Mutual Exchange refused

Caz3121

Posting on behalf of my daughter
Lives with partner and 2 children, boy 6 and girl 6 months in council flat. No housing benefit, pay their own rent (not high income but not high rent) - Scotland
Had been looking for a mutual exchange and found a 3 bed close to them and eveyone happy (woman in 3 bed on benefits and needing to downsize - she has already started packing up her house!)
Paperwok submitted in March and inspections took place of both properties. Today received letter to advise that exchange rejected as house too big for their needs

According to Shelter website the son's bedroom is sufficient for 0.5 person (ok for one child) and daughter does not even get counted till she is one

Am I correct in thinking

• Not worth appealing as until daughter is one she does not count for overcrowding
• when daughter is one they will be able to swap for a two bed with a larger second bedroom to enable the children to share (or a 3 bed where the 2 bedrooms are too small to be shared)
• then when son is 10 they will be able to swap for a 3 bed

She is really upset as daughter has outgrown crib and there is no space in their bedroom to comfortably put cot. Son's bedroom has no room to swing a cat and they like where they live and it took them ages to find a swap

Doesn't seem to be much in the way of private lets....seems that the area is split as either social housing or new posh estates which are out of their price range

Just want to check I was not missing anything before I tell her to just make do for the next 6 months then start the exchange search again (although I don't know who is going to swap a 2 bed for a 2 bed so who knows what they would do for the next 4 years!)


many thanks

carefullycautious

7 years ago we exchanged our 3 bed to a couple with a new born and 4yrs old of opposite sexes with no problems as we wanted to downsize into a 2 bed(now we would only get a one bed, which we have now gone into)

However, as the need for social housing has become more pressing the rules have been tightened.

I think a boy and girl can share pretty well indefinitely. Our old neighbours had a teenager sharing with a toddler both opposite sexes in a 2 bed flat. The parents had to partition off part of their lounge to make a 3rd bedroom.

It will get more difficult as more people vie for fewer resources.

Just reread your post is the woman on her own? If she is therein lies the problem as she should only be applying for 1 bed flats or studios

Caz3121

thanks for the response, the woman has one child at home (other child now flown nest) so she is going from 3 bed to 2 bed which is what her entitlement would be
Agree the children should be able to share but the problem is the current bedroom would not take a childs bed and a cot and the only place for bunk beds when older would be in front of the window. All the rooms are small and the living room leads into kitchen...I guess if they got rid of the table and chairs in the living room and ate on their laps they may be able to fit the cot in that corner and maybe get some sort of screen

RedBlue

I would have thought they were only entitled to a two bedroom house because two adults would be sharing a room and the two children would share a room because HB Regulations say they can to share until a certain age? I want to say 12 years old but I think the age is lower if it's a boy and girl.

So if the woman you wanted to swap with had a teenage son then she could downsize to a two bedroom, the problem will be that your daughter wants to move to a three bedroom which would be underoccupying as she is deemed to only require two bedrooms.

Caz3121

Thanks, the council have confirmed that she can list to swap for another 2 bed so hopefully she can find somewhere with a 2nd bedroom that holds more than a single bed and chest of drawers. I guess the problem is why would someone in a 2 double bedroom property want to swap to a one double/one single bedroom property...I guess they wouldn't!

notanewuser

Sofa bed/mattress in living room for mum and dad, then 2 kids in their own rooms until daughter old enough for a bed. At that point the kids get bunks in the smaller room and mum and dad move back into the bedroom.

silvercar

I guess the problem is why would someone in a 2 double bedroom property want to swap to a one double/one single bedroom property...I guess they wouldn't!

To pay less rent themselves or, if they were entitled to HB for one bedroom , to reduce the amount they need to pay themselves.

Caz3121

silvercar wrote: »

To pay less rent themselves or, if they were entitled to HB for one bedroom , to reduce the amount they need to pay themselves.

but would the rent or topup for a 2 bedroom place not be the same whether the second bedroom was a single or a double?

blckbrd

Caz3121 wrote: »

but would the rent or topup for a 2 bedroom place not be the same whether the second bedroom was a single or a double?

Nope. And baby would need to be 10 and of the opposite sex before own room allocation.

Caz3121

blckbrd wrote: »

Nope. And baby would need to be 10 and of the opposite sex before own room allocation.

when baby girl is 10, big brother will be 16...will they really be expected to share a single bedroom till then?

silvercar

Caz3121 wrote: »

when baby girl is 10, big brother will be 16...will they really be expected to share a single bedroom till then?

No, my understanding is eldest would need to be 10. So baby girl would be 4 and big brother 10.