Social housing, council change the ules the very last minute, is i allowed?

chris112

I have lived in a new london borough for 15 months now, but need to find a new flat to rent as this one has been too small and not suitable for my needs - wheelchair accessible,


so i thought ui join the social housing register to se if something is available and more suitable
as there is nothing here available, privately renting
so in May i completed all the required forms and profs and finally got my needed hospital recommendation for social housing (detailing disability from specialist)
but the day after submitting it ...
Unfortunately, in a unlikely co-incidence, the council has just decided to change their rules for joining the housing register, so that you now need to have lived in the borough for the past 5 years.

Im sure it may just be co-incidence rather than not having any flats accomodating my specific needs,
so my question is , do i have any grounds, to insist on joining the register, as they also made me re-submit my application recently, as they were asking all applicants to apparently, which delayed mine for longer

BorisThomson

Even if you had got on the register at an earlier date, you could have been reassessed on the new criteria and removed. It is a common criteria in London boroughs, and other areas of high demand.

Can you expand your search area to find something suitable in your price range?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

chris112 wrote: »

do i have any grounds, to insist on joining the register, as they also made me re-submit my application recently, as they were asking all applicants to apparently, which delayed mine for longer

Surely if they were asking everyone to do it it can't have disadvantaged you in particular.

sevenhills

chris112 wrote: »

but the day after submitting it ...
Unfortunately, in a unlikely co-incidence, the council has just decided to change their rules for joining the housing register, so that you now need to have lived in the borough for the past 5 years.

I have never heard of that, surely it would discriminate against certain groups and be illegal?
According to some, immigrants get most of the social housing.

NeilCr

sevenhills wrote: »

According to some, immigrants get most of the social housing.

While the actual facts are somewhat different

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/jan/25/is-immigration-causing-the-uk-housing-crisis

G_M

sevenhills wrote: »

I have never heard of that, surely it would discriminate against certain groups and be illegal?

That's the sort of generalised remark that helps no one. What groups do you mean, and discriminateed against in what way?

According to some, immigrants get most of the social housing.

and according to others they don't.

Don't repeat unsubstantiated tittle-tattle from the Daily Mail (or Twitter or wherever).

sevenhills

NeilCr wrote: »

While the actual facts are somewhat different

I am aware of the facts; how many areas operate this 5 year rule?

sevenhills

G_M wrote: »

Don't repeat unsubstantiated tittle-tattle from the Daily Mail (or Twitter or wherever).

This is a discussion group, lets discuss.

Bossypants

sevenhills wrote: »

This is a discussion group, lets discuss.

Actually it's a board for help and advice with people's specific housing issues, and comments like that do nothing to help the OP in resolving their situation.

We do however have two discussion boards on this forum, feel free to take it to one of those (they will love it, it's right up their alley).

TheGardener

Most LA's I'm familiar with have had the 5 year 'local' rule for some time.
It will have nothing to do with the OP's application or their disability - simply that they haven't lived in the LA area for 5 years.
This is not a discussion board - its for constructive help and advice.

NeilCr

sevenhills wrote: »

I am aware of the facts; how many areas operate this 5 year rule?

Well mine does for sure

But, anyway, that was not the point of my post. I was responding to your comment about people thinking that immigrants took a lot of social housing

And as you are aware of the facts you could easily have added them to your post.

As others have said this is not a discussion board - which is good as you don't want a discussion