17 years old, pregnant...

RiaPenido

Hi I joined to get some serious advice as the council, the job centre, etc. have been absolutely useless giving me advice on what my next step is.

I'm 17 years old and 20 weeks pregnant. I'm in a steady relationship and we are currently living in a box room in his parents house that is completely unsuitable for us. There is mould growing on the wall, not enough room for our things and just not very nice for a young family to live in. My boyfriend is 18 and in and out of employment. He's just finished a temporary contract with M&S and we have saved 50% of all money he's earnt but it still isn't enough to pay for a deposit or first month's rent. He is actively looking for work with lots of interviews coming up.

Our plan is to get a flat and then claim private housing benefit until the kid is old enough to allow me to get a steady job.

So what I need to know is what help is available for us to help us get our own flat? Or what would be our best option We've looked at budgeting loans, crisis loans, and various things but we are very very confused. So please could anyone give me some decent advice? Without judging my life choices would be great aswell

melb

good luck to you. If "your life choice" was to have a baby I'm surprised you hadn't thought about where you might live or how you would finance it beforehand. At least you've got a roof over your head with your partner and he is working to support you both so you are better off than some people your age.

RAS

Is he signing on? Has he claimed JSA for you as a couple?

Bluemeanie_2

RiaPenido wrote: »

Hi I joined to get some serious advice as the council, the job centre, etc. have been absolutely useless giving me advice on what my next step is.

I'm 17 years old and 20 weeks pregnant. I'm in a steady relationship and we are currently living in a box room in his parents house that is completely unsuitable for us. There is mould growing on the wall, not enough room for our things and just not very nice for a young family to live in. My boyfriend is 18 and in and out of employment. He's just finished a temporary contract with M&S and we have saved 50% of all money he's earnt but it still isn't enough to pay for a deposit or first month's rent. He is actively looking for work with lots of interviews coming up.

Our plan is to get a flat and then claim private housing benefit until the kid is old enough to allow me to get a steady job.

So what I need to know is what help is available for us to help us get our own flat? Or what would be our best option We've looked at budgeting loans, crisis loans, and various things but we are very very confused. So please could anyone give me some decent advice? Without judging my life choices would be great aswell

Have you been to your local "housing options" section at the council, to specifically fill in the forms to go on the waiting list for a house? I fear because technically, you have somewhere to live, albeit unsuitable, you may not get somehwere immediately. However do get on the waiting list asap. You could get a crisis loan for a deposit on a private rent possibly.

All the best with it.

RiaPenido

It wasn't exactly a choice to have a baby, but it happened and now I've got to make the best of it! I know we're lucky to have a place to live to live but our room is only big enough for a single bed and I'm getting fat so 2 people sleeping in it is a bit cramped haha

RiaPenido

RAS wrote: »

Is he signing on? Has he claimed JSA for you as a couple?

We're in the process of doing this now but it isn't much help towards a deposit

Elle7

Housing benefit will be quite limited - the rates are going down, whereas rents only seem to be going up.

If you give a rough idea of your area, we can check your local housing benefit rate - the maximum they will pay per week. If your housing costs less then this, they'll pay it (you don't get to keep the extra anymore) or if it costs more you'll need to make it up yourself. The new system doesn't depend on personal circumstances or anything - just a weekly limit, which it can be hard to find rents under, so you'll need to be realistic.

If your boyfriend starts work again, you'll need to tell them and they will reduce your housing benefit (now called LHA) and any income benefits you'll get. Will you qualify for income support when the baby comes? What do you do at the moment?

As for a deposit - this is the problem most people have. Council waiting lists are very large, and you might find you are not priority - both because you already have somewhere to live, and because you have not yet given birth. When you do give birth, if you were kicked out or didn't have anywhere to live, you'd probably find they'd house you in a B&B for a while, but it'd be for just you and the baby - not your partner, who still wouldn't be high priority. Some people do get flats quite fast, but the vast majority its a very slow process even if you get into a high priority band.

You'll need either a family friend or family to lend it to you, or to apply for a crisis loan if they cover deposits - housing benefit won't.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If your boyfriend gets off his behind, his recent work experience could well translate into a job where he can provide a home for the child he has fathered. You could do temping for the next 10-15 weeks, no problem. More money.

You aren't homeless, you aren't alone and vulnerable, so getting together a huge deposit and renting privately is your only real option (especially as the baby doesn't count for LHA calculations).


Perhaps there is a social worker who could advise you as you are legally still a child? Perhaps they could come up with some form of going into care where you are fostered and given support to help yourself?


There should be someone in the council called something like a housing options officer. They can advise you how to find yourself somewhere to live (although you may not be able to enter any contracts because you are still a child).


Good luck.

RiaPenido

Bluemeanie wrote: »

Have you been to your local "housing options" section at the council, to specifically fill in the forms to go on the waiting list for a house? I fear because technically, you have somewhere to live, albeit unsuitable, you may not get somehwere immediately. However do get on the waiting list asap. You could get a crisis loan for a deposit on a private rent possibly.

All the best with it.

Cheers, the problem with going on the waiting list is that there is hundreds of people with the same problem at the moment so it would take ages thus not happening before the baby is born in may. Technically I'm homeless and only able to live here temporarily so I might try to play that up a bit.

j.e.j.

I would say don't give up on applying for social housing. The council may be fobbing you off, due to the huge demand for social housing and the lack of resources, but I would have thought that as you are in an overcrowded and potentially unhealthy environment (mould) and there's a baby on the way, and you are under 18 you would get a reasonably high priority banding? Ask them for a social housing application form.

Elle7

RiaPenido wrote: »

Cheers, the problem with going on the waiting list is that there is hundreds of people with the same problem at the moment so it would take ages thus not happening before the baby is born in may. Technically I'm homeless and only able to live here temporarily so I might try to play that up a bit.

Yeah that won't work.

It doesn't matter if its temporary, the calculations are based on if you have somewhere to be now - and you do. Your situation is no different to if they put you in a B&B - you have somewhere to sleep tonight, so you are okay.

For them to consider you to have nowhere to stay your boyfriends parents would need to write a letter to formally evict you, and then the council will plague them with letters and emails to make them keep you for a while longer.

As you say, the lists are packed - you can apply, but people in my country are being housed now that have been on the list since 2008, and were second-priority.

I'd focus on getting your partner a job and borrowing or saving up a deposit. Do you work?
It's worth asking the council if they have an assured deposit scheme. It might be difficult to find a landlord who will accept a bond instead of a deposit, but its an option which would allow you to move.

Where abouts are you?