortage of housing but don't see why really.

No, they would get the rent paid in full either way. HB is not funded by the LA, it is funded by central government generally.

I really think its quite hard for people like me (24) who has recently left uni and working full time to actually get on the property ladder as I can't get a mortgage as I don't have 20% deposit. Private tenancy is probably the only option in the future. I would have loved to have kept my house on if my dad passed away

It will be hard, but that's life for young people nowadays unfortunately. It would be even harder if, for example, you were a disabled single parent with no prospect of ever being fit for work and therefore no chance of ever getting a mortgage, and no prospect of social housing. Or someone who, due to his upbringing/education/capability has not been to university and will never be able to do so.