Please help - sick with worry

naomi1010

hi sorry not replied sooner,
thanks to all your replies and links - I will have a look at them all.

Yes I do know the area but have absolutely no idea how the system works OBW as as I stated before I have never been in this position before - never claimed benefits let alone being on the housing list so not sure what is meant by that and being able to help ourselves??

I originally came here asking if a) what the council stated is true and b) never being in this situtation could anybody offer any advice not for it to turn into the rights and wrongs of aslyum seeking - again as stated I have absolutely no issue with genuine ones and agree they must have been through hell and back but you can not tell me that all asylum seekers are genuine and/or have come through to the uk legally.
Whilst I agree that my financial situtation is down to me, this is not what I came on here asking for help with or to be slated with 'you've done this to yourself' - please do not judge as it was all down to unfortunate circumstance rather than us living the life of riley. As said we (me up until recently) have worked since leaving school so have contributed to the uk and are not 'benefit scroungers' either. We genuinally need help for the first time ever and feel like we have hit a brick wall.

viktory

Glad you come back - I look forward to a response to the questions posed. The more information offered, the better quality the help!

naomi1010

Viktory thanks for your help - we are based 30 miles from Lowestoft and yes hubby does work full time wage approx 24K.

Just had a look on rightmove for rented properties and a 2 bed flat above a shop is £450 a month and a 2 bed house is £500 so please can you help me with where you saw the ones you listed. Would we be entitled to help towards renting? As not sure how you tell/work out if you are eligible just went with what the man told us at the council which is what worried me slightly

rozmister

I know this might sound very patronising (and if so I'm sorry) but have you looked on your chosen LA's website. I live in Bournemouth and Bournemouth Borough Council's website has a link to a calculator (made by the next borough) which you can put your income, dependents and such into and it tells you if you are entitled to any HB or CTB and if so how much. I don't know if this is a nationwide thing but it can't hurt to look

viktory

naomi1010 wrote: »

Viktory thanks for your help - we are based 30 miles from Lowestoft and yes hubby does work full time wage approx 24K.

Just had a look on rightmove for rented properties and a 2 bed flat above a shop is £450 a month and a 2 bed house is £500 so please can you help me with where you saw the ones you listed. Would we be entitled to help towards renting? As not sure how you tell/work out if you are eligible just went with what the man told us at the council which is what worried me slightly

Right, well I put Lowestoft (+30 miles) into the search and the first property is a 2 bed unfurnished flat in IP20 for £325 PCM. NR33 offers a 2 bed house for £395. 3 bed house in NR32 for £450 a month.

Now I earn a shade more than your husband and am the only one earning in my family* - my rent is £470 and my CT a whopping £150 a month. So you should be able to manage these rents and may be entitled to some LHA and CTB.

* ETA: We do not claim/are not in receipt of any benefits.

Bloomin_Freezing2

naomi1010 wrote: »

Unfortunately DH parents have a 2 bedroom house so no room for us to stay

If you went to stay with them temporarily you would then be class as 'overcrowded'. Well thats what happened to us anyway, my landlord decided to sell, private renting prices had gone up and I'd recently fallen pregnant. We stayed in my mums one bed flat. Being overcrowded gave us more points. We were only there 6 weeks before a house came up. Thankfully before this new system of bidding came into place.

naomi1010 wrote: »

We did ask this at the interview and the man said doubtful but couldn't give a final answer until we find a house to rent privately which could mean we find one to then find out we are not intitled to any help so would be stuck in a house we can not afford

If you do decide to privately rent you have in theory resolved your homeless problem, then they won't help you. Thats what the housing association lady told me.

dmg24 wrote: »

Anyone who is granted asylum in the UK will have been to hell and back in their own country. They are not here to play the system, they are here because the alternative is something we cannot even contemplate. Maybe we should give them a break, show them that not everyone wants to treat them like a second class citizen?

No always the case though is it? There are a lot of people bleeding the country dry and not all of their situations are true. That goes for british people pretending they can't work due to illness, and asylum seekers coming here for a wonderful life of free houses and benefits, women to rape etc. I know british people rape too, but i'm sick of seeing in the news rapists being asylum seekers.

Jowo_2

The Shelter website will be the best source of information for the OP to understand her rights and the councils obligations under their homelessness application.

As far as I'm concerned (and I know that it was mentioned by a council employee), the asylum seeker angle is completely irrelevant and is a total red herring in the OPs actual situation. The housing officer sounds like a complete idiot and evidentally supplied incorrect information on a number of occasions regarding how their homelessness application would be processed. I bet if the OP submitted a complaint, or got the local MP involved, the local council would scramble to provide more sensible information.

As the OP is already experiencing, with countless others, for a variety of reasons, local councils have a strong reputation for not undertaking their full statutory obligations in how they treat homelessness applications. For example, the Crisis charity undertook a mystery shopping exercise and got people to present themselves as single homeless. I believe in around 90% or more of the applications, the council did not meet their minimum legal obligations. In most occasions, the 'homeless' person would not even be able to submit the paperwork, many would not get past the receptionist, were fobbed off with leaflets or stalled by being asked to supply further information where there is no legal obligation to do so. One woman submitted a complaint about the housing officer, only to find that she'd been given a false name by him and he could not be identified. It is really that bad. I am not remotely surprised that an overworked, under trained HO would come out with provocative and ignorant advice.

The LHA Direct website will inform the OP of the maximum LHA entitlement for the size of property she is eligible for (though obviously can live in any size she likes). The Turn2us online benefit calculator will be helpful to double check benefit entitlements and will show how the employment income impacts the receipt of means tested benefits.

I agree with what a previous poster says that if the family finds its own private accommodation, then they will no longer be considered as homeless as unsurprisingly, if they have a tenancy, they are no longer in need! That's how it works.

There are millions of people on the social housing list and councils simply can't or won't manage their obligations due to high demand on the scarce resource.

viktory

I also agree that finding privately rented accommodation means that the council will no longer deem the family homeless - but isn't the point that the family will be homeless? I think finding a roof is better than waiting for the council. Could be a very long wait and might include temporary accommodation, a B&B etc.

eskimo26

Bloomin_Freezing2 wrote: »

but i'm sick of seeing in the news rapists being asylum seekers.

Perhaps stop reading trashy tabloids?

Jowo_2

viktory wrote: »

I also agree that finding privately rented accommodation means that the council will no longer deem the family homeless - but isn't the point that the family will be homeless? I think finding a roof is better than waiting for the council. Could be a very long wait and might include temporary accommodation, a B&B etc.

Same sentiments from me.

Except we all know that social housing is coveted for its security of tenure and relative cheap rent. It is well known that priority need secures it, such as homelessness, and some households would rather take the inconvenience and stress of the homelessness route to be catapulted up the social housing queue as its based on need than pay high rents and have insecurity of tenure through private rental.

This isn't aimed at the OP, btw, but some households will know their rights, and insist on their right, to be placed in social housing even when they have other options open to them. Conversely, others are strong candidates for social housing but the local council will not meet their statutory obligation and the applicants do not know they are being fobbed off. There are threads on the housing forum that make this apparent.