help needed with local authority houses

dragonfly02

I am currently renting a 2 bed home in wiltshire, we have 2 children (1 boy 3yrs and 1 girl 7yrs) we pay 575 pcm.

My friend lives in a local council 3 bed property paying 240pcm there are 2 adults and 4 kids under the age of 16 (overcrowded)

My question, she is leaving her property to buy one of her own that is more fitting for her family, but the house she will leave is perfect for my family.

I am trying to find out the legislation on this whole issue as she is prepared for me to take over the house permanently, i know there must be people all over the country that just move into properties like this and continue to pay the rent and keep quiet but i would like to know if there is a legal way to aquire the property.

we have been on the housing list for many years until we moved house and didn't notify the council of our move resulting in our application being removed from the waiting list so we are back to square one as far as applying ourselves.

My friend was going to add us to her property as lodgers but you are not able to do this if it will overcrowd the house so we cannot do that.

they are looking to move by june so I really need some help on this one as it would be the ultimate money saver for my family.

Please please please help

chugalug

There are several problems in what you're suggesting which would be impossible to detail here. I can just mention the main ones and then suggest you go for housing advice to your local CAB or housing aid centre. Try https://www.shelter.org.uk for your nearest. 1) your friend would remain the legal tenant unless she gives notice on her property. This means she remains liable for the rent etc. 2) you would not become the legal tenant for reason 1) but would be a trespasser with no legal rights to remain in the property. The LA could get a court order and have you evicted - by bailiffs if necessary. 3) if your friend moved out and you moved in you would both be liable for prosecution. 4) if you became lodgers, you would be overcrowded so the LA would not allow this. (Also your friend is not statutorily overcrowded) 5) if your friend is buying on the open market with any help from a HA or her LA one of the conditions would be that she relinquishes her tenancy. Please take further advice on your situation. I know its difficult when you're waiting for social housing but there is, unfortunately, no legal way round this. You should immediately apply to the housing register again and take advice on your options as above. Have you checked if any local Housing Associations have open waiting lists? Sometimes this can be a quicker route in but I know in areas like the South East many of the HA now only nominate from the LA waiting list because of the lack of housing. ps I know you said many people just move into LA properties when the tenant moves out and no-one is any the wiser but its not advisable. They do remain trespassers and can be evicted at any time so there isnt any real security. In the meantime are you entitled to any help with the rent through housing benefit? Are you able to claim any tax credits etc to help financially? I hope you can sort this one out. Good luck.

dragonfly02

thanx so much for your advice so far, I was hoping to find someone who knows about council housing who could help me, my friend asked the council about having a lodger and they said no due to overcrowding and then when on to mention subletting the whole of the property saying "there is a right way and a wrong way to do it" they agreed to send her some info about this but just sent the new tenant handbook.
Another thought i have had after some research in other councils came after I came across some type of assignment order where the tenant can pass on their tenancy.
also the other thought was that her step children will soon be living with their mother thus making more room for lodgers, would it theoretically not be possible for us to lodge for 12 months then would we qualify for assignment?
I have no faith in the housing authority as we approached them before when we were homeless, jobless with 1 child and i was heavily pregnant with another and they offered to house us in the local travel lodge at an m4 service station.
Now years later we both have jobs and so not have threat of eviction i don't think they would be too eagre to help

chugalug

You cannot 'sublet' the whole of the property. One of the terms of the tenancy agreement is that it is the 'only or principal home' of the tenant. If they are subletting they must be living elsewhere hence have broken the tenancy agreement - a ground for possession. As far as I know, a tenancy can only be assigned to immediate relatives (or a cohabitee) who has lived at the property for at least the previous 12 months. The rules are different for council housing (secure tenancy) and Housing Association housing (assured tenancy). If you need help with your housing situation use Shelter's website or go and see them, they are the experts. HTH.

Poppy9

If you are both working can you apply to a Housing Assoc. for shared ownership. You buy part of a property and they buy some and charge you a reduced rent. Might be a way to get onto the property ladder.

dragonfly02

poppy9, we applied for shared ownership about a year ago, the property was 74k and the rental was approx 300 pound ontop, this is more than our monthly payments now.

thanx chugalug i will be checking the shelter website, in the meantime please be assured we are not trying to illegaly aquire this house, this is why i have asked for advice to see if it is possible. we do qualify for 3 bed council housing as we have different sex children sleeping in 1 room where 1 child is 7 years old. I was just hoping tenancy assignment or similar were possible

Poppy9

Could you not afford a 100% mortgage if you could have bought a house last year for 74k and the housing market is not good at the moment wouldn't the repayments work out at the same as your rent?

dragonfly02

yes poppy the repayments of a 75k mortgage would be acceptable for us but unfortunatly we are only able to morgate for approx 50k which in this day and age wont even get us a 1 bed flat in my area

suki1964

Just a thought but could you and your friend do a mutual exchange?

dragonfly02

i'm gonna sound really stupid now but if you don't ask you won't get the answers.
suki what do you mean? i'm not farmilliar with "mutual exchange" i thought you can only exchange between council houses and housing association, i rent my house privately

suki1964

Ooops missed that bit - apologies