Council house help?

HappyMJ

spelndidlady wrote: »

Would it be clear I was living in a council home to anyone else?

Yes....it is obligatory when you have a council house to have a car that is old, has no tax, no insurance or MOT and is sitting on the front rusting away as the tenants don't work and can't afford to tax, insure it and keep it roadworthy....so when you are driving around looking for properties to rent you can quite easily identify if the neighbours are on housing benefits or not.

You can also expect several children to be on the streets playing and screaming and if older generally causing a nuisance smoking and drinking away whatever benefit money they get. This will only occur every 2 weeks so you should have about 10 days of peace in between payments.

If you do not wish to have any of these problems then you should be able to find some (possibly gated) estates in your area where the rents far exceed the local housing allowance. The occupiers of these properties will not be on housing benefit if they were they wouldn't be able to afford the shortfall and will soon be forced out. The occupiers will be out all day every day working very hard to afford the rent/mortgage and you should have a peaceful life.

neverdespairgirl

Ellie007 wrote: »

Brilliant! This thread is comic genius! Although I am now worried that as I grew up in a council house, I may be giving off some sort of 'aura'...? No wonder no-one wants to sit next to me at work....:D

Nah, that's not your aura, that's your deoderant, mate!

Cheeky_Monkey

Or maybe Ellie's a smoker :eek::eek: cue other thread :rotfl:

Oooops, just realised the crazy lady smoking thread is on the Employment board

Ellie007

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Nah, that's not your aura, that's your deoderant, mate!

Oh no! How dreadfully embarassing!!!!

Ellie007

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

Or maybe Ellie's a smoker :eek::eek: cue other thread :rotfl:

Oooops, just realised the crazy lady smoking thread is on the Employment board

Thanks for clarifying! I was starting to get very confused (and off I shuffle to look at Employment board...)!

Mojisola

spelndidlady wrote: »

I'd like to avoid borrowing off my parents again. I've borrowed a lot off them over the years and they've finally retired so I think it's only fair that they have their time off.

The arrogance of this is mind-boggling!

I do hope this thread is a wind-up.

19lottie82

spelndidlady wrote: »

We have an 18 year old son. Not sure what we're going to work out. He's on track for two of his A-Levels but the other two appear to be write offs.

Can he not get a part time job and contribute to the bills? He is an adult now, and he should have the time as he has is only doing 50% of his original planned workload.

spelndidlady wrote: »

Even if I got a council house, are they reasonable to live in?

You won't get one, honestly. Believe us.
But if you would like an answer to satisfy your curiosity, then some are horrid (single rooms in high rise blocks) and some are lovely (new builds and detached). They vary greatly, just like any other type of housing.

spelndidlady wrote: »

Has anyone got any other suggestions?

Why do you think that your situation is so bad that you won't be able to find work for x months? Are you looking for ANY work? Not just something similar to your previous role?

Sign up to all the temping agencies that you can. IMO there are plenty of temp admin / office based roles where you could utilise your IT skills.

In the mean time sign up for JSA, child benefits / tax credits and housing benefit ASAP. Surely you can use your 2k savings to top up your housing benefit and pay the rent, while you look for work?

spelndidlady wrote: »

As for our kid - if we found student accommodation for a year say, whilst he's at college, could he split and claim housing benefit to pay the rent on that? Not University accommodation but similar set up. We were going to do it for him anyway, but circumstances have changed.

No, he will not be unemployed, but a student, so won't be entitled to any benefits. He will get a student loan and possibly a bursary. He can top these up with earnings from a PT job, hence why he should try and get one now, so he has one thing less to worry about nearer the time.

oliveoil99

If OP became my next door neighbour and was short of coal I keep plenty in the bath and if they are in need of exercise my 2 whippets are always ready for a run.

Cheeky_Monkey

I think it's an absolutely spelndid thread ..... or should that be splendid .......... not sure, will have to ask spelndidlady :rotfl:

Lizling

Oh dear! Now I know how shameful it is to live in a council house, how do I let people know that mine is ex-council these days?

It looks exactly the same as it would have done back when it was still council owned. Shouldn't it have transformed into a respectable middle class semi instead of a flat in a block by now?