new council tenants, need help to get funding for new carpets, furnishings etc

concerned43

Hi there, your best bet is to apply for a community care grant (as previously said). You will be allowed up to 4 weeks housing benefit while waiting for the grant. I myself have had this grant in the past for carpets, cooker, washing machine, sofa, beds etc. and as your kids are so young then I would expect you to be successful but don't expect £600 - they will probably award it for the kids bedroom and livingroom - but every little helps. Also even if the grant does not come in the next four weeks do not tell the council you have not moved in yet as they cannot pay housing benefit after the 4 weeks have elapsed.

concerned43

PS - do not refuse the property as 'wee willy' suggested, you will then not be able to refuse the second property offered which may be in a worse state/location than the current one!

C_Mababejive

Freecycle is a great place to get stuff..also ebay

sunnyone

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

It's amazing that any children survived in the days before fitted carpets - they must have been injured in their thousands!

And no washing machines or even spin dryers!

bestpud

When we first got a house, we had two young children - one was 6 months old and the other 2 years old.

We already had some furniture, so that helped, but we didn't have carpets, curtains or big items as we lived in a mobile home beforehand.

We asked around and were given curtains good enough to provide privacy and we put carpets down as and when we could afford them - that was well over a year in our bedroom.

We were a long time without a sofa - we had a couple of arm chairs.

We were given a table and chairs but not immediately - we sat on fold up chairs and the children had their highchairs before that.

We moved in just before Christmas and had no tree or anything as we didn't have room before, so we were given an ancient little tree and some very old decorations. It was all a bit bare, but did we care about that...? Not a bit - we were too pleased to have our own home with electric, heating and a constant water supply.

It's what most of us have to do, I'm afraid.

There is no health risk to your children - if the floor boards are a bit uneven, make sure they have long trousers on and they will be fine. Children are tougher than you think!

Advertise on Freecycle and ask around - you'll be surprised how much stuff people will come up with. Get the essentials and the rest will follow eventually.

Good luck!

Oldernotwiser

sunnyone wrote: »

And no washing machines or even spin dryers!

You can do children a lot of damage if you put them in one of those!;)

Wee_Willy_Harris

concerned43 wrote: »

PS - do not refuse the property as 'wee willy' suggested, you will then not be able to refuse the second property offered which may be in a worse state/location than the current one!

The only time a refusal would be an issue would be if they had priority as a result of a statutory homeless duty to house. If priority is for any other reason, then refusal would not be an issue. Having looked into how social housing is run in East Lancs, I notice that they use CBL (Choice Based LEttings). This isn't allocation by the council in the old, traditional "you will live here" way, but more of a "here is what we have this week, would you like any of these?". So, like buying, you get the chance to see where the property is, have a look round and make up your mind based on that. Most providers will have a stipulation about refusals, but it would take way more than two to be an issue, I assure you.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You can do children a lot of damage if you put them in one of those!;)

Yeah, but it takes their minds off the splinters.

Wee_Willy_Harris

concerned43 wrote: »

Hi there, your best bet is to apply for a community care grant (as previously said). You will be allowed up to 4 weeks housing benefit while waiting for the grant. I myself have had this grant in the past for carpets, cooker, washing machine, sofa, beds etc. and as your kids are so young then I would expect you to be successful but don't expect £600 - they will probably award it for the kids bedroom and livingroom - but every little helps. Also even if the grant does not come in the next four weeks do not tell the council you have not moved in yet as they cannot pay housing benefit after the 4 weeks have elapsed.[/QUOTE]

And a recommendation to commit fraud.... brilliant advice.

Becles

Ikea sell large rugs quite cheaply. That might do for now until you can afford fitted carpets.

If that is no good, you could get some cheap vinyl flooring. That would cover the boards and provide a suitable surface for crawling on.