Problems with council housing application!!

Pixie5740

Council housing is in short supply so it goes to those in the greatest need of it which unfortunately is not your son and his family as your house isn't currently overcrowded.

At the ages of 28 and 25 your son and his partner really should have flown the nest by now. If they're grown up enough to make babies then they should be grown up enough to get a place of their own.

Even if your step daughter does come to live with you permanently and your son manages to get on the waiting list, it will be years until he actually gets a council flat/house. It will be temporary accomodation until then if he's lucky.

BigAunty

mrsiwannabefree wrote: »

You obviously didn't read my post properly... the 3rd bedroom is my step-daughters she's staying more & more as she's a teenager and clashing with her mother. The boys cannot have that room.

Nonetheless, it's not her primary residence and she is not classed in social housing allocation (and also benefit rules) as being resident there.

Logistically, it causes your household an inconvenience but we can't have a housing system (allocation, council tax, HB) where someone is considered to reside in two places at once, that just normalises under occupation and increases expense, choking up the social housing system even more than it is now.

mrsiwannabefree wrote: »

Also I'm not asking to jump the queue at all just for them to actually be on the queue!!

In the past, there were extremely few rules to govern when someone could apply for a social housing property - they had to be a UK citizen and aged over 18. This led to a situation where we had a needs based system with an open application policy leading to millions being on the housing list who would never ever be allocated a property due to high demand from those in need and low supply of stock. People aren't used to the gate-keeping that now takes place with some councils who have introduced tighter controls on even accepting applications when there's been a decades old 'virtually anyone can apply' policy.

If Lewisham council aren't following their own published allocation rules, or you feel their decision does not follow UK housing law, then appeal to them or raise it with your MP.

Croydon council, for example, will only class applicants as being ' overcrowded' when they need 2+ bedrooms to be adequately housed and class this as 'moderate overcrowding' while the severely overcrowded definition requires 3+ bedrooms.

I came across a recent report that analysed overcrowding in London and the authors found that only 1 London council classed it as a high priority, while 2 others as a second priority. It's therefore quite low down on the list as a factor for the vast majority of London councils who prioritise homelessness, medical factors and so on, so even if your son does get classed as being overcrowded, he will generally see other people who are needier leapfrog over him in allocation.

From the Lewisham allocations document

"In Lewisham, there are many more people who need or who want to move, than there are homes available for them to move to. There are not enough rented homes owned by the Council and by partners (Housing Associations and Tenant Management Organisations) to offer housing to all who want it, or even to everyone who needs a home. To illustrate the size of the problems we face, the number of
households on the Housing List has increased to over 18,300, whilst the number of properties available to let has reduced to around 1,600 per year."

Your options
You are strongly recommended to consider all possible options for your future housing.

Your options may include:
- Privately rented housing. You can contact local lettings agents and use
the local newspaper papers to find privately rented properties.

- Low cost home ownership. There are schemes to help you to buy a
home of your own. If you are in regular employment, you may be eligible
for one of these schemes. There are income limits, so you need to look at
https://www.housingoptions.org.uk for more information. They include properties
built especially for low cost home ownership and properties available on
the open market

- Moving to an area of the country where Council and/or Housing
Association properties are more freely available

BigAunty

mrsiwannabefree wrote: »

Can they find their own private rented and get housing benefit paid?

Yes. The local councils websites will indicate the Local Housing Allowance payable for a 2 bedroom property in the area while the Turn2us online benefit calculator will indicate what proportion of the rent will be covered by HB if they have employment income.

Most private landlords are reluctant to accept housing benefit claimants, though are perhaps more amenable if the tenant is at least working and just claiming partial HB. Some landlords who accept HB claimants will insist the claimant provides a guarantor, someone with enough income/or a home owner, to cover the rent if the tenant defaults.

Some councils operate rent deposit guarantee schemes for tenants on low incomes/in housing need/on benefits. There are some kind of loans that a tenant on benefits can apply for to pay for rent/deposit in advance - ask on the benefits forum for details.

suziqqq

The problem here is that it is YOUR OWN HOUSE councils don't care if you have 100 people in a room they only class it overcrowding if its a council house.

The only thing you can do is evict them and then the council may offer them temp accommodation which could be anywhere

RuthnJasper

Alas, even being on the list is no guarantee of swift action in these rather desperate times. I waited on the list for over 7 years before my little one-bed place came up. It certainly made me very, very thankful for what I was offered (and which I received), but the waiting was pretty desperate.

I don't think you'll get anywhere unless you begin eviction proceedings. I'm really sorry I can't be more encouraging. Hope all turns out well.

lighting_up_the_chalice

Why Lewisham, an area with massively oversubscribed social housing, when you (and they) live in Kent?

agrinnall

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Why Lewisham, an area with massively oversubscribed social housing, when you (and they) live in Kent?

That's a very good point. I'd have thought there's even less chance of being accepted if they don't actually live in the Local Authority are already. Have they tried the LA where they do live?

duchy

If you don't live in the Borough they will be deemed as having no connections so wouldn't even be considered. Why are you expecting another borough to house them ? This makes no sense at all-and you are "livid" ? What's to be livid about ????????

Shelldean

Is Lewisham considered to be Kent in the same way London borough of Sutton is called Surrey??

Not saying this is correct just wondering, as I know for family history purposes Lewisham/bromley used to be considered Kent. Just a thought

seasideme

Shelldean wrote: »

Is Lewisham considered to be Kent in the same way London borough of Sutton is called Surrey??

Not saying this is correct just wondering, as I know for family history purposes Lewisham/bromley used to be considered Kent. Just a thought

Bromley is Kent, Lewisham is not