help needed to get moved (council)

rosscog85

Hi my partner and I are council tennents (Dundee) and are desperate to be moved.
Here is the problems:
We have 2 daughters aged 1 and 9 (nearly 10) in our 2 bed flat and my daughter from a previous relationship aged 9 who stays on a regular basis, however the council say we are adequitly housed.
We have also had to get the anti-social behaviour team involved as one of our neighbours is a drug user and very loud. The council awarded us 40 points for this (the only points we have) but it has not helped in the slightest.
We can't afford private as i have struggled to find work since being made redundat last year. I now struggle to sleep at night due to stress and feeling depressed because of all the noise and worry, mostly for my children as i don't want them growing up in this enviroment.
Any tips or help would be much appreciated as we have ran out of ideas and are desperate to get out of here.

pmlindyloo

As you have 2 children of the same sex under 16 years of age they are deemed to be able to share a bedroom.

Your daughter from your previous relationship will not be counted when allocating the number of bedrooms as she is not counted as part of your household (same applies to single fathers who have their children visiting).

So from this perspective you will have to 'make do' and come up with flexible sleeping arrangements.

Now for your second problem.

Anti social behaviour, especially from a drug user, can result in an eviction order. However, this can be a long and drawn out procedure as they are deemd to have 'rights'.

You can see from the advice from Shelter about that:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/neighbourhood_issues/antisocial_behaviour/eviction_for_antisocial_behaviour

You may want to follow through with this by contacting your local council and asking them what has happened as regards this neighbour.

It seems to me that the council are 'fobbling you off' in a way by giving you extra points.

You may want to get your MP involved stressing the possible consequences of this kind of anti socail behaviour around young children as well as yourselves.

You could also approach CAB for some help regarding the anti social behaviour to see if there is some 'rule' which allows you to ask for a transfer because of the situation with the neighbour.

Although you say that you cannot go down the private renting route have you checked with your local council as to what help they could give you with this? Do they operate a Deposit Bond Scheme where they guarantee your deposit (no money would change hands - the council just guarantees the landlord that they would be responsible for any damage etc.) Do they have a list of landlords who accept people on HB/low incomes?

Many people on low incomes rent privately. Check your local housing allowance for a 2 bed place and see what you could get for that amount.

You haven't said what your financial circumstances are. Are you receiving all the benefits you are entitled to? Check using the benefit calculator on here: www.turn2us.org.uk

rosscog85

Thanks for the reply. I'll contact the coucil tomorrow to see if they have a list of landlords i could contact, always another option to explore. The deposit wouldn't be a problem as our family are very supportive and a great help at times.
The council are very good at fobbing people off, we put in for a management transfer and were awarded 40 points instead!

We recieve all benefits we are entitled to, income based jsa, child benefit and child tax credits.

theartfullodger

Rosscog:

Have you VERY CAREFULLY read Dundee's housing allocation policy & seen if you are getting the right priority/points??

See here...
http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/housingoptions/hocouncilhowwelet/

If you think they've missed something write to them (yes WRITE!!!), keep a copy.

Also maybe go see the good people at Dundee Citizen's advice.. see..
http://www.dundeecab.org/

There is nothing to stop you, by the way, from applying, as well as Dundee, for housing from other council areas if you are prepared to move: Appreciate kids & schools may make that difficult

Best regards

rosscog85

Thank you so much for that! Away to write a letter straight away as we should have more points for other reasons. You have just gave me a much needed lift, thanks again.

mrs_motivated

I am not sure if you can do this in Scotland, but have you thought of a mutual exchange? Lots of people will be looking to downsize because of the under occupancy rules coming in next April for council tenants. This might be a possibility you could exchange for a 3 bed house (provided you can pay the shortfall in housing benefit, if you are receipt of this)

Find out also if a national house swop scheme can be used eg Homeswapper.

rosscog85

mrs_motivated wrote: »

I am not sure if you can do this in Scotland, but have you thought of a mutual exchange? Lots of people will be looking to downsize because of the under occupancy rules coming in next April for council tenants. This might be a possibility you could exchange for a 3 bed house (provided you can pay the shortfall in housing benefit, if you are receipt of this)

Find out also if a national house swop scheme can be used eg Homeswapper.

Yes we are on the housing exchange website and check it on a regular basis but not had any luck yet. Think my partner was talking about home swapperthe other day so will need to see if she registered with that.

barnaby-bear

rosscog85 wrote: »

Yes we are on the housing exchange website and check it on a regular basis but not had any luck yet. Think my partner was talking about home swapperthe other day so will need to see if she registered with that.

I think you should check though if they would expect you to cover the difference between a 3-bed and 2-bed yourself as this could make things difficult with a redundancy. If you are deemed to need a 2-bed they might not allow a swap that would make you under-occupied. I think you need professional housing advice - perhaps the citizen's advice (CAB)??.

barnaby-bear

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Although you say that you cannot go down the private renting route have you checked with your local council as to what help they could give you with this? Do they operate a Deposit Bond Scheme where they guarantee your deposit (no money would change hands - the council just guarantees the landlord that they would be responsible for any damage etc.) Do they have a list of landlords who accept people on HB/low incomes?

Many people on low incomes rent privately. Check your local housing allowance for a 2 bed place and see what you could get for that amount.

At the moment they have a secure tenure though, a private rental would usually offer only 2 months notice and it can be difficult, plus most private landlord's do not like tenants decorating their kids bedrooms or pets. The OP should be aware that giving up a secure tenure could result in other problems and they should consider the security especially with children.

pmlindyloo

barnaby-bear wrote: »

At the moment they have a secure tenure though, a private rental would usually offer only 2 months notice and it can be difficult, plus most private landlord's do not like tenants decorating their kids bedrooms or pets. The OP should be aware that giving up a secure tenure could result in other problems and they should consider the security especially with children.

I absolutely agree with you.

The problem is do you live in an area where you have neighbours who are using drugs or do you take the risk and rent privately?

No easy answers. Eviction of the neighbour is the best option if they like where they are.

rosscog85

Thanks for all the advice. The council have us on the waiting list for a 3 bedrooms so we know that it wouldn't be a problem to swap for a 3 bed.
Another reason we aren't wanting to go private is because it is not a secure tenure as mentioned.
Feel more confident of getting more points after some of the info on the posts, fingers crossed.