Housing advice needed!!!

BethanyHughes

I recently found out that I was two months pregnant and my partner and I can no longer stay at our parents' homes. This is due to overcrowding and personal family problems.
Just over 12 months ago I was diagnosed with depression and put on medication and referred to a counsellor. Due to the support I receive from my family I really need to stay close to my family.
My partner and I are both 18 years old and claiming JSA.
We applied to the council for help and they told us to fill in the application form. We have heard nothing since and do not know where we stand.
The woman i previously spoke to at the housing department was not at all informative and gave me no help and advice.
We currently live in Solihull/Birmingham, if that helps.
If anybody who is currently or previously been in our situation, could you please tell us what happens next, how the point scheme works and advice on how the allocation works.
Thank you, your advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Savvy_Sue

You will get some information here but precisely how things work varies from area to area. It does take time, but there is nothing wrong with going back to ask how soon before you can expect to hear anything.

You may find lots of useful information on your local council's website, and that may explain how the system works, how soon before you hear anything and how often you should hear anything. (I believe that in Bristol, for example, you should get a letter at least every 12 months asking you to return a reply slip to say whether or not your circumstances have changed. If you don't reply, it's assumed you no longer need re (-) housing.)

Are there any local Housing Associations? It would also be worth contacting all of them. Some of them may have properties specifically available for young people.

Presumably your bf is actively looking for work (and remember that if you were to get a job you'd be under no obligation to tell your employer you were expecting a baby). It's hard to rent privately when on benefits, but councils and others sometimes offer Key Deposit schemes for a private let, where THEY pay the deposit rather than you having to find it.

Good luck.

Fran

Are you both living at one of your parents' houses or both with your own parents?

If you are being made homeless you should contact Shelter

katiepops_2

I live in Birmingham. There's loads of housing associations in this area - you really need to check out the Council websites - see Birmingham Council Housing (there are links to all the local housing associations from here) and Solihull Community Housing. Have you tried going to your local Neighbourhood Office to see what help they can give you?

HTH.

Kate

BethanyHughes

Hi, thanks for the info. Yes me and my partner are living at our own parents houses, apart.

Thank you,
Bethany

november

If your parents have told you you must leave then you are homeless and being pregnant should make a homelessness application at the council rather than just a housing one. You will need proof that your parents are making you leave ( a letter saying when you have to be out by - it needs to be within 28 days for you to count as homeless). The council doensn't have a duty to house your boyfriend as homeless as he would be non priority but you could name him on your application as someone who wants to live with you and the father of your child.

If you want to leave but your parents haven't told you to go then you are not legally homeless. You can apply to the waiting list (as you have done) and will get points for overcrowding etc. Point systems work slightly differently in different areas but basically you get so many for things like overcrowding, health etc. People with most points are 'top of the list' for housing when something comes up. It depends on how much council and housing association housing is available how easy it is to get social housing. Some areas housing association housing goes through the council list and some areas it doesn't. Some areas have privatised council housing and everything goes through that.

You can also contact a rent deposit scheme to see if they could help you get private rented accommodation. Your boyfriend should also contact a scheme if his parents have asked him to leave.

The contact details for the rent deposit scheme in B'ham are as follows:

Birmingham Bond Scheme Ltd

Contact: Steve Philpott
Homeless Services Centre
50/55 Henrietta Street
Birmingham
Post Code: B19 3QD
Tel: 0121 233 6378
E-mail: birminghambond@btconnect.com

and for Solihull.

Solihull Churches Action on Homelessness (SCAH)


Christ Church
741 Warwick Road
Solihull
Post Code: B91 3DG
Tel: 0121 711 4945 (office)

You and/or your boyfriend could contact the one in whichever area you live in to see if they could help you. If they can't they should be able to advise you on how housing works in your area.

kingshir

Have an abortion! If you think you've suffered with depression before wait until you've got a baby, living in some grotty place, skint all the time and still only 18! Been there and done that - believe me there was no joy in it for a good many years!

kit

Hi there

Before having my baby (who is 3 months old) I worked in social housing for many years as a lettings officer (dealing with the waiting lists) and a housing officer.

I'm sure I could offer you some help and advice but I would need to get a bit more information really. If you would like me to help please PM me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Kit.

jenbren

if u and ur boyfriend have to move out of your parents, i.e u can get a letter from them saying u have to leave within the next 28 days, then u can present urselves as homeless to the local housing needs office. the five tests for homelessness are:

1) u are not subject to immigration control
2) you are legally homeless or threatened with homelessness within the next 28 days
3) u r in priority need i.e with children/pregnancy like u or are disabled
4) u have not made urself intentionally homeless. i.e. u did not have a nice flat or something that u gave up in order to make urself homeless.
and 5) you have to have a local connection i.e u can only claim in a borough where u normally live or have family living in.

It seems to me that u satisfy all these tests. So u can present yourself to ur local council, and they have a STATUTORY OBLIGATION, (i.e. they have to give u somehwere to live by law). to offer u suitable accommodation. It may be that they put u up in B&B for a maximum period of three months, but after that they are under an obligation to find u somewhere to live. When they find u somewhere, you need to apply for housing benefit and Council tax benefit and ur rent and council tax will be paid providing that u pass the means test.

If u go to ur local Citizens Advice bureau, they will draft a letter for you to take to the local housing office to start the ball rolling, but there's no reason why u cant ring the council and make an appointment with their homelessness section direct.

good luck!

BethanyHughes wrote:

I recently found out that I was two months pregnant and my partner and I can no longer stay at our parents' homes. This is due to overcrowding and personal family problems.
Just over 12 months ago I was diagnosed with depression and put on medication and referred to a counsellor. Due to the support I receive from my family I really need to stay close to my family.
My partner and I are both 18 years old and claiming JSA.
We applied to the council for help and they told us to fill in the application form. We have heard nothing since and do not know where we stand.
The woman i previously spoke to at the housing department was not at all informative and gave me no help and advice.
We currently live in Solihull/Birmingham, if that helps.
If anybody who is currently or previously been in our situation, could you please tell us what happens next, how the point scheme works and advice on how the allocation works.
Thank you, your advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

mummytofour

kingshir wrote:

Have an abortion! If you think you've suffered with depression before wait until you've got a baby, living in some grotty place, skint all the time and still only 18! Been there and done that - believe me there was no joy in it for a good many years!

That is not a nice thing to say, this is a public forum yes, but even so its peoele like you with comments like that that make the world a carp place to live.
The op was not asking for your advise as weather to keep her baby or not, stick to the subject or dont bother replying.

dag_2

Lots of good advice. I'd advise you to do both - make a homelessness application and a housing application. It's probably best to deal with the homelessness process first.

Birmingham and Solihull are two different local authority areas. The one that you need to make the homelessness application in is the one that your parents' address is in - that is, whoever they pay council tax to. Although that local authority would have a statutory duty to provide accommodation for you, it might be outside the area.