Council house entitlement!!!

seven-day-weekend

neas wrote: »

Can he not go into shared accomodation like the rest of us? I've had to share since going to uni with other people 4 people to a house... just to make ends meat. Had to work weekends while at uni and then pay 270 quid per month for all bills inlucded in a house share. I fail to see how any single person cannot just house share it... and anyone can afford that amount per monthon a full time job.

Those with families want more privacy, so I know single people have a hard time 'buying' a house... im one of them... but they dont have a hard time renting out a room in a shared house...

Giving a council house to a single person is cheeky.

If you are referring to my post, you'll see that my son does house share with two other people.

blue_monkey_2

OK, not all people living in council houses get them for free. The Letting agents are making it so difficult to get rentals now that there is nowhere left to go if you have a family. Generally they do not entertain single people - I think you have to be VERY lucky as a single person to get housed. But maybe we can blame the Letting Agens and Insurance companies because we could have afforded a rivate rental (with a little help from Housing Benefit as hubby is low income) but no, no clean record, don't earn 3 times the rent and no housing benefit applicants you cannot rent. you may be lucky to find a local landlord who does not want all of these things but they are getting few and far between as people start having money troubles. If you are unintentionally homeless and you are from a certain criteria then the council ave to, by law, help. So yes, this is why the druggies andwork-shy all get preference over law abiding low income workers. I do think these LA 'rules' are new because of the credit cruch and LL need to protect their properties (I can understand this, how many of them actually OWN these houses outright to stomach the blow of a non-paying tenant?) because even the council was surprised whn I told them what they told me. And the £150+ 'credit checking fee' per agent, per sperson is an absolute joke as well. I was honest and upfront before I looked - no point in looking if there is no chance of getting anthing.

However, as AM have pointed out, there are plenty of English people I know that are always on the want and get everything they can for free, but if you check your local council website under the housing allocation pages it will show how many points you get - being foreign does not entitle you to anything, the majority of points comes from local connections and you MUST have lived in this area for at least 12 months to be considered for the housing register in the first place, you cannot just turn up and get somewhere, it really is not like this. We do however have a Tory council, I do think that Labour and Lib Dem councils are run a bit differently and they do not have this stipulation but you can check this as I have known newcomers try to get intothis area, be refused so go to the surrounding towns where they get housed - abeit temporary to start with. They DO give priority to Asylum Seekers - which are different to Immigrants and Migrants so please bear this in mind when arguing over 'foreigners'.

MissMoneypenny

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Poles generally are not entitled to council accommodation

I think you will find that EU citizens have the same rights as the British in the UK, as we are all part of the EU.

I did read of a case on the Internet on a government site, where the government successfully won an appeal made by a Spanish family, as they wanted to be housed in Britain. The courts ruled that as the the Spanish family had voluntarily given up their rented flat in Spain to come to Britain, then they had made themselves homeless and were therefore not entitled to a council house here at that time. Not sure how welfare knew about their flat in Spain though. I just had a quick look for the site again, but can't find it.

Cherryscone

Any polish people i know who live in my area all live in shared accomadation,maybe 5 or 6 in 1 house i dont know any yet who has a council house , there is no council houses for rent anyhow so good luck to anyone who gets one WHO needs it .

blue_monkey_2

Hi SDW - around here young adults with problems such as your son has are given priority as they are vunerable and they have some sheltered/wardern control type places as well so have a look into this if you think you son would prefer that. However, I think you are happy with the way things are at the moment as you know where he is and that way you can keep an eye on him and check he is OK, LOL

Roxie, Sorry, not having a dig so please don;t think I am, even if 2 people were to go out and get minimum wage jobs it does not pay enough as far as letting agents are concerned. To be able to rent privately in this area, bearing in mind that average rents are £850 per month for a 2 bed (more if you want a 3 bed and I appreciate this depends on where you are living) then we would have to bring home over £2500 a month and it is just not possible on low paid jobs. The Landlord does not get insurance for the tenant and they will not accept people on Housing Benefit anymore. I think this is what MrsE is trying to say (albeit in a roundabout way - stop arguing you two, LOL!!), that even with 2 people earning minimum wage it really is impossible to rent right now - especially in the south as you know. I think this is what MrsE is trying to get at, that low paid workers are pretty much stuck in a rut and this is why some people just take the freebies and don't go out to work.

Neas, it depends, if the person is vunerable (ie. In that they have physical or mental disability) then no, I don't think it is cheeky that a single person was to get housed as they often are unable to work but still need to learn their independance. It is sad that vunerable people are often taken advantage of or bullied in society so helping them find somewhere to live should not be seen as them taking the pee.

However, some people like the one mentioned in my post should not expect to be housed if they can find housing elsewhere. I've spent enough time in lodgings - it makes you realise that there are some people you really SHOULD not be living with!! LOL!!

blue_monkey_2

MissMoneypenny, it depends on what area they live. Here you have to have been in the area for 12 months which would mean coming in and renting private for 12 months. However, you would have to be evicted by a legitimate means, not paying your rent, taking a place that is too small for your needs or leaving of your own accord with nowhere to leave means you have made yourself homeless so they have no right to house you. However, i do think it might be different depending on who runs your local council and this makes a whole world of difference. Being an EU Citizen does not automatically give you a 'right' to a council house, there are criteria you have to meet, if you do not meet these then you are not housed - the same would apply to an EU citizen in that you do not have an 'automatic right' to council housing.

RoxieW

tigtag02 wrote: »

You know, complaining about the *low* cost of council accomodation smacks of nothing but sour grapes.

The area of many council houses I'm sure reflects this and the higher cost of renting privately/buying is just simply because the housing market went crazy.

Whilst I'm aware that the cost of property is so high I also think that people live out of their means too easily. You KNEW how much your repayments were going to be why moan now (thats a general *you* by the way)

I'm quite happy paying my £75 a week for my 4 bedroom house and dont begrudge ANYONE a council house, especially those who finance their own rent.

Oh and NO, mines NOT council but was I lucky or savvy

Of course there is sour grapes - I've explained in earlier posts that we would dearly love an extra bedroom but we cant afford it so we cant have it. I thought that was the way of the world so why should the OP be 'entitled' to it for nothing? This thread seems to have veered away from the original question and instead has become somehow about people bashing people who are on benefits? I don't have any problem with people who are legitimately on benefits and recieves housing benefit etc because they cant pay their rent at the minute - the OP isnt on benefits so I don't see how it comes into it? I hope the comment about biggoted twerps wasn't aimed at me.

I'm leaving this thread now because I'm getting abit bored of it. As someone commented earlier - there generally hasn't been abuse towards the OP- certainly not by me and I'd like examples if I have abused anyone. Its generally been people getting very defensive and 'pouncing' and in fact, it's those people who have been abusive.

I've taken up far too much of my time and energy defending my original post which was about 4 lines long and said that I didnt think OP should expect a bigger house to accommodate a visitor. I can't be bothered to get involved anymore. It seems that if you dont agree with the majority on these threads then dont bother posting!

blue_monkey_2

Just to add on from this. We have had to giv everything, wage slips, proof of child benefit/Child tax credits, months of bank statements so they can see what you have spent and when, we had medical and letters via the school about my son, these all had to be handed in. Plus we then had a home visit from the council. For all the people who told us to 'lie and play the system' would have got us chucked off the list had we have done this and we would have been entitled to nothing I don't understand how some people get more than others and how some people are able to 'play the system'. I guess it depends what you have to lose by getting caught out.

dfitps

I think the moral here is try not to write 'am I entitled to' if what you really mean is 'am I likely to qualify for'!

When you use 'entitled' people can read (or choose to read) that as 'am I morally entitled to' or 'do I deserve' and the answer is likely to be different (and, sadly, unjustifiably nastier) than the answer to the boring technical question of whether or not you're just likely to qualify for such and such a thing under the current rules.

'Entitled' pushes too many buttons.

ally67_2

trying to bet private rented in our area is unreal ,my partner and i tryed yesterday for a 4bed house rent 1,300 month got there viewed house [not to bad ] got turned down as 5 adults and one child would be living their so were still stuck in a rut ?