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Gaining social housing when working.
samwich1979
Posts: 526 Forumite
Does anyone know how easy it is to gain social housing through the local council for a single income family of 3 struggling in the private rental sector?
Private rentals in our area in the price range we can afford (£500 a month and below) are awful. The house we are in at the moment has had a damp problem which has made the wallpaper bubble and peel off the walls at skirting board level, we are also sure there is a leak in the loft as the whole house smells of damp every time it rains.
We are too scared to ask the landlord about sorting all this as when we had a problem with a mouse that had got into the wall cavity in our living room wall he said we were over-reacting and it took us 3 complaints for him to sort it.
We are now out of our AST and on a rolling contract so want to leave asap.
We looked on the councils housing website at council accredited private rentals and saw one that looked nice in the pictures, also the description said it was newly carpeted and decorated. Also it had a new boiler and alarm system.
When we saw it on Tuesday we discover that it was all lies.
The landlord actually told us the carpet was 6 months old(and dirty at that) the house was re-decorated in December 2011 and no mention of the alarm being new but one look at it told us this wasnt true.
The paint was coming off the walls in places and some parts in the bedrooms hadnt been painted it was just bare plaster.
The door on the boiler cupboard had been broken off half way down and was hanging off and the work surface in the kitchen was chipped everywhere and dirty as where the cupboards.
To say i was disappointed was an understatement. We made our excuses and left.
This is basically the story with most properties in the price range we can afford and we are sick the back teeth of it.
I have informed my local council leader of this and he has discussed it with a private sector housing officer who i hope with investigate it as i was told all council accredited private rentals are checked by a housing officer! WHAT A JOKE.
So i feel that the only way to go is to try and get social housing as i feel we would be more protected from disgusting landlords and properties like these.
Can we get anything on a single income, with a 16 month old son to look after? or will it take months if not years?
Private rentals in our area in the price range we can afford (£500 a month and below) are awful. The house we are in at the moment has had a damp problem which has made the wallpaper bubble and peel off the walls at skirting board level, we are also sure there is a leak in the loft as the whole house smells of damp every time it rains.
We are too scared to ask the landlord about sorting all this as when we had a problem with a mouse that had got into the wall cavity in our living room wall he said we were over-reacting and it took us 3 complaints for him to sort it.
We are now out of our AST and on a rolling contract so want to leave asap.
We looked on the councils housing website at council accredited private rentals and saw one that looked nice in the pictures, also the description said it was newly carpeted and decorated. Also it had a new boiler and alarm system.
When we saw it on Tuesday we discover that it was all lies.
The landlord actually told us the carpet was 6 months old(and dirty at that) the house was re-decorated in December 2011 and no mention of the alarm being new but one look at it told us this wasnt true.
The paint was coming off the walls in places and some parts in the bedrooms hadnt been painted it was just bare plaster.
The door on the boiler cupboard had been broken off half way down and was hanging off and the work surface in the kitchen was chipped everywhere and dirty as where the cupboards.
To say i was disappointed was an understatement. We made our excuses and left.
This is basically the story with most properties in the price range we can afford and we are sick the back teeth of it.
I have informed my local council leader of this and he has discussed it with a private sector housing officer who i hope with investigate it as i was told all council accredited private rentals are checked by a housing officer! WHAT A JOKE.
So i feel that the only way to go is to try and get social housing as i feel we would be more protected from disgusting landlords and properties like these.
Can we get anything on a single income, with a 16 month old son to look after? or will it take months if not years?
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Comments
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monkeytrumpet wrote: »Get on a list would be a start, but we all know who ends up with social housing nowadays. The basic rule I have found with councils is if you can/do pay be it at a struggle ypou get nothing. You could become homeless that would then put you into a whole new ball game.
We were actually 2 days away from being made homeless last may and our council still refused to help us with housing so i doubt this would make one bit of difference!
What annoys me the most is when im on the bus to work and it goes through a local housing estate most of the houses have lovely cars on the drive and nicely looked after gardens etc and i wonder how they manage to get social housing and they can afford to run a car?
My poor husband would love to even LEARN to drive but i cant spare money for him to do this.
It really doesnt pay to be a decent, working citizen does it?0 -
Are you getting all the benefits that you are entitled to?
Put your details into the benefit checker here:
http://www.turn2us.entitledto.co.uk/entitlementcalculator.aspx0 -
samwich1979 wrote: »What annoys me the most is when im on the bus to work and it goes through a local housing estate most of the houses have lovely cars on the drive and nicely looked after gardens etc and i wonder how they manage to get social housing and they can afford to run a car?
My poor husband would love to even LEARN to drive but i cant spare money for him to do this.
It really doesnt pay to be a decent, working citizen does it?
Unless your area is an awful lot different from where I am, if you have a social housing estate with nicely looked after gardens, the occupants probably ARE decent, working citizens! It wouldn't be fair to assume that people who are unemployed don't look after their gardens or that all employed people do, but I know from experience that the estates that are the biggest mess also have the highest numbers of claimants - and are also the ones where there is most often housing available.0 -
samwich1979 wrote: »It really doesnt pay to be a decent, working citizen does it?
How do you know that the houses with cars on the drives that you are jealous of don't contain decent hard working citizens?
Answering the OP, I would get on the housing list. They take affordability into account when they consider whether you are currently adequately housed. As to the carpets and decorations being new, within much of the private rented sector new can be anything up to a year old in many people's eyes and while carpets and decorations should look nice for a minimum of a year after purchase unfortunately many tenants use and abuse. I agree though, that carpets replaced within the last year would have been a more accurate statement."Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." Dalai Lama0 -
We are getting £11.60 Housing Benefit every 2 weeks and child benefit.
Thats it for us.
My husband gets nothing as i work, so he looks after our son while im at work and is looking for work on the days i dont but with no joy right now.
I know we may get some CTC and i need to ring and sort this but none of this helps us with moving really.
You need rent in advance, deposit and if through an agent extortionate fees for admin and references.
We just dont have the money for all this and its REALLY getting us down.0 -
marybelle01 wrote: »Unless your area is an awful lot different from where I am, if you have a social housing estate with nicely looked after gardens, the occupants probably ARE decent, working citizens! It wouldn't be fair to assume that people who are unemployed don't look after their gardens or that all employed people do, but I know from experience that the estates that are the biggest mess also have the highest numbers of claimants - and are also the ones where there is most often housing available.
Im not in anyway implying that unemployed people dont look after their gardens etc.
My point is that these people who have the cars and nice gardens etc must be getting good money from somewhere to have these things so how have they got social housing?
I always thought it was people who didnt have the money for private renting or who are on benefits got help with housing.
Obviously you cant be struggling for every penny if you can run a car? And as i said we cant even afford driving lessons never mind buy a car and run it!
And no im not jealous im just very curious as to how people use our social housing system.0 -
I think you have an overly idealistic view of social housing. Yes, there are some properties of a very high standard, but others (the ones that are more readily available) will be far worse than what you viewed recently. In many cases, social housing does not even have carpets - can you afford these? You may get a small decorating grant, but it won't be a great deal.samwich1979 wrote: »Im not in anyway implying that unemployed people dont look after their gardens etc.
My point is that these people who have the cars and nice gardens etc must be getting good money from somewhere to have these things so how have they got social housing?
I always thought it was people who didnt have the money for private renting or who are on benefits got help with housing.
Obviously you cant be struggling for every penny if you can run a car? And as i said we cant even afford driving lessons never mind buy a car and run it!
And no im not jealous im just very curious as to how people use our social housing system.
They go on the waiting list, just as you will have to. Why should someone that works hard for their income not be eligible for social housing?0 -
It seems that the only issues with the house you looked at were cosmetic. For a low rent it seems reasonable to blitz the place when you move in and bring it up to your own standards?0
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samwich1979 wrote: »Does anyone know how easy it is to gain social housing through the local council for a single income family of 3 struggling in the private rental sector?
...
So i feel that the only way to go is to try and get social housing as i feel we would be more protected from disgusting landlords and properties like these.
Can we get anything on a single income, with a 16 month old son to look after? or will it take months if not years?
Nationally, there is a chronic shortage of social housing stock.
Locally it varies. For example, my local council has a choice based system and those who select high rises have a very greater chance of securing their bid than those who bid on houses.
Some areas are so short of social housing that the councils cannot meet their statutory obligations to home the homeless in priority need and have thousands in B&Bs, hostels, in temporary private housing.
Your council will probably publish statistics on supply/demand, the amount of people applying versus the turnover of stock. Councils are normally transparent with their statistics so find them on their website or ask them for them. Mine published tables that showed how many people bid on each property and what band they are - basically, pretty much all properties went to high bands so those who were considered in less need (weren't homeless) never really got any.
Social housing allocation is based on need - the homeless with disabilities or dependents are prioritised. Finding the private sector depressing and expensive doesn't get you any points.
Having a roof over your head will always make you a lesser priority. Nothing to stop you from applying from local housing associations and the council anyway (though some councils refuse to accept applications if they don't think the household stands any chance of success).0 -
samwich1979 wrote: »We are getting £11.60 Housing Benefit every 2 weeks and child benefit.
Thats it for us.
My husband gets nothing as i work, so he looks after our son while im at work and is looking for work on the days i dont but with no joy right now.
I know we may get some CTC and i need to ring and sort this but none of this helps us with moving really.
You need rent in advance, deposit and if through an agent extortionate fees for admin and references.
We just dont have the money for all this and its REALLY getting us down.
If you are entitled to housing benefit, you should get a fair whack of CTC every week - we get full CTC, a little bit of WTC, and were calculated to be entitled to 2p/week HB, which they pay religiously every four weeks - all 8p of it!
If you can manage without CTC just now, whats stopping you applying, and putting it all aside for moving fees?0
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