Applying for a council house

benniebert

Killerseven wrote: »

The problem is the amount of housing benefit said to be for a 3 bedroom place s only enough for a 2bed place, in the private sector. thats why everyone wants a council house that is affordable.

That's not true at all.


I don't know what the HA is for your area, but taking a quick look at the area I know well SE London), it pays £286 a week for a 3 bed property.


Looking on rightmove there are pages of 3 bed properties at below that figure and many more at of near it - £1200 a month = £276 a week.


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/London-87490.html?sortType=1&minBedrooms=3&maxBedrooms=3&index=10



You may have to move out of your area but you will still be in London AND have all of the rent paid by HB.

NYM

Just had a look at that link. I think it was the 2nd one....

Full description
Southern Housing Group is pleased to anounce that we have a 3 bedroom second floor flat available to rent. The rent is 20% off market value and inclused service charges.

The property is situated in Hackney and close to local amenities such as schools, transport links and shops. It comes fitted with white goods in the kitched, flooring throughout and is decorated to a high standard.

You will need to pass a credit and landlord reference check which costs £130 and is non refundable. You will also need to pay a deposit equal to 1 months rent and will be expected to pay 1 months rent in advance of you signing your tenancy agreement. You will be issued with an assured shorthold tenancy.

To apply for this property, the minimum income you will need to earn is £31,710 per annum.

Is that in effect stating they won't take anyone that is in receipt of Housing Benefit :think:

benniebert

NYM wrote: »

Just had a look at that link. I think it was the 2nd one....

Full description
Southern Housing Group is pleased to anounce that we have a 3 bedroom second floor flat available to rent. The rent is 20% off market value and inclused service charges.

The property is situated in Hackney and close to local amenities such as schools, transport links and shops. It comes fitted with white goods in the kitched, flooring throughout and is decorated to a high standard.

You will need to pass a credit and landlord reference check which costs £130 and is non refundable. You will also need to pay a deposit equal to 1 months rent and will be expected to pay 1 months rent in advance of you signing your tenancy agreement. You will be issued with an assured shorthold tenancy.

To apply for this property, the minimum income you will need to earn is £31,710 per annum.

Is that in effect stating they won't take anyone that is in receipt of Housing Benefit :think:

There are others and in other areas as well. Don't be such a defeatist.

NYM

benniebert wrote: »

There are others and in other areas as well. Don't be such a defeatist.

:huh: defeatist ...???

Was the question too difficult for you to answer ?

Killerseven

We are frantically looking for a place to live before we have to be out of this flat, but we cant find anywhere that will take us.

It seems for some reason I have a bad credit file, so even though we can afford a place, they will not accept us.

Will this put us classed as homeless?

NYM

I doubt you are the only one to have a bad credit file. It doesn't make you homeless, just maybe less likely to have the option to pick and choose where you rent.

Have you tried your local borough to see if they have a list of LL's that are prepared to take people without credit checks ?

BigAunty

To be clear here, councils in England do have a statutory (i.e. legally mandatory) duty to help those defined as priority homeless (i.e. with dependents or disabilities and who are homeless through no fault of their own, such as eviction because rent arrears when they could have afforded the rent or due to anti-social behaviour).

They cannot wriggle out of it, though mystery shopping exercises undertaken by a homeless charity in London a few years ago where people posed as homeless and contacted the local housing department showed that they routinely welched on their legal obligations and were very poor at following the law.

However, there is no obligation to offer social housing housing to them which was the case in the past. This is probably a good thing since many households were prepared to put up with expensive interim accommodation, hostels, B&Bs and the like to eventually secure the holy grail of their right to a council property.

Under the Localism act of a few years ago, local councils in England were finally allowed to house the priority homeless in settled accommodation and this includes an offer of a suitable 1 year tenancy in the private sector.

To the OP - due to the Localism Act, no-one on this forum can tell you the chances of you securing social housing. The act gave a certain degree of discretion to local councils in how they allocate their social housing (but they must follow some basic principles when it comes to the homeless). Not even the homeless are necessarily awarded social housing.

Some, for example, prioritise those in employment, others will not class a household as overcrowded unless they are short of 2 bedrooms, another will not accept anyone onto their lists unless they are in high need. You need to look at your local social housing landlords allocation policies.

tomtontom

Killerseven wrote: »

We are frantically looking for a place to live before we have to be out of this flat, but we cant find anywhere that will take us.

It seems for some reason I have a bad credit file, so even though we can afford a place, they will not accept us.

Will this put us classed as homeless?

We or they? Why do you/ they have a bad credit file, you must know?

Can you afford a place independently, or with benefit assistance? If the latter, most landlords will not consider that you can afford it.

BigAunty

Killerseven wrote: »

We are frantically looking for a place to live before we have to be out of this flat, but we cant find anywhere that will take us.

It seems for some reason I have a bad credit file, so even though we can afford a place, they will not accept us.

Will this put us classed as homeless?

To understand the criteria for the local council to accept you as homeless, look at the Homeless section of the Shelter website. This details exactly how it is defined and what the council look for when you submit a homeless application. Shelter have a helpline and a homeless checker wizard on their website.

Your credit file is irrelevant. Homelessness is generally defined as no security past the next 28 days and in England/Wales, the household must be defined as being in priority need (i.e. with dependents or disabilities) and not intentionally homeless (i.e. leaving a property when you didn't have to, being evicted through rent arrears or anti social behaviour).

Many local councils encourage potentially homeless applicants to contact them as early as possible to discuss options for avoiding homelessness.

NYM

The OP says they can afford to rent, but is having difficulty finding a LL willing to take them because of a poor credit history.

I'm fairly sure that there are landlords prepared to take tenants with such a credit history. Just maybe not in the area the OP wants to live.