Couple with child near me, offered a 2-bed bungalow in social housing!

Bella73

Chrissie72 wrote: »

Just wondered; how could this happen?

This couple are mid 40s, they have a child of 13, and have been in private let for 3.5 years since going bankrupt in late 2009.

She told me that she has been on the housing list for 5 years - 1.5 years before she and her husband went bankrupt. And last week, they were offered a bungalow from a local housing association!

I am baffled as they're not elderly or disabled. Only under occupied (the private let has 3 bedrooms,) but I think you would only get priority for under-occupying, if you're on housing benefit and her husband actually works, so they can't be. She is a stay at home mum and he works full time. The rent is only £70 a week, instead of £150 a week that their private let house is! They will have masses of surplus left. If they have been paying £150 a week, then they will be saving £80 a week!

Spare me the 'you sound jealous' and 'what's it got to do with you' lectures please I just wonder why and how they would be offered a bungalow. It's in a very nice area too.... a village with only 450 people, 4 miles from the nearest main town, half a mile from a main road, and with no shops or schools for a mile. I would have thought that kind of area would be highly sought after! It's so quiet and rural, yet only 4 miles from a large main town.

Why wouldn't they?

Lou67

Well I don't know about the OP being jealous, but *I* am! :eek: A lovely little bungalow in a nice little village with less than 500 people for 70 quid a week on a long term contract, which will probably be permanent as long as they don't earn over a certain amount... What's not to be jealous about???

I agree with some of what was said earlier in the thread; for a couple only in their 40s, an 'off the beaten track' bungalow, is great. It isn't freakishly remote, with only being a mile to a shop and 4 miles to a town, and it's just 'rural' enough...

However, for someone elderly or disabled or someone who can't drive, this is too inconvenient. I am mid 40s and have an 18 year old who is about to leave home, and me and hubby can both drive, so I would be fine with the bungalow that this couple have been offered. When I worked in housing however, all the elderly and disabled said they want somewhere within walking distance to the bus stop, the doctors and the shops and suchlike. So this - coupled with the fact they have been on the list 5 years - probably bumped them up to number one.

Why are you so bothered Chrissie? Are you on a housing list? And not able to get anywhere. Someone in this family may have a degenerative condition that they haven't mentioned. They may have told you about the bungalow and the rent and all that, but they probably wouldn't tell you about their health issues!

We are on the housing list and have been for four years, and haven't got anywhere yet, but we are coming up higher when we bid (like half the time we are top 20 out of 100,) and I am OK-ish with that, although I would love to get social housing, as the private rent is a killer.

My neighbour said the other week, that her 19 year old niece had got a 3 bedroom house after just 6 months on the list, after her mother wrote a letter to the council saying that her daughter can NOT stay with her any longer, even though she would have let her, *just* so she would get a house. THAT marked me off, I'm not gonna lie. My neighbour was annoyed too that her niece got it, as she has a £900 a month mortgage and her sister rents cheaply from the council and now her 19 year old niece has got a council house with the rent paid and after only 6 months on the list!

But I don't know why you are annoyed at this couple. They have been on the list for FIVE YEARS, and have obviously been through rough times as they have been through bankruptcy, so they deserve a break by the sound of it, especially as they have been in expensive private let for a few years.

Like I said, *I* envy them. I would love a little rural bungalow, off the beaten track, away from sink estates and heavy traffic. I wish them happiness... why can't you?

lighting_up_the_chalice

leveller2911 wrote: »

Have you got a link for that LUTC?. I know a few months ago there were at least 6 HA providers on the Governments watchlist for possibly going insolvent.

Be interesting to know how much surplus Sanctuary Hereward are running at if any..They really are a bunch of incompetant amateurs who couldn't organise an orgy in a brothel...

It's online. Just google "sanctuary maintenance annual report financial statement".

lighting_up_the_chalice

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/home/housing/strategic-housing/housing-development/housing-associations?


"How are Housing Associations funded?

Housing Associations are independent of the Council. Part of their funding comes from Government via the Housing Corporation, which pays a grant towards the cost of building new homes. Additional costs are made up through loans from banks and building societies.

They are non profit making, and any surplus funds remaining at the end of the year must be put back into the association".


So not completely self- sufficient.

A very small part of the funding for a very small part of their business comes from Government grants (and getting smaller all the time). However, the majority of their activities are funded, directly or indirectly, by rental revenue.

lighting_up_the_chalice

leveller2911 wrote: »

Hasn't the way in which they are funded changed now and this is why many are looking to offload their housing stock via shared ownership etc and create an income stream?

Shared ownership is a vehicle which attract some funding streams. However, SH providers core business is still, and will remain, the provision of rented accommodation. 30 years of £100 a week rent and retained capitol is always going to be preferable to a one off payment of 50% of the property value. But governments love home-owners.

lighting_up_the_chalice

Lou67 wrote: »

Well I don't know about the OP being jealous, but *I* am! :eek: A lovely little bungalow in a nice little village with less than 500 people for 70 quid a week on a long term contract, which will probably be permanent as long as they don't earn over a certain amount... What's not to be jealous about???

I heard of (and confirmed it myself) a 2 bed house in a rural village WITH SEA VIEWS up for bidding a few weeks ago. It attracted 2 bids and was let to a family who had applied less than 6 weeks previously.

Lou67

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

I heard of (and confirmed it myself) a 2 bed house in a rural village WITH SEA VIEWS up for bidding a few weeks ago. It attracted 2 bids and was let to a family who had applied less than 6 weeks previously.

OMG, even more jealous now! I would sooooo love that! :eek:

So the family were only on the list for 6 weeks???

lighting_up_the_chalice

Lou67 wrote: »

OMG, even more jealous now! I would sooooo love that! :eek:

So the family were only on the list for 6 weeks???

Yup, just 6 weeks. It was in the deeply unfashionable North East.... Still.... A sea view!

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/31559537

bitsandpieces

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Yup, just 6 weeks. It was in the deeply unfashionable North East.... Still.... A sea view!

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/31559537

The part of the country does really affect demand, though. I pay a few hundred a month for a decent-sized flat with a (nicer IMO ) view up here, and that's renting in the private sector.

Social housing is hugely oversubscribed in some places, but much more available in others.

embob74

Lou67 wrote: »

Well I don't know about the OP being jealous, but *I* am! :eek: A lovely little bungalow in a nice little village with less than 500 people for 70 quid a week on a long term contract, which will probably be permanent as long as they don't earn over a certain amount... What's not to be jealous about???
My neighbour said the other week, that her 19 year old niece had got a 3 bedroom house after just 6 months on the list, after her mother wrote a letter to the council saying that her daughter can NOT stay with her any longer, even though she would have let her, *just* so she would get a house. THAT marked me off, I'm not gonna lie. My neighbour was annoyed too that her niece got it, as she has a £900 a month mortgage and her sister rents cheaply from the council and now her 19 year old niece has got a council house with the rent paid and after only 6 months on the list!
Like I said, *I* envy them. I would love a little rural bungalow, off the beaten track, away from sink estates and heavy traffic. I wish them happiness... why can't you?

I live in a rural, small village off the beaten track. Although it's not SH there are a few such properties about.
An elderly neighbour has recently had to give up driving and is now isolated and housebound and dependent upon others for shopping and doctors appointments.
Our teenage child now has to stay at school or college until 18 years of age and yet free bus travel is only for 16 years and under. So we will have to pay £500+ for a bus pass or take her to and from school ourselves. It's supposed to get easier as they got older NOT more restrictive!

As for the niece getting a property - in most towns and cities they will not house you until you are actually homeless due to the big difference in supply and demand. In Leeds it is customary to spend at least a few months in homeless housing before being offered SH. Not such a good prospect then is it?