Joining multiple local council's housing registers nationwide?

rreeve

I am a single 38yr old bloke who has lived in Surrey for 7 years. I've been renting in this time but my landlord is now selling up. I work from home but because I only earn a little bit more than the minimum wage, it's practically impossible for me to live in Surrey because it's such a wealthy area.

I've had to join the councils housing register to be considered for social housing. What they do is they allocate each applicant on the register a band number based on their circumstances and you are then allowed to bid, or rather, mark your interest on any properties listed in your band number. The council then look at all of the bids and offer the property to the best applicant.

After I submitted my application, I went on Google and searched other local councils around the UK and the ones I found have the same or a similar system to Runnymede Council in Surrey.

Because I have no family and practically zero responsibilities, I could move to anywhere in the UK and I clearly need to move somewhere more affordable than Surrey. So, with this in mind, is there any way I can join the council housing register for multiple locations around the country and still be considered for housing even though I have no connection to the local area.

Having the freedom to live anywhere in the UK should make it much easier to be offered a council or housing association place so could someone here please offer me some advice on the best way to do this?

Is there any way to join EVERY councils housing register is one go without being ignored for not having an local ties?

I would love to move somewhere like Lichfield in Staffordshire.

Finally, one last question. Are there any local councils anywhere in the UK that always have plenty of available properties and they are activly encouraging outsiders to apply for them? (I know you might think this is a silly question but I remember Oldham doing this for one bedroom flats about 18 years ago. They even used to advertise available one bed properties on the Buses because they had more properties than applicants believe it or not)

ANY advice would be really appreciated.

BTW - I'm not trying to cheat any system, I will always be 100% honest with every council about my circumstances.

snifflette

Surely you could rent privately in another part of the country where it is cheaper than surrey?

suziqqq

A single working man will score very low on the social housing priority list. The less affluent areas have more unemployment and more people on the waiting list. Our local council does not do cross county moves don't know about surrey. I agree with the above post , go on right move and see how much places are to rent in different areas in the country and then decide.

Cheeky_Monkey

I would imagine that your chances of getting a Council/HA property are somewhere between nil and zero.

I'd be surprised if you have any 'points' at all as your need is almost non-existent!

The obvious solution is for you to move out of Surrey and rent somewhere cheaper - duh!

Belindav123

To register with most housing associations you would need to demonstrate a local connection. Either your family lives there or you work in the area, or volunteer in the community.

Without this local connection, you will find it a challenge.

Also housing association rent is not all that cheaper than private in some areas, so check out rightmove for private rentals.

rreeve

This additional information is relevant to why I am asking this question.

I was hoping I wouldn't need to explain this but there are other considerations too. I should have explain earlier but I didn't want to elaborate on my personal circumstances to much in this thread.

The thing is, I also have a medical condition that will be improved by appropriate housing and this issue is something that local councils accept as being important. Again, I don't want to elaborate online but my health issue would also be improved by moving to a brand new location. Sounds strange but it's true.

I'm not prepared to say much more than that but my point is, I would be entitled to council/social housing because of this medical issue alone. I just don't know if I am able to apply nationwide and if I would even be considered if I did.

I guess my main question is, can I apply to ANY local council nationwide if a brand new area will provide health benefits for my ongoing problem?

I don't imagine I'm the first person to have this issue and wanting to move somewhere else in the UK.

BigAunty

rreeve wrote: »

I guess my main question is, can I apply to ANY local council nationwide if a brand new area will provide health benefits for my ongoing problem?

.

As per the previous poster, many councils operate policies where they only accept candidates with a local connection, such as having lived in the area at least x period recently (though some accept residence in the past), a job in the area or close relatives.

Yes, they prioritise those with medical issues (though some will have further stipulations about the degree of medical need and vulnerability to fulfill this criteria so don't assume all health issues are covered).

But the local connection isn't trumped by having a medical condition elsewhere and there is no such thing as a national register that you hope for. You may feel 'entitled' to social housing because of your health issues but this won't surmount allocation policies that insist on a proven local connection.

A few years ago in England, the government bought in a Localism Act that gives social housing landlords in the country greater discretion in the criteria they use to select tenants (but they still have to meet their statutory obligations towards the homeless). So there isn't even a single allocation policy, it varies from landlord to landlord though the law obliges them to have some shared core features.

This same act also means that local councils can discharge their legal duties to house the homeless by offering a suitable 1 year private tenancy in the local area (they used to have to offer social housing). Your local council in Surrey doesn't have to offer you social housing even if you are homeless and in priority need.

There may well be some hard to let places where social housing landlords advertise for tenants but I'm not aware of any. My council is in a city that has one of the highest social housing properties in the country stopped doing this a good 15 years ago - demand strips supply, even in the roughest parts of it.

Here is the allocation policy for Lichfield - what are your chances?

http://www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/downloads/file/5442/lichfield_lettings_scheme

Flossie.

Hi.

I agree with a lot of posts here, but I cannot see any harm in your registering with various social landlords.

Let's face it, who wants to stay in private let for life. Everyone (who does not want to buy (or can't,) wants a social housing tenancy surely???

There are many 1 bed flats in some towns and counties. You stand a fair chance of being housed eventually.

Contact the social housing landlords/councils of the places you would consider living, and ask them if you can go on their register. Not all social landlords are so fussy about having people 'local.'

My friend went on a housing list of a social housing landlord in the next county: 40 miles away from her home at the time - and after 2 years, (and about 100 bids on properties; ) she got a 2 bed bungalow. It's in a tiny village with no public transport, 2 miles from the nearest shop, and 10 miles from a big town, but it does have a train station nearby that takes 15 minutes to get to a big mainstream railway station that has direct and fast links to major cities.

Go for it rreeve. You have nothing to lose. Good luck!

rreeve

BigAunty wrote: »

As per the previous poster, many councils operate policies where they only accept candidates with a local connection, such as having lived in the area at least x period recently (though some accept residence in the past), a job in the area or close relatives.

Yes, they prioritise those with medical issues (though some will have further stipulations about the degree of medical need and vulnerability to fulfill this criteria so don't assume all health issues are covered).

But the local connection isn't trumped by having a medical condition elsewhere and there is no such thing as a national register that you hope for. You may feel 'entitled' to social housing because of your health issues but this won't surmount allocation policies that insist on a proven local connection.

A few years ago in England, the government bought in a Localism Act that gives social housing landlords in the country greater discretion in the criteria they use to select tenants (but they still have to meet their statutory obligations towards the homeless). So there isn't even a single allocation policy, it varies from landlord to landlord though the law obliges them to have some shared core features.

This same act also means that local councils can discharge their legal duties to house the homeless by offering a suitable 1 year private tenancy in the local area (they used to have to offer social housing). Your local council in Surrey doesn't have to offer you social housing even if you are homeless and in priority need.

There may well be some hard to let places where social housing landlords advertise for tenants but I'm not aware of any. My council is in a city that has one of the highest social housing properties in the country stopped doing this a good 15 years ago - demand strips supply, even in the roughest parts of it.

Here is the allocation policy for Lichfield - what are your chances?

Thank you. You talk a lot of sense. I didn't mean to come across like I am in any way 'entitled' to social housing more so than the next person. Many people need and deserve social housing much more than me and the last thing I would ever want to do is to take away a place from someone more deserving.

I believe that anyone who lives in the UK should be entitled to social housing if they cannot afford to rent privately. This would go a long way to making Britain great once again.

Everyone deserves the security of a home in this wealthy, modern country we live in, regardless of circumstance and without exception.

Unfortunately, the demand for social housing far exceeds the supply which I blame on our total mismanagement of immigration throughout the last 15-20years. This was done on purpose by short-sighted and narrow-minded, Pro EU MP's trying to set an example for the rest of the European Union, with absolutely no thought of the long-term social implications this would have for all aspects of our society in the future (today).

The depressing statistics surrounding housing and unemployment today are two of the most obvious consequences of poor decisions made back then just to appease Europe. Of course, other things contributed to this too, such as the recession, but we would be in a much better position to build enough homes for everyone if we managed our population a bit better.

One more rant .
I really don't like the name 'Social Housing' It sort of implies your incapable of managing your life independently without assistance from the local authority or a charity to survive. And even if that is true a name like 'social housing' is just adverting that fact which isn't right. I imagine there are many people out there who would be too worried about being called a 'Scrounger' to apply for social housing, even if they needed help. A name that has this effect on people is wrong. Personally speaking, the name 'Social Housing' has connotations that offer a totally different perspective to the original council home.
You may say it's just a name but a name like this can have negative effects of people. But what makes it even worse and what really annoys me is when you consider this name, 'social housing' from the local and national governments perspective. Social Housing makes them sound good and charitable so it's no wonder that 'social housing' has become a new buzz word for the elites.

Rant over. Sorry. I got away from myself then.

rreeve

Flossie. wrote: »

Hi.

I agree with a lot of posts here, but I cannot see any harm in your registering with various social landlords.

Let's face it, who wants to stay in private let for life. Everyone (who does not want to buy (or can't,) wants a social housing tenancy surely???

There are many 1 bed flats in some towns and counties. You stand a fair chance of being housed eventually.

Contact the social housing landlords/councils of the places you would consider living, and ask them if you can go on their register. Not all social landlords are so fussy about having people 'local.'

My friend went on a housing list of a social housing landlord in the next county: 40 miles away from her home at the time - and after 2 years, (and about 100 bids on properties; ) she got a 2 bed bungalow. It's in a tiny village with no public transport, 2 miles from the nearest shop, and 10 miles from a big town, but it does have a train station nearby that takes 15 minutes to get to a big mainstream railway station that has direct and fast links to major cities.

Go for it rreeve. You have nothing to lose. Good luck!

Thank you for your kind, supportive words. I do appreciate that.

At the end of the day, there are a lot of local councils in the UK and I'd be willing to bet there will be a council somewhere that is struggling to find tenants for one bed room flats. After all, every area has it's own demographic percentages. Just because somewhere is not suitable for one person, it doesn't mean it's unsuitable for me.

I think I will call a few councils after the bank holiday to see what they say. Wish me luck.

BigAunty

rreeve wrote: »

Unfortunately, the demand for social housing far exceeds the supply which I blame on our total mismanagement of immigration throughout the last 15-20years. .

The Right to Buy and failure to match house building with typical,non-immigration related population changes probably had the biggest impact. RTB took out 2 million properties from the rental pool, I believe.

rreeve wrote: »

I really don't like the name 'Social Housing' It sort of implies your incapable of managing your life independently without assistance from the local authority or a charity to survive. .

I think its a fairly neutral term. I believe in America and perhaps other places, it's known as 'public housing'. I suppose a kinder term would be 'community housing'. Originally virtually all social housing was council housing but when housing associations emerged, I guess they needed a new umbrella term for these landlords.