Bad news regarding our council house offer :-(

[Jaidy]

Well everyone, the 'good' news of us being offered a council house on Friday, that I was SOOOO ecstatic about, didnt turn out to be so good after all. I knew it was to good to be true....

We got the phonecall on Friday regarding the offer of the council house, NOTHING being mentioned about rent, however we got a confirmation letter on Saturday to confirm the offer and the house they are offering us is TEMPORARY for TWO MONTHS (how ridiculous) and is £590 pcm!!!!!

If we could afford £590 pcm we would NOT be on the council list, trust me! We would have found ourselves a private rent months ago when we got evicted from our last property. The whole reason we are being housed is because we cannot afford the prices of private renting in this area, the rent they want for the house they have offered us is £65 a month MORE than we were paying before. Its ludricrous.

And who wants to moving again in 2 MONTHS?? We are happy to stay at mums until we can be offered something permanant rather than moving around all the blimmin time.

We are obviously having to decline the offer. I think the offer has been made to get us out of mums until we can be given something permanant but no way are we going to accept it for the above reasons.
We are going to hang on until we can be offered something permanant and AFFORDABLE, however long that may be, we dont care as long as we get something it doesnt matter.

So we wont be getting our new house for xmas after all, but here's hoping something better and more suitable will be offered to us soon

Sorry to rant girls but had to get it all off my chest!!

 

[gingerpig]

Oh I'm gutted to hear that - I was so happy for you! Hope you get a decent offer after Xmas

 

[Amanda]

Oh Jade, I am sooooo sorry hun. You must be gutted.

Just be careful before you decline the offer hun. By moving you to the house temporarily, they are ensuring that you are indeed needy, and even though you will be living there, you will still be classed as homeless. We are in this tiny flat for at least 9 months, but we are actually homeless. If we found somewhere private rented ourselves, we would lose the homeless status and go back to the bottom of the list. In our minds, it is worth the short-term hardship for the long-term benefits. Plus, we are in the same situation as you and can't afford to rent privately!

Would you not be able to get any housing or council tax benefit while you are there??? I know it's only 2 months, and it seems like a lot of hassle, but it'll be worth it in the end hun.

And don't apologise for ranting. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat to someone else in the same situation.

 

[Rubys mummy]

You know how gutted I am for you chick

Hope it soon sorts itself out, and they find you something quick and suitable

 

[Ebony_Mommy]

thats true tankett.. if she refuse to take it.. they might just think ur not that desperate after-all..

might as well take it jaidy.. just dont get too comfy!

but then u gota pay right? hmmmm this is a tough one love

 

[Jaidy]

Hi girls, thanks for your replies!!

I have spoken to my uncle who works in housing and he gave us some good advice.

The letter we got a few weeks back said that we would be offered 'permanant' accomodation and because this is NOT permanant we apparantly have the choice to refuse the temporary accomodation and on the basis of the affordability considering thats part of the reason we are homeless.

My uncle says they are simply offering it to us as an alternative to my mums.

He also said the particular property that we were offered is actually a private rent that is rented through the council and thats why the rent is so high, they are not the ones deciding the rent as they dont own the house if you get me.

They generally offer it to people for 2 monthly periods whilst they are waiting for permanant housing...all well and good but not if you cant afford it lol.

We are ok at my mums (its not ideal but its not costing us much) and she is happy to have us until we get offered something permanant so why move to something we cant even begin to afford for 2 months when we can stay here, rent free.

Regarding the housing benefit Tankett, OH earns just a little too much to qualify for anything substantial, in our last place they said according to his income we were entitled to £2.25 a fortnight Obviously didnt help at ALL lol.

Im going to speak to the council tomorrow and apparantly declining it shoudnt be an issue and wont effect us as they have overlooked two main things, the fact they have said they will offer us something permanant AND the affordability.

Im sure we will look back on this in a few months and think 'we got through' it but these things are so tedious!

 

[Dee1985]

sooo sorry babe

good things come to those who wait though.
so it will be worth it

 

[Jaidy]

sooo sorry babe

good things come to those who wait though.
so it will be worth it

Yeah this is true Dionne.

Bless you all for your support

 

[jocymum]

Sorry Jaidy...hope you get some positive news really soon

 

[Vicki83]

Oh no Jade, how crap hun. We all know how excited you were as well. Hopefully it won't be long until you get something permanent and more importantly affordable!

 

[mum2A&L]

aww!

was expecting too much for the council to do something right i guess.

Chin up, the next one will be a perfect home for your growing family!!!

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

oh no how disappointing
hope u get an affordable decent place soon hun

 

[missac]

thats rubbish! I hope that you get one soon, it was probably hideous anyway

 

[kirlykird]

oh so sorry to hear that

Hopefully, you will find something soon

 

[Tasha20]

What idiots! sorry to hear your having problems again.

 

[Lyndsey]

OH No!

Sounds like you have had some good advice from your Uncle... Sounds to me like the council haven't actually read anything about you either that or they don't care! Fancy telling you the rent is nearly £600 per month just before Xmas! Thats only £100 less than my mortgage payment!!!!!!!!!!!

Fingers crossed for you that you get offered a better more appropriate house soon!

Lyndsey

 

[Jaidy]

Thanks everyone!!

Called the council today and gave them a telling off

They said they are sorry for the 'misunderstanding' and that they 'overlooked' our affordability issue Er thats like one of the main issues in our case

They also said they are going to withdraw our nomination for that property and put us back at the top of the list, and will let us know asap when something suitable next comes up and so they should.

Im pleased they have admitted it was their error, I didnt wanna have to appeal as that would have been mega stressful.

Onwards and upwards as they say!

 

[nikki1306]

hope something comes up soon hun xx

 

[Lyndsey]

over looked the affordability issue!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA

What idiots!!!! Something about piss up and brewery springs to mind! Glad ur at the top of this list again and hoefully you will get sorted out soon....

 

[Jaidy]

Yeah right Lyndsey!!

The incompetance of these organisations eh....

As much use as a chocolate fireguard