UPDATE: now in temporary accomodation!

[Dragonfly Fi]

also, round here they class living with family as different as living with strangers. We are just living with two random lads they aren't related to us or anything... I am going to speak to the docs about a letter a week today, i should be able to get one from the midwife, one from my GP and another from my consultant at the hospital...

Its got to happen sooner or later, later would be rubbish though... temporary housing does NOT sound like fun

 

[songbird]

My friend lives in Devizes and i know when she was made homeless due to her relationship breaking down she was put in a hostel with her then 7 year old daughter. She was in one room for 4 months till they found her a 2 bed flat as there was not many 2 beds available and the council would not give her a 3 bed as she was not eligible for one. This was about 2 years ago. She was impressed with how fast the council found her a place because she had previously been on the list for over a year before her exes dad bought the house she moved into with her ex.

The problem with getting a council property is that you never know how long it will take. I was counted as homeless when i had my daughter (lived in a mother and baby unit) and i was there for over a year and never got a place from the council.

Also you have to remember no matter the size of the house you its actually how much HB you are entitled to that matters too. As my neighbor struggles with his rent as the council will only pay the maximum for a 1 bed place for him even though he needs a 2 bed place so he can see his kids.

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

HB isnt really an issue, a 3 bed council house would cost us around 360 per month whereas a private rental would be minimum of 650 and more like 850. Which is more than my husband will be receiving in wages come september (he will be on an apprentice wage)

We are not relying on HB to pay our rent at all, we dont currently rely on it and nothing will change there, we may apply for a reduction in our council tax for a year while Liam is on such a low wage though.

they sent me a letter today, it states that i am in Bronze band, which is the lowest you can get so i have phoned them to find out what the hell they are playing at. Basically they need to investigate my eviction order (which is fine) which they do every time and check that all is correct and well.

Then i will be put in Gold band but i intend to make them upgrade this to a Gold + when i provide my doctors note, midwife recommendation and also a note from my pregnancy consultant at the hospital.

So i will definitely be in Gold and i need to start bidding for properties right away really.

They also said that I would be in a minimum of a 2 bed place and a maximum of a 3 bed place, so they will put me in a three bed as we will have 2 children which is what i thought they would say.

 

[leanne1b]

Seriously?!
Sorry I know this goes in your favour, but for others, that's ridiculous!!
How can local authority's have such different criteria?!? I already have 2 children, but unless we have a dam sight more, my two children would stil have to share a room when the girl is 17 and the boy is 14. Which is clearly very inappropriate.

This is nothing against you, really! Lol. I just don't get how some people are allowed a 3 bed, when right now there is ony one child, but until my elder is 10, we can only have a 2, but since that only makes us overcrowded by 1 bed, we still won't get help?! X

 

[leanne1b]

Sorry random question, but if ur partner will only be on an apprentice wage... How can u afford to pay 360 a month on rent?
Again, I only know our area things... So our rent on a 2 bed flat is approx 500 a month... And an apprentice wouldn't earn anymore than that? Unless they earn a lot more up there as an apprentice, u might want to look at housing benefit? X

 

[Amyrose]

we moved from ireland and had to stay at my mum inlaws with 6 kiddies it was only a tiny 2 bed bungalow. we went to the council and chatted to the housing officer he told us the fastest way for us to be housed was to declare ourselves homeless just turn up at the office with your bags in tow and they are obliged to help you. if you do declare yourself homeless they will sort out accommodation for you whist they help you get a house to live in. you might be in a hotel for a few nights. he also suggested if we found a house to rent they would pay all the money up front that we could repay at a later date. we didnt need to go down this route but it is nice to know its there xxx

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

Liam will get 10k a year as an apprentice but the government are obliged to bump every working family up to the poverty line which is around 16k So we get around 100 a week in tax credits now (and Liam is currently on 13k) which should go up when his wage change and again when the new baby is born.

So regardless of him earning 10k, which is the usual apprentice wage (i think around 90quid a week is the minimum they get) we will still be bumped up.

as for 2/3 bed houses, well it really depends whats in the area, its not going to be productive to them to have a load of empty 3 beds simply because they believe kids should share a room. If we were currently living in a 2 bed flat, they would not move us until the kiddies are older because they can share a room (and not at all if they are the same sex) Although round here you can apply to be moved if a child is living in a flat above the ground floor which i think is good.

Round here there are just alot more 3 beds than anything else, so by saying we are allowed to bid on three beds they are just opening up all those other houses to us. I dont think a family of 4 living in a 3 bed is that cheeky! I think the fact i know of a family living on 70k a year in a £360 a month council house is far more cheeky, or the countless people i know who got council housing when their kids were little and are still in 3 bed houses but single occupancy! If your going to get upset about something, there are far, far bigger issues than a 4 person family in a 3 bed house!

 

[leanne1b]

Is that directed at me?!? No need to get defensive! I'm not upset! Lol I'm bloody pissed off at how much shittier the system is here!
Lol I don't care what other people get. I'm not hacked off with u , just the system in general.
And u can request a mve just because u live above the ground floor? Ur area clearly must hVe a ridiculous amount of housing!
And yeah in term of tax credits I reckon ul prob get about double what u r now x

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

I am truly sorry, Leanne, if it seemed like i had taken offence to what you said! I didn't at all - I think we must have crossed wires a bit just because I get really peeved at people like those i mentioned, living in houses much bigger than they need on the council, or staying in houses even with hugely inflated incomes!

I think my passion about that might have come across as defensive-ness or anger towards you which was unintentional i am sorry x

Double the tax credits would be good lol! I think tax credits are a good thing, i think sometimes they are abused but they make working a viable option for a young family which is fantastic.

next i am planning on writing a letter to the council, explaining what band i SHOULD be in and my reasons for being in that band, i will also include letters from my health professional AND pictures of the house we live in and who we live with.

If they find it so difficult to do their job properly, i will just have to do it for them!

 

[ZMD]

Down my road theres 2 adults and 4 kids living in a 2 bedroomed house, bloody ridiculous! anyway good luck Hun Im sure you'll get somewhere before baby is due xx

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

yes some people have it really bad I know a couple living with their two children in a one bedroomed flat and they cannot get housing, they are specifically looking in an area thats chockablocked though, they dont want to move 9 miles away from their friends and family so they are stuffed! Its incredibly difficult in some places

 

[Pudds86]

Gosh it does seem difficult in some places from what you girls have said. I have never been a council tenant until last month, we have always rented and paid out of the arse for a tiny one bedroom flat! Luckily they have built so many new estates here and 10% of each is allocated to housing associations. God if 4 in a 3 bed is cheeky then my husband, I and Campbell in a 3 bed is really cheeky but to be honest, it's not my doing that we are here, we have been honest in every situation and im not complaining! Neither would anyone else in our position xx

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

Well they have put me up to Gold, but that still only gives me 69th place on the list or something!! I was told the more you bid the further up the list you will get, so i am just bidding on anything and everything that fits our criteria and i will hopefully be in good stead when we get made homeless (i think its pretty much guarenteed that we will have to be homeless before we are housed again...

They have to put us up in temp housing...

 

[bearsmummy]

Have you looked at private renting and using dss vouchers? Thats what I'm going to do x

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

I would rather wait for a property... private renting is SUCH a rip off and you cannot make the house your own, decorate etc - plus regardless of how much help we got, we wouldnt be in nearly as good a position if we got a council house. We are in a good position here where we are eligable for a property and will be in the highest banding as of September, we would rather ride it out now, have the security later on than find ourselves in a tiny, rent high property for years and years when we cannot even put a bit of blue tack on the wall!

Plus we couldnt afford a deposit for private. They are a complete rip off, we also wouldnt get the deposit back because we have two kids! Who are going to trash stuff lets face it! At least in a council house we will be able to make it our own and fix what they break... Not got good experience with private landlords at all!

 

[leanne1b]

Sorry bigbump, I did see ur reply but my sons been really poorly so been distracted. Don't worry hun, I've been stressed so prob read it the wrong way xx

 

[FebMum2Be]

I would probably have went for a council house if I didn't have to go to a hostel first, my friend has 2 children and has been in one for 3 years, too far away.. I got a private rent with help of DHSS and I'm allowed to do anything, and anything that I do that improves the house I get reimbursed for, it all depends on the landlord but if you have had trouble before I can see why it would put you off x

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

I dont think the housing in salisbury is nearly that bad... if it were i would probably re-think but actually we are in a position where we can get good affordable housing with a little bit of faffing but probably not much...

 

[bearsmummy]

I would probably have went for a council house if I didn't have to go to a hostel first, my friend has 2 children and has been in one for 3 years, too far away.. I got a private rent with help of DHSS and I'm allowed to do anything, and anything that I do that improves the house I get reimbursed for, it all depends on the landlord but if you have had trouble before I can see why it would put you off x

I've been waiting agesss for a council house so have finally given in and gone dhss. They would of put us in a hostel too had we been homeless x

 

[FebMum2Be]

The hostel my friend lives in is really lovely, you would think it was a normal flat, but it's not being able to make it your own and having the rules to stick by too.. DHSS was definitely the right move for me I've never been happier x