Council housing

Ashley1234xx

How long was you on waiting list for till you eventually got offered somewhere? And what band was you on? (Sheffield/south-yorkshire) 

Mrsn

We were band 3 if I recall. Basically living with my parents at the time (2 adults and a toddler sharing one room, I was also pregnant during the end point of our time on the list but they don’t take that into account before baby has arrived). We are East Midlands way.

We were very very fortunate as we were only the list for a year. The place we now live in wanted people with family connections to the borough and thanks to DH family we met that criteria otherwise I genuinely don’t know how long it might have taken.

So many different things to take into account really.  Do you have children or family members living with you? What band have you been allocated and more importantly what sort of properties are you eligible to bid on because that will affect the choices available to you every cycle.

elsien

What Mrsn said. If you're a single person with no additional needs and your area has a shortage of one beds, you're probably going to be waiting a lot longer than a family with children. For example.

ElephantBoy57

The homes we offer through our First Come First Served scheme are properties which have usually been advertised through the bidding system, but received no eligible bids. Where this happens, we will make them available on a first come first served basis. These properties are often age-banded studio and one-bedroom flats however we do sometimes advertise two and three bedroom properties in this way.

The properties are located throughout the City and can be provided by the Council or Housing Associations. Properties are offered to the first person on the housing register who places a bid and meets the minimum letting criteria.

In cases when there are no bidders for properties we may also change the eligibility criteria. For example, households that would only normally qualify for two bedroom properties may be allowed to bid for some three bedroom maisonettes. The advert will clearly state where this is the case.

However, if you are of working age and you bid for a property that is larger than you would normally qualify for, you may not be entitled to receive full housing benefit. In these cases we may carry out a financial assessment with you.

https://www.sheffieldpropertyshop.org.uk/content/Information/FirstComeFirstServed

[Deleted User]

In my area, there was a-d banding.  if you follow the listing system, you will get an idea what band you have to be in to make a successful bid.  In my case, I had C banding and it was very rare for any houses or flats to be offered to C banded bidders.  Only occasionally, the worse of the worse properties would be bidded successfully to someone with C banding.  

However I suspect in order to get me moved (after 18 months in emergency accommodation with us all having special needs) I suspect the council offered me a not quite the worse sort of maisonette that I know was never put on the bidding list.  So don't lose all hope if your banding isn't high enough.  I did have social workers etc on the case though so i am sure that 'helped'.  Around me (there were a few of us on the yukky estate in 'emergency housing', I heard stories of people waiting years.  I live in Gravesend, 12 miles out of London with a lot of people moving out of London to here because properties were cheaper.., although this has caused rents to double in 5 years.  So there is a higher demand for social housing.

How long you will wait will depend on what sort of property you are prepared to bid on (popular, medium popular or not wanted unless desperate type of properties) and demand in the area you are trying to get a place in.  However I don't think anywhere has an oversupply of social housing now so there will always be some kind of wait.

Cakeguts

I am not in social housing but in my area North West London you have no hope unless you have had a local connection for a certain number of years.

Ashley1234xx

Mrsn said:

We were band 3 if I recall. Basically living with my parents at the time (2 adults and a toddler sharing one room, I was also pregnant during the end point of our time on the list but they don’t take that into account before baby has arrived). We are East Midlands way.

We were very very fortunate as we were only the list for a year. The place we now live in wanted people with family connections to the borough and thanks to DH family we met that criteria otherwise I genuinely don’t know how long it might have taken.

So many different things to take into account really.  Do you have children or family members living with you? What band have you been allocated and more importantly what sort of properties are you eligible to bid on because that will affect the choices available to you every cycle.

I can only bid on 1 bedroom flats... I'm on band D (General needs) altho I got a letter from my Dr's saying where I'm living at the moment is making my depression worse but the council have refused me priority. 

Ashley1234xx

ElephantBoy57 said:

The homes we offer through our First Come First Served scheme are properties which have usually been advertised through the bidding system, but received no eligible bids. Where this happens, we will make them available on a first come first served basis. These properties are often age-banded studio and one-bedroom flats however we do sometimes advertise two and three bedroom properties in this way.

The properties are located throughout the City and can be provided by the Council or Housing Associations. Properties are offered to the first person on the housing register who places a bid and meets the minimum letting criteria.

In cases when there are no bidders for properties we may also change the eligibility criteria. For example, households that would only normally qualify for two bedroom properties may be allowed to bid for some three bedroom maisonettes. The advert will clearly state where this is the case.

However, if you are of working age and you bid for a property that is larger than you would normally qualify for, you may not be entitled to receive full housing benefit. In these cases we may carry out a financial assessment with you

1 bedroom flats never get posted on there. 

wyrdskein

After a bit of advice. I am in a housing association property which I held as a joint tenancy until my wife sadly passed away, when I succeeded to become a single tenant. My step-son is currently living with me but is only registered as someone living here, and by law if something happened to me he would not be allowed to succeed to the tenancy. 
My question is: if I did a house exchange would we be able to move into the new property as joint tenants?
I don't want to leave him homeless if something happens to me, or if I move out in the future - which is a possibility as my partner and I have discussed renting privately together.
Any advice would be welcome. 

Chandler85

Have you asked to have him made a joint tenant currently?  Usually an exchange would have the same tenants on them, as otherwise people who aren't a priority end up with homes they shouldn't have.

If something happens to you, then he would have to apply for housing like almost everyone else would if they cannot afford to rent privately or buy.  Just because someone lives in or grew up in Housing Association properties doesn't make them a higher priority. 

For example, if you currently had a 4 bed house as you had young children, then made your step son a joint tenant and then moved out with your new partner to privately rented and got yourself removed from the tenancy.  We now have a 4 bed house massively under-occupied.

wyrdskein

Thanks. Yes I can see why they do it. I just don't want to make my stepson homeless, which is what would happen if I moved out. It seems rather a draconian system, but I guess it's just because they won't invest in more social properties. Sad.