Housing Benefit

pipkin71

Kimberley wrote: »

I agree with the person who said that if people had to pay rent themselves they wouldn't even think about upgrading.

Is that really the case for everyone though? As a council tenant, whether you pay rent or not, you cant simply upgrade.

I don't pay rent and would like to move to a nicer area, but for now, I can't with the council. The reason for not renting privately isn't because I may end up paying a portion of rent, it is because I would no longer have a secure tenancy, and could find myself in the situation the OP is in now - having to move again.

PasturesNew

pipkin71 wrote: »

I don't pay rent and would like to move to a nicer area, but for now, I can't with the council. The reason for not renting privately isn't because I may end up paying a portion of rent, it is because I would no longer have a secure tenancy, and could find myself in the situation the OP is in now - having to move again.

I thought you could at least look out for and apply for Exchanges?
Obviously there is no guarantee somebody is looking for what you have, but there's some hope there for some.

e.g. like here
http://www.council-exchange.org.uk/#

Kimberley

PasturesNew wrote: »

I thought you could at least look out for and apply for Exchanges?
Obviously there is no guarantee somebody is looking for what you have, but there's some hope there for some.

Where i'm living now was due to an exchange from Homeswap


http://www.ukhomeswap.co.uk/?gclid=CKTTjfujjJACFQpDMAodZgqhlQ

pipkin71

PasturesNew wrote: »

I thought you could at least look out for and apply for Exchanges?
Obviously there is no guarantee somebody is looking for what you have, but there's some hope there for some.

That is true, I can exchange but it would be very difficult to exchange with someone from a nice area as they wouldn't want to live where I am. When I last looked at the exchange list, the areas were similar to mine, and tbh, better the devil you know really.

thanks for the suggestion though

Pipkin xxxx

Kimberley

pipkin71 wrote: »

That is true, I can exchange but it would be very difficult to exchange with someone from a nice area as they wouldn't want to live where I am. When I last looked at the exchange list, the areas were similar to mine, and tbh, better the devil you know really.

thanks for the suggestion though

Pipkin xxxx

Thats not always true, I lived in Walthamstow, it's not a very nice area and swapped with someone where I am now, which is a nice area. The lady I swapped with wanted to swap with me because they wanted to be nearer to family, so it is possible.

pipkin71

Kimberley wrote: »

Thats not always true, I lived in Walthamstow, it's not a very nice area and swapped with someone where I am now, which is a nice area. The lady I swapped with wanted to swap with me because they wanted to be nearer to family, so it is possible.

I'm not saying it is not possible, because you just never know, but having looked at the exchange books a fair few times, those wanting to exchange come from similar areas.

At the moment our area is suffering from a gun/gang/drug culture and it really isn't the type of place someone would want to raise their family.

As it is, we will need to move eventually, due to my health, and the council will rehouse us.

PasturesNew

pipkin71 wrote: »

At the moment our area is suffering from a gun/gang/drug culture and it really isn't the type of place someone would want to raise their family.

You are assuming people want to be raising families.

Maybe the gun/gang/drug leaders want to move more of their people into their area to consolidate their stronghold on the turf.

pipkin71

PasturesNew wrote: »

You are assuming people want to be raising families.

Maybe the gun/gang/drug leaders want to move more of their people into their area to consolidate their stronghold on the turf.

You can only exchange to a house that is adequate to your needs. As I live in a three bedroomed house, I could not exchange with a single person, even if they had a three bedroomed house. Our council still has to approve the exchange.

tosca5

At the end of the day we should really be thankfull wether we are in a caravan or living over-crowded. Some people are far worse off and would love a roof over their head.

pipkin71

tosca5 wrote: »

At the end of the day we should really be thankfull wether we are in a caravan or living over-crowded. Some people are far worse off and would love a roof over their head.

Totally agree tosca5.

This is the sort of thing I was trying to say in post#92 regarding the fact that my family are not overcrowded.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=7032143&postcount=92