would i be a priority for a council house?

everything_crossed

This is a little complicated but I do not want advice on my situation, just the housing side of things so I put my thread here, hope its in the right place.

2 Years ago my ex partner took me to court to get custody of our son, he told a lot of lies about me with the intention of taking our son away to live with his new girlfriend and himself. He got custody and moved 300 miles away. He basically made me out to be a monster.

At the time I did not have the evidence to prove he was lying, I have that proof now.

To cut a very long story short the conditions that the judge set for me was for me to hold down a job close to where my son lives for 6 months and also get a house/flat near to my son, and then we can start the process of me getting him back.

My question is, under the circumstances would the council house me? would I be classed as priority? I have proof if the council need to see it in the form of court documents/dates etc.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Each local authority/housing provider will have its own rules regarding children, usually depending on stock/demand in the area. However, as a rule of thumb, best use of existing stock would mean that they would regard your son as "adequately housed" with your ex and, as a result, not in need of accommodation with you. Depending on the authority, they MAY look at 2 bed accommodation to allow access, but I doubt they would look at allocating family type accommodation (ie a 2 bed house).

As for priority? You may get a priority if you are homeless (even those who fall outside of the priority groups defined in the homeless legislation are entitled to "reasonable preference") but it unlikely that they would consider your child in this for the reasons given above.

Even if you secured a 1 bed flat, I'm sure arrangements could be made to start the process of establishing access.

olly300

everything_crossed wrote: »

My question is, under the circumstances would the council house me? would I be classed as priority? I have proof if the council need to see it in the form of court documents/dates etc.

In London the councils I know wouldn't class you as a prority due to the lack of housing.

Other councils have more housing so while they will still have prorities you are more likely to be housed. The only way you know is by going on the council website and seeing.

Cheeky_Monkey

Personally, I think that, from the information you have given so far, the Council would be unlikely to consider you a priority.
Most Councils work on a points system for things like overcrowding, health issues, how long you've lived in the area etc. so unless you meet their criteria, I'd be surprised if they agreed to house you at all.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

Personally, I think that, from the information you have given so far, the Council would be unlikely to consider you a priority.
Most Councils work on a points system for things like overcrowding, health issues, how long you've lived in the area etc. so unless you meet their criteria, I'd be surprised if they agreed to house you at all.

Most Councils have now moved away from points and to a CBL (Choice Based Lettings) system of allocation. These tend to have a limited number of "bands" (Usually between 3 and 5) to reflect the level of need. Bidders within each band are then usually sorted in date order. As dependent children are often a requisite for priority, those seeking single person accommodation are often in a surprisingly strong position with either no or limited priority.

flappy_mcwarbucks

My question is, under the circumstances would the council house me?

In short. No.

If the child was with you, you'd be in a stronger position. But as at the time of searching, you are classed pretty much as a single person. And being single does not get any favours in the council offices.

Get on the private rent. You'd have more luck there.

Wee_Willy_Harris

flappy_mcwarbucks wrote: »

In short. No.

If the child was with you, you'd be in a stronger position. But as at the time of searching, you are classed pretty much as a single person. And being single does not get any favours in the council offices.

Get on the private rent. You'd have more luck there.

Councils (and Housing Associations) house single people all the time.

flappy_mcwarbucks

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Councils (and Housing Associations) house single people all the time.

You're quite right, they do.

But this person is moving from one area, to another with no history of previous residence. And no local connections as such.

The single people that are housed by the council are pretty much from the area, just out of social care, or have been on the housing list for billions of years.

Wee_Willy_Harris

flappy_mcwarbucks wrote: »

You're quite right, they do.

But this person is moving from one area, to another with no history of previous residence. And no local connections as such.

The single people that are housed by the council are pretty much from the area, just out of social care, or have been on the housing list for billions of years.

That very much depends on local conditions, demand, turnover, occupancy rates etc. In many Local Authority areas, a single person can stroll up and get re-housed in a matter of months (even weeks), regardless of any local connection. Of course, her child living in the area may well be sufficient to create a local connection.

puddy

but the court order specified that she work near where her son lives for 6 months, she says she has done this i think

so she is working near where the child lives and is presumably still working

Wee_Willy_Harris

No. She says that work in the area is one of the conditions. As she is also looking for housing there, it's quite possible that the process has yet to begin.