Council house exchange help please.

Egsy09

Hiya wonder if you can help.

I currently live with my small daughter in a 1 bed flat. I have found a lady with a 2 bed flat in exactly the same situation, just her and her small daughter. After handing in the forms and both having our inspections we have now been refused due to overcrowding on the other ladys part. So my question is what is the offical number of people allowed per room/ flat? I fail to see how they can allow me to move in with my child but not another person? The manager i spoke to said she classes all babies as their own people so should have their own room unless sharing with another child up until a certain age. To me this sounds more like her personal opionion rather than procedure. Other departments said that this shouldnt cause a problem as u are able to go one above or below your needs. Ijust want to have my facts straight so we can fight this if possible.

The other lady has planty or reasons for also wanting the move and is as upset as me.

Thanks in advance

motherofstudents

Sorry, I don't know the answer to this, but could you approach your local councillor ? They usually have advice sessions or maybe you could try CAB (you can probably get advice over the phone). It doesn't seem fair but then some of these rules and regulations don''t always make sense. Did you move into your flat before you had your daughter ? maybe that would make a difference.

callmechar

Call Shelter 0808 800 4444

callmechar

She is accepting a flat which is not suitable and then could try to claim homelessness or to get higher up the waiting list on her current/future circumstances.

See this:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/home_safety/overcrowding

Hence the reluctance from LA/HA

Egsy09

Thanks for the replies.
Motherofstudents, i moved in when my daughter was 4 months old. Ive been trying to exchange for almost 3 years now.

Callmechar, i have already spoken to shelter and the most they could say is that on the face of it they didnt think it was an unreasonable decision.

Seems strange that the housing exchange team say u can downgrade yet the its the tenancy team that have made the decision and said the housing team have it wrong...

callmechar

Egsy09 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
Motherofstudents, i moved in when my daughter was 4 months old. Ive been trying to exchange for almost 3 years now.

Callmechar, i have already spoken to shelter and the most they could say is that on the face of it they didnt think it was an unreasonable decision.

Seems strange that the housing exchange team say u can downgrade yet the its the tenancy team that have made the decision and said the housing team have it wrong...

You can downgrade when your circumstances allow it eg kids left home etc.

Perhaps you could consider making a homeless application? I do agree it doesnt seem unreasonable (for the reasons I have mentioned), the decision is reviewable so perhaps this is something the other party can consider

How old is her child?

Egsy09

Her child is 5, mines 3. Theres a lot that just doesnt seem to make sense, the exchange team also said this had been done many times in the past and was a bif baffled as to why it would be a problem. And also that they moved me in in the 1st place but its got good enough for someone else... Even if she did downgrade and at a later point decided she needed more space she wouldnt be in any different a situation to what i am now?

Another thing i should point out that struck me as strange was when i spoke to the lady who wrote the refusal letter it was the same lady who had inspected my home and she didnt even have the correct info and i had to argue with her that it wasnt a 1 bed to 1 bed, that one was a 2 bed, she practically barked 'oh well it wont make any difference anyway'

[Deleted User]

What I'd do, is get them to write their reasons for refusal to you (just tell the woman u don't understand it and need it written down so u can make sure any exchange is permitted next time). If they write saying they will not allow this woman to move in because its a one bed flat and she needs a 2 bed flat.., I'd be down the council housing office same day asking for rehousing from them because if your property isn't suitable for her, its not suitable for u!

Either they stand by their guns and give u a larger property so u don't need to exchange or they change their minds and allow the exchange to take place.

I'd also contact my MP/councillor about this ludicrous situation.

squinty

The bedroom standard is

A separate bedroom is allocated to each:
− married or cohabiting couple;
− adult aged 21 years or more;
− pair of adolescents aged 10-20 years of the same sex;
− pair of children aged under 10 years regardless of sex.

So the person wanting to move into your 1 bed flat with a child of 5 would be overcrowded. The council are correct to refuse this exchange.

(When you weere allocated the flat I suspect the Council were using the definition of overcrowding from Part X of the 1985 Housing Act - this excluded children under the age of 10)

shegirl

Egsy09 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
Motherofstudents, i moved in when my daughter was 4 months old. Ive been trying to exchange for almost 3 years now.

Callmechar, i have already spoken to shelter and the most they could say is that on the face of it they didnt think it was an unreasonable decision.

Seems strange that the housing exchange team say u can downgrade yet the its the tenancy team that have made the decision and said the housing team have it wrong...

They are perfectly correct to not allow it.

Of course you can downgrade but not if it's to a property that is not suitable.

why on earth would she be choosing to move somewhere where she will be sharing a room with her 5 year old child from a 2 bed property?She's either incredibly desperate to move due to bad area OR,the likely situation,she thought if she went for it she could then apply to be transferred (which you can do btw).

You think it's no different to you?Well it is.You moved there when your child was a baby -perfectly normal for a baby to share with parents.It is not,however,normal to move somewhere so your 5 year old child will have to share a room with you!

Chrissiew

It does sound incredibly dodgy to me, the lady has a 5 year old child and is in a 2 bed flat, yet she is prepared to move into a 1 bed flat where she will be overcrowded, she might be in a really bad area, of course you would have viewed her flat, but maybe in the daytime and not see what goes on in the area at night, a few months after moving to the 1 bed flat she will most probably apply for a larger place due to overcrowding, maybe hoping to get a house and not a flat.

The HA will have to move you sooner or later, so perhaps their reasoning is why move someone who is adequatly (sp) housed into somewhere that will make them over crowded, they may as well just leave you there and rehouse you in the not too distant future.