Council house waiting list

Anon8888

Hello,

I know this is more 'renting' section but I thought I might get more judgemental replies on housing board so thought I would ask here.

Background: me, husband, girls 11 and 5, new baby. I work part time but on mat leave currently, husband is classed as disabled on pip and esa. 
We really could do with a bigger property, currently in a 2 bed house with 3 kids. We have tried to look privately the last 4 months but its so competitive and the rent rates are ridiculous, its an extra  £350 a month for an extra bedroom. If we did get a private rent i think we would struggle with the extra cost.

I have also applied for at least 20 but feels like we would never get accepted as husband is on benefits and we both have a history of bankruptcy not due to come off of credit record for another 3 years. 

We have been on the council waiting list since January was originally band C, (a, b,c,d in my area) and i have bid every week. We have now moved to band b from start october. My council dont let you see what band won previous bids or give a rough estimte of waiting time scales when i emailed to ask they just say significant wait. I was number 20 last week when the bidding ended. What would you do? Wait it out and jjst keep bidding hoping that in a year we may get a council place that is affordable or keep applying for private sector and if by some miracle we get accepted and we end up struggling with the expenses trying to deal with that at the time? 

KxMx

Definitely stay on the council list and keep bidding. A short term struggle to get a long term, secure affordable social rental is absolutely worth it. 

It will in all likelihood take a significant amount of time, but coming number 20 already after your band was recently upgraded is actually really good.

The more time you wait the more priority you get when bidding - so waiting is not necessarily a bad thing. 

I'm in a similar boat myself and that's my attitude towards it. 

MovingForwards

I would wait it out and keep bidding. Council tenancies are secure, private rentals are not. With kids you need stability.
Depending on your OHs health, maybe look at flats, but where there's only you and another in the building (upper and lower flat), look at bungalows.
Rejig your house a bit to create space. Do you have a lounge and dining room? if so, turn one of them into a bedroom.
The baby can stay in your room for a while.

Anon8888

Ok thanks for your input. Im struggling to think about how to rejig things at the moment. We have one room downstairs living room/diner, one double room and a 'single' although its got a double bed in their and not much else fits. 

My husband needs his own room ideally he doesnt leave the house much, severe anxiety and depression, his sleep varies from insomnia to sleeping loads. He can get easily irritated/overwhelmed and would go to his room for some space. I used to share a room with my two girls.

However, now the baby is here I have gone back to the small room with a double bed as i dont want to disturb the girls sleep with him, especially the eldest shes just started secondary school. Husband is sleeping on the sofa so has no real space of his own. 

TELLIT01

The council won't/can't give an estimate of when any individual will reach the top of the list as housing requests are so fluid.  If they said it will be x weeks and then can't carry through with the promise they will have the press and everybody else on their backs.  I do understand how stressful it must be for those in need of housing, but being given false promises doesn't help anybody.

Anon8888

TELLIT01 said:

The council won't/can't give an estimate of when any individual will reach the top of the list as housing requests are so fluid.  If they said it will be x weeks and then can't carry through with the promise they will have the press and everybody else on their backs.  I do understand how stressful it must be for those in need of housing, but being given false promises doesn't help anybody.

Yeah of course i understand that. Some councils give rough estimates based on averages according to google like 12 months for band a ect of course they are based on averages and not set in stone. The location where I work their council show what band the person was in who won the bid but our council wont say anything lol.

Mrsn

Please do keep bidding, I know exactly how anxious it makes you when bidding weekly. If I recall correctly we were band C and spent about 18 months in total on the list.

We were getting similar sorts of placings on properties and then the house we now live in came up. Because the village was asking for family connections which we by chance had and had a few other stipulations we managed to place 1st for it. You literally never know when the “right” property might come on the list, I wish you the best going forward.