Hi,
I just wondered if anyone had a council house, need a bit of advise!
We moved back to England last dec, we are lodging with a family friend (my mums next door neighbour) But really need to get out soon!
We've been saving up to rent private but are starting to have doubt as the whether we can realistically afford to do. A 2/3 bed in our area is about £900+ so that plus bills, im not sure we can afford it!
So....how do we go about applying for council housing? I dont understand any of it really....whats the housing association? Also we live on the border or two counties, could we apply to both? I heard they dont allocate you any more but there is a bidding scheme ?
Any help is very welcome!

I believe it's different for each local authority. The best thing to do is to pop on to the housing section for your local council, there should be an application form to apply and then they send you the information about how their particular scheme works. x

you have to apply to the local council an dyou wil be asssed on your needs then given points .. then every month u get an xtra point..thses build up and you can bid on a property that u want.. who ever bids on it with the most points gets the property..

u can go on more than one council x

good luck as it can be a very long wait

i think each council have their own vetting system Here they still have a list. Just phone your local council housing office (should be on their website) and they will either visit you or you have to go in and fill in forms etc x

Thanks for the replies. Ok i get it now Emma, ive printed off the homemove form too. The thing is we really need to move out soon, but if we moved in to private rented acc, wouldnt that loose us points? Would we loose or gain points if we moved back in with my mum? (she only has a 3 bed, and my bro & sis live there!)

I'm not in council housing but know some bits,
You should apply to the council that you are living in at the moment, you'll be more likely to get housing. I'm not sure if its the same there as here but you have to be able to prove that you've lived in the area for 6 months before they will even look at you.
You will probably get 'points' for living in temporary accomodation, or over crowding points not too sure tho.

Yes the system is different, it gives everyone with the right amount of points the opportunity to 'bid' on a house, the three people with the highest points are then allowed to view the property and then the house is allocated if one of the three wants it.

I'm not sure how many points you get or how long you'll have to wait tho sorry.

The only otherway to do things is to be classed as 'homeless' but you may be put into temporary accomodation which could be a hostel.

If you were to private rent would you be entitled to housing benefit? that may be an option for you?

Not sure if thats been any help really lol
x

You would gain points for living with your mum, you would get over crowding points, but i dont know how much you would get.

Are you applying to mid sussex housing/Downland housing? Thats who we are with. We had to fill in the form from the website, or pick it up from their offices. Then you take it in and they go through it all for you so it can be processed quickly. They then send you a form and say how many points you've got. It will also say the list is long so you should try and private rent. They say that to everyone to get them to private rent so there is less people on the list. The bidding system works in that every 2wks i think there is a list of houses/flats available posted on a website and you apply for any house you like the look of. Then whoever has the most points wins that house/flat.

Moving into private rent will give you less points and they will say you don't need their help with housing. If you moved in with your mum you'd probs get something fairly soon as you'd have overcrowding. (We got our flat so soon as we were in one bed when we required two).

As for where you're applying. You can apply anywhere in the county, but you get more points for working in an area within their housing, and having family in that area. So we got extra points cause Oh's mum and sister both live in mid sussex and because oh works in mid sussex.
Hope that helps a bit. x

Move up north with us...the rent is waaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper!!!!

xx

We were actually thinking of moving to Middlesbrough, could prob BUY a house with a months wage haha!
Michelle we in in Brighton & Hove (east sussex) so applying there, also thinking of applying to Adur (west sussex) Lukes working in Hassocks at the mo, not sure what part of sussex that is?
Thanks so much for all your replies, things seem a lot clearer now. Better go have a chat with my mum then!

I'm pretty sure Hassocks comes under Mid Sussex/Downland Housing. They do housing from Pycombe right up to Pease Pottage i think.

if you private rented you would be adaquately housed i nthe councils eyes and not get any points.. i think thats the way it works ? not very sure though

the new housing rules are that you have to be in the area for 6 months before they will rehouse you... stops people moving borough to borough and not paying rent.

go to the housing and ask them, they will also put your name down for housing associations if you tick the box, if there not a box ask.

to be honest you will get more points for disability and overcrowding. so if you do move in with mom it would be better, but then they will ask why you did this.

good luck with the bidding system although they say its the one with the most points there will be peopleon same points as you, find out when they online and be online then, i know a few people who had to bid at midnight to get the bid in first.

NI may be different but im in private rental and still classed as homeless. I have full homeless points.

I was living with mum when PG. I applied at 5mths PG and got a measly 20pts. It increased to 40pts when Caitlin was born. When she was 3mths old mum wrote a letter to housing exec and said I had 1 month to move out as she couldnt cope with me living there. I got offered temp accom that day but it was a total dive of a house and I refused it. They then suggested private rental & said that it would NOT affect my points/position on list. I agreed and moved into present house last Nov. I now have 110pt (70 for being homelesss).

Ive been on list for 18mths and officially homeless for nearly a year and am still only top 50 for my 1st choice of estate and top 25 for my 2nd. This hasnt really changed much in last 6mths. Tbh I think i'l be waiting years. We dont have a bidding scheme. Whoever is top 3 on the list get offered a property and whoever accepts 1st gets it. Atm you need around 150pts to have any chance of getting housed, and if you are being intimidated you automatically get 200pts, therefore those people constantly go to top of list and get the houses...

Anyone want to threaten me????? Please???

On a plus side our private rental is £500 a mth for 3 bed bungalow so I cant complain. Some of the prices you guys pay is crazy. Housing association here is much cheaper too, prob about £350 a month. I think the main benefit of hosuing associations is the security that you can stay there long term and decorate it to your taste. x

That system sounds so silly Snoopy. It really does sound like you'll be waiting yrs even though you're 'homeless'
I'm pretty sure it doesnt work like that here. We had 20pts when we applied, and got a new build 2bed maisonette 2months later in our first choice village. Maybe we were just lucky?

i have never heard of this bid for huse thing ,, we are allocated points and then when ever a house becomes available person at top of list gets it

i was living wiyth a family friend , overcrowded and was not near top of council list but the council recommended me to a housing association and after an interview i got my keys 2 weeks later x x

I know its stupid Michelle. There is a real housing shortage here though. Its poop!

Our lists are linked. You apply to the council (housing executive) who allocate you points and place you on the list. The same list and pts system is then used by the housing associations. Most people do tick to be considered for both, & some only the housing associations because their propertys tend to be newer. This means that if you having no joy getting housed by the council you dont really have much more of a chance with the housing associations- its supposed to be fairer that way?

I like the sound of the bidding. x

Thank you again for all the replies. Weve decided we are going to move in my with mum...ekk. It should be ok as we are around there all the time any way, its just the sleeping arrangement. I think my sister will prob stay at her bfs most of the time any way, so we will prob have her room. Ive printed of the homemove form. Ill keep you updated