Council Housing?? confussed

[setdse]

Hi everyone

I just need some advice really. I'll give you a quick background (save all the q's later)

I moved out of my parents house when i was 16 to move in with a partner. We lived together for a year and then we broke up.
I don't really get on with my parents at all so moving back home wasnt an option. I was told that if i found my own place i could get housing benefit to help pay my rent. ( im not on job seekers)

As i am training to be fully qualified in childcare NVQ3, as those who may have been there know, apprentice wage is terrible for the hours you work, but was my only option to get my qualification!
The council give me £70 a week to pay for my room i currently rent in a house. No Problems.

However now i am pregnant the property is deemed unsuitable for the two of us.
I was told i would be entitled to council housing (they find me a place suitable and help towards rent)

I earn £100 a week and my OH earns £140ish (he only works p/t but doesn't live with me)

Anyone know what deems you viable for council housing when pregnant and if my OH would be allowed to move into or if we would have to live separate?? Or can i still do what i am doing now and find my own place and they give me support towards paying it as i would really like him to be there and not miss out on anything Sticky does!

Anyone going through/gone through this??

thanks....

Sorry for the long background.....Can't really shorten it! :/

 

[tinkerbell86]

Can you not ring your council and see what your entitled too including living with your OH as i know some councils let you find your own private rented property and will pay towards your rent or i know the council now give a bidding system on council properties and the place goes to the most needy candidate (but i believe that sometimes they wont consider you until baby is here)...sorry can't be more help!!

 

[setdse]

thanks tinkerbell86 will do this. OH was worried that if i did this and they said that because we are together they wont help. Didnt think it worked like that but he got me worried!

 

[flexilexi394]

one of my best friends stayed with her mum til baby was born, was put in a hostel with her partner to be housed from there. as you are already in a different property other than your parents, they will prob house you from there. x

 

[XbabygirlshelliX]

as long as your money together doesnt add up to 16,ooo a year u are entitled to all help with your housing benefit n if u tell them how badly u need a house and stuff they should sort something or u find private rent n re apply for the housing benefit as with u been with child hunni ur more of a priority my mate whos not long scince had her lil girl is still waiting for house but now shes told them she has two months before shes homeless they starting to pay more attention i know its drastic but thts only way shes managed to get some sort answer from council n letting her get a house with them xx

 

[setdse]

oo thanks guys. Well currently im living in a two bed flat with a another woman and i ahve to go up several flights of concrete narrow stairs. I have heard if the accommodation you are in now is unsuitable they should move you straight away. I have been told i have to move before baby arrives! And i don't particularly want to have to waddle up 3 flights of narrow stairs!

 

[setdse]

o and another thing. I was told that you couldnt go in and claim it untill u have seen ur midwife and got notes.... :/ Is that true? because apparently they need proof! ....Can show em my scan if they like !

 

[x_MrsE_x]

you are best of ringing your local council and ask for an appointment to speak to someone from housing benefit, i think you would have to make a joint claim before you are added to a list for property's but they can give you all the info you need, as for proof that your pregnant i think the scan photo will be ok as long as it has your name on it.

 

[LilyMac]

My local council has a benefits calculator online. You fill in your details and it'll tell you exactly how much housing benefit you are entitles to and any other help you can get too. It's worth googling and taking five mins to have a look. You can apply for council housing but by me it's ridiculous and the waiting list is huge but you should be able to go private if you can find a landlord that accepts benefit and still go on the waiting list

 

[sexyamy2005]

hey hun,

i work for social services (vulnerable adults that need assistance with finances) so apply quite often for housing stufs,

it differs slightly on each council, but try this link,
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

generally, here if you find your own accomodation (private rental) and your landlord will accept DSS payments, your council generally prefer to pay it direct to you, and then (i guess there will be a small top up cos of ur bf -but dont take my word for it, most of my clients dont have kiddies or partners) but then you pay it onto your landlord,

i kno "generally" if you can source your own accomodation like private rental it is a hell of a lot quicker than council accomodation, but having said that, there isnt a lot of council accomodation round here left and about 4000 people on the waiting list for each property!

im not sure if they would still try n house u in a 1 or 2 bed flat, its based on age i think again (dont take what i say for definate cos im really not 100%) even with a baby and possibly a partner,

good luck hun

xxx

 

[setdse]

have looked on my housing site for my area and they would have to give me 2 bed legally. Once i have seen my midwife and gotten my notes i'll go down there and decide with them the best option. TBH i would prefer renting privately because then i won't end up in a horrible area. thank you anyways

x

 

[serenitylove]

as long as you are over 18 they should help you but you may well have to go into a hostel for younge single mums rather than straight into a flat i know thats how it works here also just because your upstairs in your property now you are still housed so you may not be a top priority if you can rent privatly it your best option hun

 

[setdse]

yea i will be 20 if the baby is on date. i looked it up and for me the baby and my OH we would get £150 a week towards rent/bills etc. which is about enough for a 2 bed place here.

 

[matilda]

dunno if this is want you wanna hear but it might be easier getting a private flat rather than council. my wee boy is now 4 months, me and OH have been on council list as homeless with a chile for ages and wev been told it will still take 2 years! if you did rent private, you would prop be able to find a nicer area and the housing benefit would still cover it. hope this helps

 

[setdse]

yhh thats what i was hoping to do too!

 

[2749Soph]

Hi
If you rent from the council or a housing association and your income allows you will receive either "rent rebate" if council property - this is where your Housing Benefit allowance (HB) is paid direct to the rent account and you don't see it or touch it or if it is a Housing Assoc place you will receive Housing Benefit and you can chose for it to be paid to you or direct to the landlord. If you rent privately you will receive Local Housing Allowance which is the name given to HB a couple of years ago for those in private rented. This will be paid direct to you. It never goes to the l/l unless extra special circumstances eg rent arrears, vulnerability etc. Alot of private l/l's won;t accept people on LHA but if you are sensible about it and can manage to save your deposit and first months rent and maybe secone months rent the l/l would never need to know as you would receive the LHA direct as soon as the claim was assessed (varies from borough to borough how long this takes) and would pay the l/l. LHA is based on set amounts per rooms per property and based on your room need. These rates are set across quite broad areas so can take in expensive parts of the borough and cheaper parts. You can ask the council what the LHA rates are at the moment in your area for a 2 bed one reception property and then you can compare this to market rents in your area. If you do claim HB for a private rent the HB department will want the landlord to complete a "landlords form". This would alert the l/l to you being on LHA. You do not have to have this completed - you can provide your tenancy agreement instead and they can accept this.

You are perfectly entitled to apply to go on the council house waiting list. Everyone is. The difference is what priority you will be given once on there. The questions will be are you adequately housed at present? Have you been asked to leave? Do you have any medical needs (other than pregnancy). YOu can apply with your partner (it does not matter that you live separately at present as you will put both your addresses on the form) or you can apply on your own but this would not stop your partner coming to live with you once you are housed. It would just mean the tenancy would be given in your sole name not joint. You can still claim HB as a couple.
Some councils operate a choice based letting scheme now where you can bid for properties across their borough and sometimes across other boroughs -for example in Essex we are part of the greater haven gateway and our choice based letting system covers a huge area of Essex and Suffolk giving far more scope for bids and moving. People are assessed and put in a band A - E. Band A is emergency generally, fleeing violence and such like, Band B tends to be those accepted as homeless or housed but with a medical need and so on and so forth. Once in a band you bid for properties and people who have been in the band the longest come highest on the bids. The first 3 tend to get offered the chance to view the property they bid on and number one gets first choice, if they turn it down it goes to number 2 and so on. Sometimes we get down to person 15 or 16! Some councils still operate the one offer only system where when you come to the top you get a letter offering you a property and if you turn it down thats your lot for a period of time.

I think you need an appt with your housing department - dont worry too much about the HB side of things - you cant sort this out til you know where you will live. You need to ask:
A) Can I go on housing list
b) Am I deemed homeless (have you been given a notice to quit?)
C) Am I deemed adequately housed (if you have not been given a notice to quit)
D) Would I go in temp accom first and if so what sort of temp (hostel, mother and baby unit, b and b)
E) Do they offer rent guarantee schemes to help you into long term private rented instead of just going round letting agents?

Be honest with them, take proof of pregnancy with you and proof of any other medical conditions you may have. If you have anything from current l/l saying you need to leave then take that also.

Hope this is of some help and I wish you lots of luck - dont take no for an answer, dont be fobbed off and if you dont feel you have been given best advice ask to see someone else. Also as you are quite young still you could try engaging with a voluntary youth service in the area such as Catch 22 or Youth Enquiry Service if you have anything like that there and they may be able to help you too.

 

[setdse]

wow. Thanks. Do you work for the council or something? LOL

As soon as i have seen my midwife and have notes i will go down.

 

[2749Soph]

lol I worked in Housing Benefits and also the Housing Dept for 10 years at our local council and now am a Housing Manager at a Housing Association hence my rather sad knowledge on the subject! Inbox me if you get any specific questions and I will do my best to answer xxx It is a bluddy minefield out there if you dont know what you should be asking!

 

[setdse]

ahh great. Well im gunna wait till i have seen midwife and have my notes and then gunna go in there and declare my pregnancy and etc. lol

1 question... if i go for private renting how soon before baby arrives can i move in?? with the housing help?? cos i would rather be settled in before baby arrives rather than faffing around after.

 

[2749Soph]

If you go for private you can do it as soon as you want but HB (LHA) will only cover you for a one bed one reception room need til baby comes. However you may find a two bed rent that is as cheap as the LHA rate for a one bed and then you would be ok as all rent would be covered (if you are on Income Support) - if you are working you will always have to pay a bit of rent yourself as you will have more coming in than the government says you need to live on. Find out what the LHA rates are in your area for a one bed and a two bed then compare them with the rents you see in the letting agents. For example my friend has a two bed one reception need but found a three bed flat that costs the same as the LHA rate for a two bed so she could take the bigger property and not be out of pocket...hope this makes sense x