Applying for a council house

Killerseven

A family with 3 kids are living in a small 2 bed flat, the three kids in one room is just too smal, but they are struggling to afford even this.

They are both working but low income, is there any chance they could get on the list for a council house?

If they were not working and on JSA would they have a better chance than if they were working low paid jobs?

skater_kat

claiming benefits or working low pay does not make a difference to the application.

tanith

They might get on the list but they might wait till the children are grown up to move up the huge list of people before them.

midnight_express

Where do they live ? The area makes all the difference to their chance of getting a council place.

[Deleted User]

3 kids in one room may or may not change if they got a council house depending on their ages and sex. Its not expected that each child will have their own room and are expected to share regardless of sex while young then after about age 12 same sex siblings are still expected to share. A housing association wont give you more rooms then deemed necessary.

kingfisherblue

In my area, people are given a rating and they can bid for houses based on their rating. For example, somebody homeless may receive an A rating, whereas a single man with no dependents is likely to receive a much lower rating, as his need is not seen as being such high priority. There are exceptions = my friend was a C rating, but needed a house with a downstairs bathroom, due to her son's disabilities. These don't come up very often, so she was allowed to bid on any that did. She bid on an A rating and received it, as it was the only property to have a downstairs bathroom.


Three children in one bedroom can be managed, but it isn't easy. I assume that they have bunk beds. The family will receive more points if the children are different genders and are over a certain age (it's 10 in my area, not sure if this all over the country).


The parents should make an appointment with a Housing Officer, who will be able to help them. Alternatively, they might be able to apply online.

nannytone_2

_shel wrote: »

3 kids in one room may or may not change if they got a council house depending on their ages and sex. Its not expected that each child will have their own room and are expected to share regardless of sex while young then after about age 12 same sex siblings are still expected to share. A housing association wont give you more rooms then deemed necessary.

3 children are never expected to share a single bedroom.
the rules are ...
2 children under the age of 10 can share regardless of sex.
2 children between 10 and 16 are expected to share if they are the same gender.
over 16 they are allowed their own room.
children between the ages of 10 and 16 arte allowed their own room if they are a different gender.

nowhere in the rules doers it state that 3 siblings are required to share a room regardless of gender

that being said ... it isn't illegal for 3 children to share, it just means that they have entitlement to a 3 bed ... which is a totally different thing to a 3 bed being available.
as has been said ... in some areas there may be a wait of many years, while in others, social housing is readily available

eadieb

You need to approach the housing dept of your local council to find out what the set up is in your area. Some councils still have 'council housing' others only housing association. Some have a council waiting list for council properties + a 'choice based lettings system', and some only have all the social housing properties in the county going choice based lettings.

If it is a bidding system then you should read the local policy for your local system to find out who gets priority banding. It may affect what you need to emphasize on your application form.

In my council area, people who are in employment or voluntary work are given extra priority, and people that make a homeless application (accepted under a homeless duty) are down graded to a D band (no chance!). People who have rent arrears over £500 are not allowed to bid, people who have no local connection are not allowed to bid, etc. The 'winners' of the weekly advertised properties are those with the highest banding/grading and the longest registered date

The government gave local councils power to make up their own rules in each area in recent years.

Killerseven

nannytone wrote: »

3 children are never expected to share a single bedroom.
the rules are ...
2 children under the age of 10 can share regardless of sex.
2 children between 10 and 16 are expected to share if they are the same gender.
over 16 they are allowed their own room.
children between the ages of 10 and 16 arte allowed their own room if they are a different gender.

nowhere in the rules doers it state that 3 siblings are required to share a room regardless of gender

that being said ... it isn't illegal for 3 children to share, it just means that they have entitlement to a 3 bed ... which is a totally different thing to a 3 bed being available.
as has been said ... in some areas there may be a wait of many years, while in others, social housing is readily available

That is all very well saying that they have entitlement to a 3 bed, but they just cant afford a three bed in their area which is London.

They cant move, they have family close by and have lived in London for generations.

All kids under 10, but the oldest will be ten soon, mixed genders.

So when the oldest is over 10, and the three kids are still sharing a bedroom, what can happen if they still cant afford a three bed?

Its worth them getting on the list, but not much hope of getting a three bed place in London is there?

haras_nosirrah

They can go on the list but in somewhere like London they could be waiting a very very long time so they need to plan on the basis of they will be there a long time - even councils can't magic up a house if none are available

Options are to maximise the space they have e.g parents sleep in the lounge and the kids get the bedrooms

Get a better job if they are both low paid - can one retrain or improve their prospects at all through study?

Move out of London - they live in the most expensive part of the country and it sounds as though they don't have the pockets to go with it. If they genuinely cannot afford to live there then moving outside the m25 will allow them to get a more suitable sized property

Caz3121

Killerseven wrote: »

So when the oldest is over 10, and the three kids are still sharing a bedroom, what can happen if they still cant afford a three bed?

do they currently receive any help with their rent via LHA/housing benefit? - the current calculation should be based on the 3 bedroom rate, assuming they are in private rented they could look for another private rental with 3 bedrooms, you can look up the LHA rates for the area which is the figure that would be used in the calculations (unless the rent is lower than this figure in which case it would be the rent that would be used) the amount of benefit would be reduced based on their income including tax credits but they may still qualify for some help