Council house entitlement!!!

MrsE_2

RoxieW wrote: »

blue_monkey - please don't patronise me. I'm fully aware that being self-employed is hard work. I don't think it would be a 'fab' easy ride. However, my hubby is an architect and there is a market for him to go self employed. Several of his colleagues have done so successfully. But from their experience we know that there is a drop in income for a while, before you can build up a reasonable client base and bring home a decent wage. We do not have this option as we are committed to a mortgage and would not have this option even if renting as we couldn't afford the big drop in income.
The reasons that you have given are exactly the reasons that we cannot afford to do it.
I said it would be fantastic for him to be self employed from a childcare point of view ie he can take a break to pick the kids from school, then make up for it in the evenings. It would really solve a lot of childcare problems for us.
My husband is SE, he works longer & harder than ANY employed person I know.


The OP's partner chooses to be self employed and bring home a low wage. He could get a full time job and bring in more money. But he has the luxury of pursuing this avenue as they have low rent, council housing.
Maybe with his skills (or lack of) he cant earn more?

I didn't say that they don't deserve the council housing. But perhaps they should be happy with what they have. As I explained, we'd love a bigger house - who wouldn't! But we'd have to work damn hard for it, work damn hard to save the money for the deposit, the fees etc, then sell our house and find a suitable bigger one - We cant just decide that we should be 'entitled' to it and have it given to us for nothing. What a wonderful world if that were the case for everyone!
Strictly speaking, its not for nothing. The rent will increase.

For the record - neither me nor my husband have wealthy parents. Very far from it in fact. We put ourselves through university and saved our own deposit. We have two children. We have to make sacrifices financially and career wise.
You are both university educated & admit its still a financial struggle. Can you imagine the struggle for people who haven't had the luxury of further ed?

The OP and her husband are both capable of work and are both working. Why cant her husband get a 'normal' stable job? Why cant they up their hours and their income like other people have to? What is stopping them from being able to afford to rent a bigger place and give the stepson his own room! Yes, rents are high, house prices are high - but what makes them different to the rest of us?
There are parts of the country, where people on normal incomes who do not already have a foot on the property ladder, WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO BUY. I live in one Surrey, I despair of my daughter ever being able to afford £250,000 to get on the property ladder. 17k income would be a drop in the ocean in that sort of price tab.

A family member of mine are in a council house and pay £85 a week rent for a 3 bedroom home. I wish the council would subsidise my mortgage on a 3 bed home so it only cost £85 a week?
They will never own it though, the rent will continue to increase, you mortgage is stable. When you are in the final throws of your mortgage it will probably be less than or equal to council rents. Its silly to make that comparison.

And I'm not 'bashing' people in council accommodation. If you're a single mum and you cant work at the minute due to childcare costs, or elderly and in poverty, or unable to work due to disability then yes, the council should help practically and financially to house this people. But a two adult family both able to and working, with 1 child to support should be able to pay the going rates and free up that house/flat for someone else who is in dire need.

As I said there are LOTS of areas in the south, where two working adults on normal or lower wages will never be able to afford to buy.
You must live in a cheap or cheaper area to have such a rose tinted view of our housing problems in this country.

blue_monkey_2

Hi Roxie, I was not intending to be patronising so apologies if you thought I was I am just not so good at explaining myself. I thought that it was good for him to try to make better for himself and try and earn more money by working for himself, but as you have said, to do this you have to make a start somewhere.

My husband is also on low income, we have 2 kids and he earns under 20k pa. We live on this quite easily and pay the bills but we live in the family home so pay lower rent (but have been doing the house up for my mother who could not afford it herself) but we do not have frivolous ifestyles - pizza is the equivant to a night out for us, LOL!! However, there is simply not the jobs to enable him to earn more than this as he does not have qualifications. He is good at what he does but without peices of paper then his pay is going to be low.

What I was trying to explain was that the options are not there to be able to rent if you do not have huge deposits and if you do not have a clean credit rating you are pretty much stuffed. Likewise, my friend is in the same situation but has bought her own house, childcare for 3 days a week in a nursery are £900+ a month in this area (not sure, is this the same everywhere?) but she has said that she has her house if they 'run out of money'. But renting is not so easy these days unless you can find a landlord who will accept you if you don't have a clean rating. On this board the other day one of he LL stated that he would but ould ask for 4 months deposit and 6 months rent in advance. Sorry, but many people do not have this sort of money nor do they have the qualifications to earn much more than minimum wage.

If we wanted to rent somewhere private (if we could, not that we can as our credit rating is not clean) I would have to go out to work and earn 30k pa and pay childcare, which there is no way I can earn that sort of money. 'Average famalies' who could once get buy on average incomes are now in dire need as far as housing goes - especially those that are new to the market and need somewhere to live.

The cuncil took everything from us, wage slips, bank statements, child benefit and tax credit entitlement forms, as I said before, we found a cheap place for £750 and I called the agent and she told me about the 3x wage and te council lady said 'but that's an executive wage!'. This is the ame LA who is on the councils website as giving houses to those who could not usually afford to rent private. So I think the 'rules' are changing as far as renting is concerned as well. And this is all I was trying to say, this leaves people with nowhere to live because they do not ear enough money.

RoxieW

MrsE - you seem to have a bee in your bonnet with this and are jumping on anyone who dares to have a different opinion but I will defend the points you put to me.

1. Re - self employed - I have never said that self employed people do not work long, hard hours. All I have said is that it is a more flexible way of working as you choose your own hours/jobs and take breaks when you like. And before anyone jumps on me to say that no there husbands work 24/7 and never have breaks etc I shall add that - at least, if my husband were to go self employed he would be able to. It would suit us to do this but we cant as we cannot afford to take a drop of income while he gets established. IF we had subsidised housing costs, we could do this. What makes the OP any more entitled then me and my family?

2. The pair of them are both working and bringing in 17K. Even on minimum wage they would bring home more than that jointly. And if he has the skills to work self employed then surely those skills are transferable? The OP clearly states that her husband isn't bringing in much money as he is self employed. I take that to mean that if he wasn't self employed he would be able to earn more.

3. Come on! The rent is subsidised anyway and the increase will be minimal. You are splitting hairs here for the sake of being argumentative. The rent on a 3 bed council home sure isn't going to be in line with private rented or a mortgage.

4. Yes, I can imagine the 'struggle'. My brother in law has no qualifications and works as a plasterer. Her earns more than my husband does as an architect after many years of study. Our best friends are a construction worker and self employed beauty therapist. They are not university educated yet they also bring home more than we do. I could go on with examples. What our 'luxury' education did leave us with though was around 20K of student debt.

5. We live in Derby where the house prices are lower than the south. However, my work took me to london as thats where the most jobs in my field are. We couldn't afford to move there because of the high house prices. So I either had to spend nights away from my children and family or do a 3 hour each way commute costing £30 a day in train fare. If you cant afford to live in an area then move to a cheaper one. It's really simple. Don't expect special treatment to everyone else!

6. Our mortgage is stable? Really? Now i think you are the one being 'silly'. Have you heard of interest rate rises? House price crashes? I'm also paying a heck of a lot in interest for the privilege of owning my own home. More over a lifetime then my friend in a council house will pay in rent - for comparable homes.

Believe me I don't have rose tinted glasses on about the housing problems in this country. We've had to rent in a grotty area, we've had to save and search for an affordable house to buy. We've outgrown this home but there's no way we can afford to move up and get an extra bedroom.

But you know what - its just tough luck! I certainly don't expect someone to give it to me. We cant afford a house down south and we cant afford expensive childcare so I'm having to give up my dream job and look into retraining. That will mean going back to college and then going back to University. It will mean paying to do so and making sacrifices in order to eventually improve our situation. I'm nothing special - if I can do it then why cant the OP?

When my husband and I are both on decent wages we will be able to afford an extra bedroom. I'm going to work to make that happen, eventually! Why is that different in the case of the OP?

DGJsaver

ally67 wrote: »

im stuck in tempary accomation waiting for a h/a house my partner and i work we have 4 children 20,19.18.14 all boys my 2 eldest boys work we have been told that we have 4 bed need /they wont rehouse us in a 3 bed even thou were in a 3 bed tempary accomationwere not allowed to bid on 3 beds

And you are surprised ? two of your kids are adults for gods sake

DGJsaver

UK007BullDog wrote: »

My kids are 21 and 19 and still live with us and they will continue to live with us for a long time it seems. The way rents are going they will not be able to find a place.

RUBBISH

tell them to get looking , they will find something , wether it`s a bedsit or a small flat or a 3 bed house , there is places out there

RoxieW

Hi blue_monkey - I appreciate what you are saying and I would definitely love to see house prices come down and more affordable housing. But thats an issue for the government to pull their finger out and sort. Until that happens things are just the way they are. I certainly wish our mortgage was lower. My husband wishes he could set up on his own. Alot of my friends with children wish they didn't have to leave their kids in childcare to work to contribute to the mortgage but they just have to. Its just the way it is. Why are some people, a two wage family, entitled to help and others not? It doesn't seem fair. And if everyone on a low wage wanted the same I'm sure the country would just not be able to cope!

As i've said, I have no problem with the needy getting help. None at all. But if the Op wants a bigger house to give the stepson his own room then they should look at retraining, taking on more hours etc - other ways to up their income so that they can do it for themselves, not just expect that it should be given.

DGJsaver

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

That's an odd thing to say. 18 - 20 isn't exactly ancient, it's quite normal (and healthy) for a family to live together in my view.

So a family with kids of the ages mentioned take a 3 or 4 bed house from the council that a family with KIDS of the ages of say 4/9/12/14

fair ?

not really

MrsE_2

RoxieW wrote: »

MrsE - you seem to have a bee in your bonnet with this and are jumping on anyone who dares to have a different opinion but I will defend the points you put to me.

1. Re - self employed - I have never said that self employed people do not work long, hard hours. All I have said is that it is a more flexible way of working as you choose your own hours/jobs and take breaks when you like. And before anyone jumps on me to say that no there husbands work 24/7 and never have breaks etc I shall add that - at least, if my husband were to go self employed he would be able to. It would suit us to do this but we cant as we cannot afford to take a drop of income while he gets established. IF we had subsidised housing costs, we could do this. What makes the OP any more entitled then me and my family?

2. The pair of them are both working and bringing in 17K. Even on minimum wage they would bring home more than that jointly. And if he has the skills to work self employed then surely those skills are transferable? The OP clearly states that her husband isn't bringing in much money as he is self employed. I take that to mean that if he wasn't self employed he would be able to earn more.
Minimum wage will bring in around 10.5k for a full time job (my friend & I worked it out this morning), two adults earning that wouldn't be left with any more than 17K after tax.
Or maybe the OP has a young baby/child & isn't in the wage bracket to afford £150-£200 per week for a childminder or nursery.

3. Come on! The rent is subsidised anyway and the increase will be minimal. You are splitting hairs here for the sake of being argumentative. The rent on a 3 bed council home sure isn't going to be in line with private rented or a mortgage.

4. Yes, I can imagine the 'struggle'. My brother in law has no qualifications and works as a plasterer. Her earns more than my husband does as an architect after many years of study. Our best friends are a construction worker and self employed beauty therapist. They are not university educated yet they also bring home more than we do. I could go on with examples. What our 'luxury' education did leave us with though was around 20K of student debt.

5. We live in Derby where the house prices are lower than the south. However, my work took me to london as thats where the most jobs in my field are. We couldn't afford to move there because of the high house prices. So I either had to spend nights away from my children and family or do a 3 hour each way commute costing £30 a day in train fare. If you cant afford to live in an area then move to a cheaper one. It's really simple. Don't expect special treatment to everyone else!

6. Our mortgage is stable? Really? Now i think you are the one being 'silly'. Have you heard of interest rate rises? House price crashes? I'm also paying a heck of a lot in interest for the privilege of owning my own home. More over a lifetime then my friend in a council house will pay in rent - for comparable homes.

Believe me I don't have rose tinted glasses on about the housing problems in this country. We've had to rent in a grotty area, we've had to save and search for an affordable house to buy. We've outgrown this home but there's no way we can afford to move up and get an extra bedroom.

But you know what - its just tough luck! I certainly don't expect someone to give it to me. We cant afford a house down south and we cant afford expensive childcare so I'm having to give up my dream job and look into retraining. That will mean going back to college and then going back to University. It will mean paying to do so and making sacrifices in order to eventually improve our situation. I'm nothing special - if I can do it then why cant the OP?

When my husband and I are both on decent wages we will be able to afford an extra bedroom. I'm going to work to make that happen, eventually! Why is that different in the case of the OP?

I have a bee in my bonet because of this......

They are tax payers, paying their way.
They are council rent payers, paying their way.

NOW why don't you go & have a go at a family that are happy to sit on benefits (eitheron "the sick" or job seekers or whatever) & get EVERYTHING paid for them & this this financially struggling family alone.

Oh, I know why, because its not PC to say anything to the benefit takers, so lets hammer this woman who has a council home (she pays rent for) instead.

Also being from the south, I understand there is a massive problem for families & couples on "normal" wages every being able to get on the propery ladder.

Houses are NOT 35K down here you know:rolleyes:

DGJsaver

DGJsaver wrote: »

And you are surprised ? two of your kids are adults for gods sake

Make that Three

My apologies

seven-day-weekend

My unmarried son has a minimum wage job at the moment and would not be able to afford other than a 'shared house' on his own, even to rent.

After over two years of unemployment and a medical condition, he is grateful for this job and hopefully it won't be too long before he gets a better paid job.

But at the moment he has to live with others in a shared house. Luckily the belongs to us, his parents, so we are able to help him out on this.

He will never stand any chance of getting a Council flat as they are not obliged to home single childless people.

What if he did not have our house to live in? His only option is to lodge with someone else.

Just to put the point of view across that not everyone has a choice of housing and while I think that the OP is quite entitled to ask the original question, I think she should count her blessings.

However, those who tell her she should rent privately - well I for one sure wouldn't give up a secure tenancy with cheap rent.

I hope one day my son will be able to afford something a bit better, but at the moment there is no chance, and this is the case for many.