Private tenant, on benefits and landlord decides to sell - do you go to the top of the housing list?

nyermen

To add - also remember that if a landlord gives notice (different to selling as noted above), the council are likely to require you to stay put until an eviction is granted, anything less than that is considered by many (most?  all?) councils to be voluntarily homelessness, and then rather than the top of the list, you'll be at the bottom.

AdrianC

greatcrested said:

(Now, before I get reported and banned, let me make it clear these are not MY beliefs, but those of a minority of tax-payers with too much time on their hands).

For a minute, I thought you were adopting THIS crest...

AdrianC

nyermen said:

To add - also remember that if a landlord gives notice (different to selling as noted above), the council are likely to require you to stay put until an eviction is granted, anything less than that is considered by many (most?  all?) councils to be voluntarily homelessness, and then rather than the top of the list, you'll be at the bottom.

Because that's exactly what choosing to move out, rather than the landlord being awarded possession, would be.

Notice expiring does not mean you HAVE to move.

stupidaspie

tacpot12 said:

Only if you have some need that is not mentioned above. Just being on benefits is not indicative of being in priority need of housing. If you are disabled, have children, have health conditions, you might well go to the highest category on the waiting list, you won't go to the top as there will be people who have the same or greater needs who will have been waiting longer.  

deannatrois said:

It depends somewhat on the borough what priority you will be given.  When my LL was selling our private rental, because I had children with special needs it meant the council had a duty to provide housing but I had to prove that one room housing would pose risks (so could have ended up in B&B or a hostel). 

Yes, I think my LA only takes disabilities and health conditions into account if your current accommodation poses risks. I was still able to declare mine on the application form but there's no reference to them in my the letter about my banding. I'm in band 3 of 6 which doesn't sound bad but I have 'criteria' which reduce my chances: I want somewhere I can let my cat out, and I've got a phobia of eating upstairs which rules out upstairs flats, so I'm considering other options like shared accommodation, but I'm worried that if I went for a house share I'd have to move again within a short time (I live with family at the moment), one of the many problems with private renting.

deannatrois said:

I heard stories from other people in emergency housing on the estate having been there for two years with no real chance of a permanent property because in my borough, being homeless automatically put you in the lowest band of housing priority (not every borough does this) regardless of other priorities that would put you in a higher band if you weren't homeless. 

That's shocking.

deannatrois said:
I'd advise looking online for your borough's housing policy and phoning them.  Don't, whatever you do take a 'friend's' word for this or our word for it,we don't know your borough's policies.

Good advice (both points).

theartfullodger

There will be published on council website a "housing allocation policy" - or similar name.  Read that carefully.  Then again.  If something mentioned in it gets you higher points or priority write/email council revising your application.

Different councils, different policies.

Chandler85

There is same age old problem.  There are more people, wanting, demanding or needing social housing then the amount of social housing available.

Social Housing, whether cheaper rent for those working or cheaper rent so housing benefit/ universal credit covers it, also in itself adds the same problem.  Housing Associations with say 1000 properties, make less profit then a private landlord with 1000 properties.  They then cannot build as many new social rent homes as private landlords can, so the proportions of housing stock change further.

There is no easy solution, though.  Government policy also decreased rent in housing association/ council housing by 1% a year for 3 years, mainly to make that element of the benefit system smaller, but private rents were going up.  Which ultimately means less money for the places trying to build and maintain the same social housing homes, while more people potentially being pushed into needing them.

Anyway that's off topic, around here being homeless does not mean automatically getting a roof above your head, no matter how you became homeless.

silvercar

I'm in band 3 of 6 which doesn't sound bad but I have 'criteria' which reduce my chances: I want somewhere I can let my cat out, and I've got a phobia of eating upstairs which rules out upstairs flats,

I doubt your council allocate priority based on either of those 2 criteria, but you can ask.

On the latter, I would rather spend money on getting appropriate help to overcome that phobia than living in shared accommodation.