Relocating when in council housing

Miss_Ratty

Hi There,

I wondered if anyone knew of the procedures to follow, or if there is any advice on the internet?

Basically, my gran is 74 and is in housing association housing in Northern Ireland. All of her children had moved to England about 20 years ago, and she stayed in Ireland to help look after her elderly mother. My great-gran is now in a care home, and my gran is looking to move to England to be closer to her children now that she knows her mum is getting the proper care she needed. Her siblings are in Ireland, and she will return to make sure her mum is ok etc., but getting fragile herself, we worry about no-one being around for her.

I wondered how I could go about finding out more about it, as its not something I have much knowledge of.

Savvy_Sue

Well, presumably you want your gran near one or other of you. So, first step would probably be for each of you to contact local council and ask about housing associations / sheltered housing options etc. Even if you don't think she needs sheltered housing, that may be the best option because it can be easier to get into that 'normal' council / housing association properties because it's not offered to families etc.

If there's a concentration of you in one council, that gives a stronger 'local connection' than if you each live in different councils. A local connection is good, and what you need, I believe.

However, there may also be HomeSwap - where she swaps her HA property with someone who wants to relocate to NI. She can ask about that over there, and you can all ask about that over here. Swaps can be 3 way or more, I believe.

Miss_Ratty

Thank you very much, that is definitely food for thought. I'll see if I can get the ball rolling...

Invalidation

Do a Google for Council House Exchange. There are some good, free sites out there. We now have a loveley semi detached Housing association house with near quarter acre of land in a tiny community of 10 houses way out in the countryside and its bliss.
We achieved this via a 3 way swap. I had to set it all up and do the running around but it was well worth it.
Your Local Council or Housing association will have a 'Homeswap Book' showing who wants what, where. You should get her name on it ASAP