Social Housing - Any point applying as a single male?

Looper86

[Deleted User] said:

You have no chance mate unless it is an area which is low population. 

I have family in the late 20s who have been on it for years, can you save for a deposit at your parents for a few years and then move away to somewhere else?

Unfortunately my income vs mortgage requirements to secure a property would mean I’d need almost twice the amount of the mortgage as a deposit (housing is around £180-200k in my area and I would only qualify for around a £60k mortgage).
It appears that the only option outside of social housing is going to be relocating myself to a different area and leaving my family, friends and job behind.

FTB_Help said:

I think as you're an able bodied 30 something living with parents, others that are in real need (such as disabilities) will get prioritised over you and rightly so unfortunately.

I guess the good thing staying with parents is free/cheap rent? Maybe have a look at moving to a cheaper area if you're on minimum wage and want independence from family.

Where are you currently staying? There may be others on the forum that can give pointers on cheap flats in the area for rent

I’m by no means saying I should have higher eligibility than someone who is disabled, I just believe the system needs restructure to support people of all circumstances.

I contribute £400 a month towards my parents home to cover my monthly share of the bills/food.

AdrianC

Looper86 said:
I’m by no means saying I should have higher eligibility than someone who is disabled, I just believe the system needs restructure to support people of all circumstances.

Do you think they should have higher priority than you?

Here's the social housing priority list: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/council_housing_association/who_gets_priority_for_council_housing

Which of those should be disregarded to move you (and many, MANY tens, hundreds of thousands like you) up the list?

I contribute £400 a month towards my parents home to cover my monthly share of the bills/food.

So you're looking at an extra £200 plus food for your own place.

Welcome to what's generally called "being an adult".

Looper86

AdrianC said:

A couple both working full-time at minimum wage would have an annual household income of about £32,500 - £38k at London living wage, £3,200/mo. That's perfectly adequate to rent privately... Even in London, there are plenty of flats (not shared properties) to rent <£1k/mo. Sure, they won't be spacious, in lovely areas, or magazine-perfect. Hey-ho. Deposits legally cannot be more than one month's rent.

I rather suspect the "single 40s male" of your acquaintance had other factors increasing his priority.

An annual income of two adults earning minimum wage wouldn’t be £3,200/mo take home (£16,777 per year each, with an average take home after deductions of around £1100 each would only put them around £2200/mo - unless this was a typo of course).

AdrianC

Looper86 said:

AdrianC said:

A couple both working full-time at minimum wage would have an annual household income of about £32,500 - £38k at London living wage, £3,200/mo. That's perfectly adequate to rent privately... Even in London, there are plenty of flats (not shared properties) to rent <£1k/mo. Sure, they won't be spacious, in lovely areas, or magazine-perfect. Hey-ho. Deposits legally cannot be more than one month's rent.

I rather suspect the "single 40s male" of your acquaintance had other factors increasing his priority.

An annual income of two adults earning minimum wage wouldn’t be £3,200/mo take home (£16,777 per year each, with an average take home after deductions of around £1100 each would only put them around £2200/mo - unless this was a typo of course).

May I refer you to the bottom of the previous page of the thread, to the calculated illustration I posted a few minutes earlier?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78125790/#Comment_78125790

£3,200 refers to the London living wage, £10.85/hr.
£10.85 x 40 x 52 = £22,568 = £1,582 after tax.
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/business-and-economy/london-living-wage
Clearly, if you do not live in London, that does not apply to you. But nor do London rents.

But I presume you have some kind of ambition to improve your career and earn more than minimum wage at some point?

Looper86

AdrianC said:

So there y'go. You've still got five hundred quid a month in your pocket after paying rent. Lucky you. Or perhaps share a 2-bed with a friend?

A hell of a lot of households would be delighted to have that much.

I’m sorry I’ve never done private rental agreements before, I wasn’t aware that doing so covered all facilities, utilities, transport, food and everything else, it’s not like we are looking at £500 disposable income...

AdrianC said:

£16,777 / £8.72 = 1,899 hours = 36.5hrs/week
£8.72 x 37.5hrs x 52 = £17,004 = £1,267/mo
£8.72 x 40hrs x 52 = £18,137.60 = £1,331/mo

Post-tax figure from

Currently I work a 37 hour week on £8.72 an hour, with all deductions off my take home is just over £1100.

MovingForwards

Looper86 said:

wolfehouse said:

 There are help to buy schemes for those who can’t afford the whole purchase price

Unfortunately as someone earning minimum wage (£16,777 based on £8.72 and working full time) my expected amount of borrowing for a mortgage would only be £60,000, which unfortunately wouldn’t even put me close to a flat / house (I would say my area but I imagine that would rule out the majority of the country).

I took out a mortgage for under £67k, got a 2 bed flat with private garden.

It's not in the county I work in or where my friends are, took me over 3.5 years to save the 15% deposit, legals and broker fees, all while paying rent, running a little car and clearing debts due to a failed marriage. At one point I even had nearly a year of only earning £14k, but it still didn't stop me saving each month. My current salary is just over £21k and now I save, pay into a SIPP and make overpayments each month.

I deliberately found a nice, cheap property, which needs modernising, although it has double glazing and central heating.

You're better off looking at a flat share if you want to move out, or expand your search area if you want to buy.

SallyDucati

Looper86 said:

AdrianC said:

So there y'go. You've still got five hundred quid a month in your pocket after paying rent. Lucky you. Or perhaps share a 2-bed with a friend?

A hell of a lot of households would be delighted to have that much.

I’m sorry I’ve never done private rental agreements before, I wasn’t aware that doing so covered all facilities, utilities, transport, food and everything else, it’s not like we are looking at £500 disposable income...

AdrianC said:

£16,777 / £8.72 = 1,899 hours = 36.5hrs/week
£8.72 x 37.5hrs x 52 = £17,004 = £1,267/mo
£8.72 x 40hrs x 52 = £18,137.60 = £1,331/mo

Post-tax figure from

Currently I work a 37 hour week on £8.72 an hour, with all deductions off my take home is just over £1100.

Are you paying into a pension scheme which is reducing your take home?

Looper86

Caz3121 said:

Is it that you want to leave your parents or that you want your own place?
If the former have a look at renting a room in a houseshare
If the latter, maybe look at a plan for the future on upping your income to get into a position that could afford your own place...maybe it will be a 3-5 year plan....you could still be on the list and bid but it is likely you will still be on the waiting list at that point

The plan would be to have my own place (I haven’t seen any house shares on the local lettings but will look into it, although I can’t imagine that’s any different from LWP).

To be honest I wouldn’t know where to start with upping my income, I didn’t realise the value of education during my younger years so I left school with no qualifications at all, in a world that’s qualification focused this seems to put me at a grave disadvantage, I’ve only ever been able to find basic levels of employment that don’t have any additional testing parameters (I was unable to complete the English, Maths and Psychometric testing used by employers such as Supermarkets to gain employment). Even undertaking an English or Maths GCSE would only seem to place me in the same tier of employment that I am currently in (low income type work).

AdrianC

Looper86 said:

AdrianC said:

So there y'go. You've still got five hundred quid a month in your pocket after paying rent. Lucky you. Or perhaps share a 2-bed with a friend?

A hell of a lot of households would be delighted to have that much.

I’m sorry I’ve never done private rental agreements before, I wasn’t aware that doing so covered all facilities, utilities, transport, food and everything else, it’s not like we are looking at £500 disposable income...

Nobody said disposable. I explicitly said "after paying rent".

Welcome, as I said, to being an adult and standing on your own two feet in life.

If your parents still lived with their parents at your age, would you even be here?

Back on page 1 of the thread, you accused me of being "a little hostile and negative".  No, I was neither of those. You simply did not want to hear the truth - and you still don't, it seems.

If you want me to be absolutely honest - and please note that this is still not hostility or negativity, just frank truth and reality - then it seems from your posts in this thread that you have got far too comfortable with your parents subsidising your lifestyle for far too long. It's past time for you to get the wake-up call you should have had a decade ago.

If living in your own property doesn't allow you enough disposable income, then live in a shared house.
If you don't like what you can afford on minimum wage, then get a better-paying job.
If you don't have the skills to get a better-paying job, then get more marketable skills.
If a better-paying job is not available in your current location, relocate.

Your lot in life is in your hands, nobody else's. It ceased to be your parents' responsibility a decade and a bit ago.

Edit: I've just seen your post about having no qualifications. There is your starting point... GET QUALIFIED! Without either basic literacy or numeracy qualifications such as English and Maths GCSEs, you stand no hope of improving your lot in life. Your posts here suggest you are not stupid, and that you are literate. They should be straightforward for you if you put a bit of effort in.

Complaining the world is "qualification focused" is on a par with complaining that there isn't enough social housing for everybody. It may or may not be a valid complaint, but it's one that won't change in any kind of hurry, so you have to live with it.

And, on the subject of basic numeracy... As far as the number of hours goes - mea culpa. I mistakenly put £16,177 into my calculator, not £16,777. That should see you with around £1,250/mo after tax, unless there are other deductions - as Sally suggests, a pension?

MaryNB

Looper86 said:

Caz3121 said:

Is it that you want to leave your parents or that you want your own place?
If the former have a look at renting a room in a houseshare
If the latter, maybe look at a plan for the future on upping your income to get into a position that could afford your own place...maybe it will be a 3-5 year plan....you could still be on the list and bid but it is likely you will still be on the waiting list at that point

The plan would be to have my own place (I haven’t seen any house shares on the local lettings but will look into it, although I can’t imagine that’s any different from LWP).

To be honest I wouldn’t know where to start with upping my income, I didn’t realise the value of education during my younger years so I left school with no qualifications at all, in a world that’s qualification focused this seems to put me at a grave disadvantage, I’ve only ever been able to find basic levels of employment that don’t have any additional testing parameters (I was unable to complete the English, Maths and Psychometric testing used by employers such as Supermarkets to gain employment). Even undertaking an English or Maths GCSE would only seem to place me in the same tier of employment that I am currently in (low income type work).

Try spareroom. I have always used it for house shares. 

 It's very different to living with parents. Much more independence (of course that depends on your parents). Obviously living alone is far preferable to a house shares but for many people renting a whole place is not really sustainable. I was in a house share until I was 31 and was the youngest one there. Two of my housemates were in their late 30s. We were all working as engineers so on average salaries or above. None of us were from the area so a house share was our only option if we wanted decent disposable income and savings. In my area a one bed flat is about £900 pcm excluding bills, the cheapest I can find within a mile radius is £750 pcm. The only friend I had who was renting a one bed flat had very little disposable income despite earning well above minimum wage. I was able to split council tax and bills so it was much cheaper. You would reduce your livings costs by a few hundred a month compared to a one bed flat. 
 .