Homeless & On Council Housing List

linzipinzi

Hi, I hope this is the right forum to post on, if not please let me know which one I should be on....

I am posting on behalf of my sister who has found herself in a bit of a difficult situation... She has been private renting for over a year and was served notice on the property 2 months ago. They have given her until the 2nd Feb to move out. She recently split up with her partner and can no longer afford to private rent and has qualified for housing benefit. She has no deposit as she was on a scheme with an agent where she paid an extra amount a month on top of her rent to cover the lack of deposit.

She contacted the local council to see what they could do for her as she is now homeless and has a small child and they put her on the housing list and catergorised her as high priority. They operate a home search/ bidding system where you bid on properties. But so far there has been very little to bid on. In 2 months she has only been eligable to bid on 3 properties and they are too far away for her work, her childs nursery and my mum who helps with child care.

She is now worried (as am I!) that the 2nd is not that long away and she has nowhere to go. Does anyone know what the council will do if anything if there are no 2 bedroomed properties that come available? I only have a 2 bedroomed property so they can come to mine short term but will this take them off the high priority list? Her housing officer has not been very helpful- there answer was ask her family to come up with the deposit and go private rent but sadly neither me or my mum are in a position to help out financially:(. And then she needs to find a landlord who will accept her on housing benefits.

Any help or advise would be gratefully received...

Thanks
L

Elle7

If they come to yours they won't be high priority anymore, because they have somewhere to live.

If there is nothing available, there isn't much the council can do. They will give her somewhere suitable, probably an emergency flat or B&B or similar, until something does come available. It's a waiting game, but she will be very high priority due to her child, so she just needs to keep at the council to help her.

BigAunty

Do local authorities hold back properties from Choice Based Letting bidding to allocate directly to the homeless?

Get her to speak to Shelter who can confirm what the housing officer is supposed to be doing (versus what they are doing), and who can perhaps assist her in her dealings with the council.

tbs624

OP, if your sister has been served with a S21 it is a notice of intent to repossess - she does not have to actually move out until the LL obtains a court order which may give her some extra time.

If she wants to keep her priority place she should not move in with family.

As the poster above, says Shelter ( google them) can give valuable advice. Their lines are always busy so she will have to persevere

rentergirl

Good calls on Shelter, and also staying in touch with the council. See also local Housing Associations, and schemes where private landlords agree to take on homeless people with no deposit, as there might (might) be on ein your area.

jojo_2012_2

linzipinzi wrote: »

She has no deposit as she was on a scheme with an agent where she paid an extra amount a month on top of her rent to cover the lack of deposit.

Wouldn't this extra amount to cover the deposit still be returnable upon her leaving?

I think beggars can't be choosers, if she has to travel further to go to work from the house they're offering her then that's what she'll have to do. It's only going to be somewhere else within one local authority surely? Tonnes of people commute more than that every day and they also don't have mums to cover childcare.

linzipinzi

Thanks for the advise- I have pointed her towards the Shelter website and to keep on at her housing advisor.

re: living with me- would she still loose priority if both of them are sleeping in one room? Would it be classed as over crowding?

re: the deposit- it was one of those schemes where she doesn't get anything back- I do not know the ins and outs of it but will take a look through her paperwork to double check this.

re: beggers cant be choosers- the home search site that she has to bid from has 3 councils within the Nottinghamshire area. It shows properties in areas over 20 miles away. My sister does not have access to a car and would need to catch 2 or 3 buses to get to work/ nursery.

BigAunty

linzipinzi wrote: »

...

re: living with me- would she still loose priority if both of them are sleeping in one room? Would it be classed as over crowding?

...

Check the local council website to determine how they determine priority - they should have info there about how they assess.

I very much doubt that over crowding creates a priority as high as homelessness.

Also, check whether the council will count habitable rooms (i.e. class the living room or dining room as being a place where someone can sleep), therefore whether she'd even be classed as overcrowded.

Many councils operate a rent deposit guarantee scheme for those in housing need or low income looking in the private sector. I know that the housing officer has told your sister to borrow the deposit from relatives but do check if they have this scheme.

Hump

Assuming she is in the Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe area

The fact she is already in the high band means that she can move anywhere on a temporary basis and retain her 'priority'. The council can only cease their duty on one of half a dozen specific grounds, moving from an AST under the threat of a s21 to a relative's spare room is not one of them. In fact the council are likely to be keen on this as it saves them the trouble of finding a temporary or emergency accommodation somewhere else like a hostel or B&B. If she is in the NottinghamSR Homesearch scheme then she has a difficult decision to make:

1.If she moves into temporary accommodation provided by the council then she remains in the high band for 12 weeks, then she is moves to the urgent band for 6 weeks after which they just allocate her a property (which could be anywhere).

2.If she stays in the property (risking legal/ court fees) then/or with you then she gets to stay in the high band until she finds somewhere.

see http://www.home-search.org.uk/Data/ASPPages/1/32.aspx

might be worth her asking her housing officer if 1. and 2. are correct as this is what a brief reading of their policy suggests