Getting on list for council house/housing association

AG47

How does one get on the waiting list for a council house, housing association house please ?

AG47

Somebody said you have to wait until you are in default on your rent, then get a notice from your landlord, then and only then will you get offered a house.

But is there not a way to get on the waiting list before that?

HampshireH

Apply at the council. They will tell you if you are eligible for their register.

You will have to have a local connection as a minimum.

elsien

Look at your council website. There is usually an online portal that allows you to register and explains the banding system and whether or not you are eligible to apply.
In my area there is one combined system for both council and housing association properties.

ETA - getting on the list and getting a property are two different things. How long you wait will depend on your individual circumstances. If you're a single person with no vulnerability you will probably be waiting for years.

HampshireH

.....getting on the register doesn't mean getting a house any time soon.

AG47

elsien wrote: »

Look at your council website. There is usually an online portal that allows you to register and explains the banding system and whether or not you are eligible to apply.
In my area there is one combined system for both council and housing association properties.

ETA - getting on the list and getting a property are two different things. How long you wait will depend on your individual circumstances. If you're a single person with no vulnerability you will probably be waiting for years.

They say...


There's very few council and housing association properties available and demand for housing far exceeds our supply. This means that:

We can only help people with the most urgent housing need, so most people will not qualify
Our first priority will be to help you stay in your current home

AG47

We just want to get on the waiting list, we have a disabled son

HampshireH

Their primary concern is to keep people in their current home. That's the same across the country. I don't understand your point?

Do you have a current home and just would prefer social housing or do you have a housing need?

[Deleted User]

'They' are correct.

Please don't stop paying your rent if you are thinking of this (I have no idea if you are, just covering that base). It should be a first priority, before anything else. Rent arrears can be a reason a council finds you voluntarily homeless and then they can refuse to help. Unless there is good reason for the arrears.

If benefits have stopped/been cut for some reason, again Citizen's advice can advise on that too.

I have two disabled sons, had four years of hell with a private LL.., but would only suggest someone with absolutely no choice tries to get social housing. Even with my council who doesn't put people into B&B it meant at least two moves. One into emergency housing (in my area a single room hostel unless you are able to argue as I did that this would be totally unsuitable for my son's needs - but this required medical evidence as well) then you wait until you are high enough to be successful with bidding. This can take years. They may (depending on your council's policy) put you in a single room hostel for a few weeks then move you into a flat of some sort. So, like I said, at least two moves by the time you finally get social housing, if you ever do (see below).

Because of the costs of emergency accommodation, the council may attempt to place you in an out of borough private rental (which they can do) which will then mean you are housed and not able to bid anymore (not in housing need). If your son has services provided by the local area you may be able to fight this but oh dear, its a stressful process. While I was in emergency housing, I had my Housing officer keep emailing me stating that the council was placing people in private rental and I would have no chance to refuse it until after I moved, and it turned out it was only a policy they were considering. But caused a LOT of stress.

To help, get all your ducks in a row. With the NHS the way it is, I started applying for assessments or reassessments of my sons as soon as my LL suggested he wanted to sell (2 years before he actually did). I just about had the reports needed by the time we had to apply for housing. The fact that I had recent reports helped, sort of.

elsien

AG47 wrote: »

They say...


There's very few council and housing association properties available and demand for housing far exceeds our supply. This means that:

We can only help people with the most urgent housing need, so most people will not qualify
Our first priority will be to help you stay in your current home

That shouldn't necessarily stop you going on the list; they're just warning you that it doesn't mean you'll any further.
What happens in my area is that you register, you get allocated to the lowest band, then you submit any evidence that you might have to increase your banding. That may include evidence such as your sons disability, but if you are already adequately housed then that won't make much difference and you will stay with no priority.
Your first post mentions defaulting on your rent. If you are considered to have made yourself intentionally homeless, then the council has no obligation to help you. If they do accept there is a duty to help, then you may well end up in a single room in emergency accommodation for months. Defaulting on rent does not bump you up the list and get you a house. Especially if you're in London or anywhere else with far more people than houses.

sevenhills

AG47 wrote: »

We just want to get on the waiting list, we have a disabled son

It still may take 2-6 years.