1 person in a 3 bed council house

marksoton

Here's a mad idea. Let's do something both sympathetic and pragmatic.

A grace period, i dunno maybe a year and then the tenant is downsized.

Personally i wouldn't want to spend too long in a property with a deceased's memories.

Plus council stock being " Blocked" is untenable in this country.

TheGardener

It will depend on the councils policies and whether the partners tenancy was a secure one and if he can afford to stay. He may be able to take on the tenancy if he can evidence it has been his home for however may years the council require and he will have to be able to prove that. If it was his wife it should be fine but Councils usually check CRA's for economic activity etc. Presumably they have been paying full council tax and the council knew there was another adult there?
If he is paying the rent himself then the 'bedroom tax' is not an issue but if he is on benefits the council may (only may - again it depends on their housing policy) offer him smaller accommodation.
In our area 3 beds are in least demand and 1 beds massively oversubscribed so the council might be in no hurry to downsize him.
Given the bereavement I'm sure he would want to stay where he is at least for now - he may feel differently at some point in the future.

squinty

marksoton wrote: »

Here's a mad idea. Let's do something both sympathetic and pragmatic.

A grace period, i dunno maybe a year and then the tenant is downsized.

Personally i wouldn't want to spend too long in a property with a deceased's memories.

Not mad, but the law.

If the person has a right to succeed, and the property is too large the council can give between 6 and 12 months before asking them to move (this does not apply to surviving spouse) and the council must identify suitable accommodation.

This is contained within ground 16 of scedule 2 of the 1985 Housing Act.

Innys1

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Why? If he's paying the rent himself he can have as many bedrooms as he wants or the council will let him have.

"Bedroom tax" only affects people claiming housing benefit.

Forget the spare room subsidy - do Council's allow people to rent homes with more bedrooms than they need, even if they are paying the rent themselves?

If so, what's to stop a Counil tenant sub-letting the two spare rooms in their 3 bedder? Or is it the case that just doesn't happen?

TheGardener

Innys1 wrote: »

Forget the spare room subsidy - do Council's allow people to rent homes with more bedrooms than they need, even if they are paying the rent themselves??

Yes they do in these circumstances but he would only be allocated a 1 bed if he was a new applicant regardless of whether he could afford the rent

Innys1 wrote: »

If so, what's to stop a Counil tenant sub-letting the two spare rooms in their 3 bedder? Or is it the case that just doesn't happen

There is nothing stopping them subletting rooms - our council make it completely permissible under the tenancy agreement - I suspect its a fairly common clause as it actually helps with the provision of 1 bed accommodation.

rosyw

gill5blue wrote: »

Thanks for replies,
I do know the rules but I haven't heard of anyone who had to give up their house, except rosyw now.
Gill5Blue

Didn't get kicked out - I had to sell to clear a few business debts when my husband died, place was way to big for me anyway, but it really did make matters far worse

KxMx

If he is granted the tenancy he is not guaranteed the property. Council would allocate a one bed elsewhere for him if he was not allowed to stay.

Bogalot

elsien wrote: »

It will depend on his circumstances and council policy.
I watched a documentary a while back where someone who had lived in his mother's council house all his life was not able to keep it because it was 3 bed and he was single - one of the hugely oversubscribed London boroughs in his case.

I remember that. The reason he was refused any help was because he'd actually moved out to his own place for some time, so his current residency was less than one year. He continued to omit this fact when speaking to the media.

He eventually left in somewhat dramatic tears.