Housing trouble

Lizzieb151

Hi I am posting this on behalf of my MIL and wondered if anything had any advice please.

My MIL is having housing trouble beause she rents from local authority a 2 bedroom house. However there are 5 adults permently living living there and another 2 adults and a baby on a part time basis but our local authority won't help her to find a new place.

It started out 3 years ago when a cousin who has special needs moved in as he wasn't coping on his own. There was my mother and father in law and their 2 children who were teenagers at the time living there and he moved into the living room.

They got banded at a D because the children were under 18 once they both turned 18 they got moved onto a C banding.

Now my MIL's mother has moved in because she fell into rent arrears at the her place was to be evicted and can't manage on her own either. At the same time one of my brother in law's has had a baby with his girlfriend and moved into her mothers house but got kicked out so are technically homeless. They spend 2 weeks at my MIL's house and 2 weeks at her auntie's house but the council have said they voluntarily made themselves overcrowded so have removed their banding as MIL's mum could go into a home and the cousin could also go into sheltered accomodation.

Neither of them want to go just want to stay with family so my question is what can we do?

Surely having these 2 people living with my MIL saves the local authority money so why is there such a problem with moving them into a bigger house.

merlin68

Probably because there there illegaly and not on the tenancy.

merlin68

Note: Tenants may break their tenancy conditions if they become overcrowded by letting people move in with them.

ciderwithrosie_2

Isn't it 6 permanent adults living there? MIL/FIL, their own 2 children, a cousin and a grandmother. Where do they all sleep? We have 5 adults in our family in a 2 bed house but the front bedroom is big enough for all 3 lads, just downstairs is a bit crowded if we're all in and have guests round!

The housing authority will be suspicious I'm afraid as tenants before them will have abused the system - moving in assorted relatives (temporarily) in order to get a bigger house, so a genuine case for rehoming like your MIL's family get excuses or ignored especially if you pay your rent and don't cause trouble.

When we were made homeless and offered temporary accomodation - a one room bedsit for myself, OH, a toddler and a newborn, when OH was working nights and needed to sleep during the day (also type 1 diabetic), we were told 'take it or leave it, your OH can sleep somewhere else' so we went to see our local MP at his surgery and they got on to the housing authority and 'amazingly' they found they had a 1 bed flat available. So it might be worth contacting their MP and explaining that they all want to stay together and how it will be cheaper.

Lizzieb151

Thanks - they others are not there illegially - a change of circumstance has been completed and the local authority are aware of all changes in the household. Technically 6 adults yes.

I am well aware that the council think the overcrowding was done to get a bigger house but that is not the case at all. The cousin is 56 and was looked after by his parents but then they died and we left him to live on his own for 3 years but he wasn't coping. Social services went in to sort bits out for him and he went to a daycare centre but gradually things got worse so he came to stay for a funeral and just didn't go back. Her doesn't qualify for daycare help here so we have organised our own things for him and my MIL is his carer.
Her mother has been going downhill for a number of months and suffers from Vertigo - the doctors said she needed care and would be better moving. She has been in rent arrears for a long time and can't afford to live where she is and some days didn't even eat - with the threat of eviction anyway she decided to give her place up so these are geniue people in need and we have thought about the long term care and are making provisions for it. We registered them on homeswapper and found a 3 bed house but then the move was rejected because even in a 3 bed house thye would still be overcrowded so they left them all in a 2 bed Madness!!

shegirl

FGS these are adults making CHOICES and they are not a family with young children.Why on earth would anyone expect the local authority to give them a bigger house?

Each adult within that household is able to find THEIR OWN housing.They do not have to live with each other and they do not all have to persue council housing.

Ridiculous!!!!

madison-nyc

are any of the people in the house working? even if on benefits , private renting maybe an option?

Lizzieb151

Exactly what is ridiculous?? If we put the oap and special needs into their own places then they would have to be funded by the council and supported by carers which would surely cost the local authority more when they are already cashed strapped. The 2 boys had their hours cut so cannot afford to move out yet and my in laws aren't on benefits and pay for everything in full including rent. A larger house would be beneficial for all concerned.
A family with young children also make a choice to have the children so why should they be treated any different??

Mara69

Lizzieb151 wrote: »

A larger house would be beneficial for all concerned.
A family with young children also make a choice to have the children so why should they be treated any different??

These people CHOSE to live together. So go and rent a bigger house. Privately. Problem solved.

Families with young children have to rent privately as there is a chronic shortage of council homes.

shegirl

Lizzieb151 wrote: »

Exactly what is ridiculous?? If we put the oap and special needs into their own places then they would have to be funded by the council and supported by carers which would surely cost the local authority more when they are already cashed strapped. The 2 boys had their hours cut so cannot afford to move out yet and my in laws aren't on benefits and pay for everything in full including rent. A larger house would be beneficial for all concerned.
A family with young children also make a choice to have the children so why should they be treated any different??

You honestly don't see what is ridiculous about a bunch of fully grown adults choosing to live together in cramped conditions expecting to be given a priority that would give them a larger house?!The mind boggles!

Special needs adult and oap,that I could just about accept.To have so many is plain absurd,to be frank.

They are all capable of making their own decisions and finding places to live -it's not rocket science.Flat shares,renting rooms etc.All doable.There is no reason on earth why any local authority should agree to house them all together.

My advice would be for them to grow up and look after themselves.

Yep,families choose to have kids and I don't agree with constant breeding and asking for larger houses due to it.However,kids are brought up by their parents,it's not as if they can tell the young kids to live elsewhere is it!It's totally different

Lizzieb151

One in the house is working, one is paid carers allowance and the other disability allowance and one has pension. The 2 boys are on JSA. Private renting a 4 bed would be more than double the rent now so not really an option.