cash for downsizing

winterwhite11

hi, i live in a rented 3 bedroom housing association house but i want to move to a smaller bedroom property.
i am ill and unable to work and there is no way i can afford to hire a removal van at the moment . also i could not afford new flooring so would be without flooring in my new house for god knows how long .
a local man to me {a oap} told me he was given cash to downsize his home. i know he was telling the truth but when i rang the housing association they said they don,t do that , i rang the council as well who also said they don,t do it..
i know the man was telling the truth as i have known him nearly all my life.
i wondered if anyknows if there is anyway to find out if i may be able to get cash from anywhere to move..i know it sounds like i am scrounging money but i cannot manage my house i am in, i have 2 extra bedrooms not needed but cannot afford to move..thanks

cattie

I think you will find that some councils and some HA's at one point did offer cash to downsize, but as there only so much in the cash pot for this, it is usually a time limited thing and once the money has all been allocated, then the scheme stops.

The best thing to do is to keep checking every few months to see if any new schemes have started up.

I see from my local councils weekly rag that they currently offer tenants a pittance of in the region of £300 per bedroom for downsizing into a smaller property. Now in London, that won't even cover the cost of removals in most cases, let alone anything else.

Perhaps you could try for an exchange? I'm sure plenty of people would be only to happy to pay you a cash sum to be able to secure a 3 bed property in exchange for a smaller one.

If you are on benefits through ill health, you could possibly qualify for a community care grant towards removal expenses if it's essential for your health to move to another property.

winterwhite11

thanks,i will look out

savingmummy

I agree some councils were doing this i know of some people who did downsize for a cash sum.

Do you have family or friends who could help with removal?
I would join homeswapper or something similar and look for an exchange.

Constant_Gardener

A word of caution from the Homeswapper website:
"Offering cash incentives may be illegal and you may be acting in contravention of your tenancy agreement. HomeSwapper will cancel the membership of anyone offering cash incentives OR any person using language which is abusive or otherwise likely to offend."

winterwhite11

i have a friend with 3 children who want to move into my house so i would not take any money off them...