[sandygina]

Oh by the way we are registered as homeless with two councils nearby and we both have physical health problems (I have Crohns Disease and need access to a toilet 24/7) as well as are mentally ill from being on the streets, we are a gay female couple who up until last year had no rights for housing together, we cannot get a roof without money yet it is incredibly unfair of people to say get a job when you cannot even sleep under a roof at night.

Wake up people and smell the coffee. If you are in a secure job then lucky you. If you own your home lucky you. We cannot raise a deposit as we are living on £60 per week for both of us.

Those who think we are scroungers should try to sleep rough for a month then they will understand.

[Bluey]

Have you contacted Shelter? They are a housing charity that offer expert advice on homelessness and housing rights.

I'm not sure local council's always fulfill their statutory obligations and Shelter will let you know if you are receiving the right standard of service from them.

[maurie]

[Cov]

[Bluey]

Housing list 'meltdown' warning

Currently there are four million waiting for social housing. By 2010, it is expected to jump to five million, according to the LGA.

Paul Bettison, from the LGA, told the BBC that councils were finding it increasingly difficult to help those who requested assistance

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7717202.stm

[Bluey]

A frequent complaint from landlords posted on another forum are the tenants they encounter who try to engineer themselves into being defined as 'homeless' in order to qualify for social housing.

What generally happens is that the tenant approaches the landlord and asks for them to be evicted - i.e. wants them to collude with the process so that they can demonstrate to the local authority that they are a priority need to be housed. If the council ever found out about this collusion, it would affect their application - sometimes the landlord is just pleased to get rid of the tenant but other times, the landlord is fed up because they have to time, effort and expense of having to take the tenant to court to gain possession of the property.

In other circumstances, the tenant stops paying rent deliberately in order to provoke an eviction, seemingly because they are not aware that if the landlord informs the local council that they owe rent money, they will get disqualified from being considered for social housing. Homelessness applications are not processed for those that are deemed to have made themselves 'intentionally homeless' - i.e. that have been evicted from a property when they could have, but did not, pay rent. But some landlords are threatened with tenants withholding rent or trashing the property, if they don't cooperate with evicting them.

This shows you the level of desperation that people go to, in order to get themselves defined as in priority need of housing - that they go to extreme lengths to manipulate their situation to correspond with the statutory obligation of the local authority to assist them.

The downside is that this is a further reason why private landlords/letting agents are reluctant to accept tenants on housing benefit - because they are harder to evict as the local council will tell them to stay in the property until the legal process is concluded.

[Cov]

[Cov]

22.10.08
One in 10 Londoners needs social housing

MORE than a third of a million London households are now waiting for social housing, up nearly 50 per cent in five years, a new report revealed today.

Research by the National Housing Federation London also found more than one in 10 people living in London is on a housing waiting list, and more than 750,000 Londoners are living in overcrowded homes.

More than 15,000 families were accepted as homeless by London councils last year.
The report Home Truths London 2008 will be launched at the House of Commons tomorrow.
It concludes London needs 11,000 more social homes to be built every year. Only two thirds of that number are being built.

In spite of the recent price reductions, the average London house price is still more than 14 times the average Londoner's income.
Buying, even at the cheapest end of the market, still requires an income of more than £55,000.
Private market rents are more than twice as expensive as social rents.

Belinda Porich, head of the London Housing Federation, said: "Last year housing associations increased the number of social homes they produce by more than a third.
But it's clearly not enough. It's vital we hit the Mayor's target of 50,000 new social homes in London by 2011."

● The Government today faced calls to clamp down on developers building homes with kitchen/living areas and bedrooms so small they "stifle" families. Croydon council is calling for "robust" nationwide rules.

[Cov]

22nd October 2008
Londoners 'suffer worst housing conditions in the country'

More than 750,000 Londoners are living in overcrowded homes and more than one in 10 people living in London is on a social housing waiting list, according to new research from the National Housing Federation London.

Why the need for social housing is increasing, shows that more than a third of a million London households are now waiting for a social home, an increase of nearly 50% in five years.

The research also shows that:

London is not building enough homes.
Only two thirds of the social homes needed in the capital each year are being built but needs at least an extra 11,000 new homes a year.
The number of people made homeless in London last year outstripped the number of new social homes built.
Over 15,000 families were accepted as homeless by London councils last year.
But fewer than 11,500 new social homes were built.
House prices cost over 14 times the average Londoner’s income and private rents are more than twice as expensive as social rents.
In 2007, the average cost of a London home was £355,000.
Buying at the cheapest end of the London market still requires an income of over £56,000, more than double median earnings in the capital.
Belinda Porich, Head of the National Housing Federation London, said: “Last year housing associations increased the number of social homes they produce by more than a third.

"But it’s clearly not enough to tackle the devastating scale of Londoners’ housing needs.

“It’s absolutely vital that we hit the Mayor of London’s target of 50,000 new social homes in London by 2011. The Government has put more money into building new social homes, but it needs to do more to respond to the huge change in housing market conditions over the last 12 months.

“Grant levels need to increase so housing associations can build more family houses and overcome the short term financing issues caused by the credit crunch, and we need real flexibility about how the investment pot for social housing is handled, with more money brought forward to allow housing associations to buy up good quality private developer stock that’s lying unsold and to make public land available at discounted prices.

“With unemployment and repossessions on the rise, we can expect another spike in the numbers of households turning to the social housing sector for help in the next 12 months.

"It is critical we increase the capacity of housing associations to deal with the fall out from a struggling economy,” Ms Porich said.

[Cov]

23rd October 2008
Ealing housing wait second longest in London

THE waiting list for social housing in Ealing more than doubled in size in five years, new figures have revealed.

A survey by the National Housing Federation shows the number of people waiting for a home in Ealing has rocketed from 8,289 in 2002 to 20,653 in 2007.

This 149 per cent rise is the fifth largest in London, and means Ealing’s waiting list was the second longest of all boroughs in the capital in 2007.

These figures have been released today as Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, signalled his intention to scrap the fifty per cent affordable housing in London target.

The mayor will instead negotiate targets with individual boroughs to achieve his election manifesto pledge of building 50,000 new affordable homes by 2011, something the National Housing Federation has said is vital to be met to alleviate the housing problems in London.

[Bluey]

Council house 'tenancies for life' likely to be scrapped to ease housing shortage

Council house tenancies for life are likely to be scrapped under radical Government plans to ease the chronic housing shortage.
Tenants would instead be given fixed-term contracts with regular reviews to ensure their circumstances entitle them to subsidised housing, it was reported last night.

Those whose financial situation improves will be forced to move into the private sector, purchase part-ownership of their home or face higher rents.

It would be the most radical shake-up of the social housing system for decades, as the Government grapples with council house waiting lists of nearly four million people or 1.6 million households.

With only 170,000 houses becoming available every year, ministers are under heavy pressure to restrict it to the most in need.

In some poor areas of the county, one in five people is waiting for a council house, and there are fears the housing crisis

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1084386/Council-house-tenancies-life-likely-scrapped-ease-housing-shortage.html

[sandygina]

As I mentioned in an earlier post we are classed as homeless despite having a precarious roof over our head. We did not make ourselves homeless.

It took 6 weeks to get a reply from the council and they ignored all our calls and emails. The place we spoke to does not have housing stock unlike many other council areas. We approached the council for assistance with getting a permanent roof over our heads we did not want to be on the housing register. We have been helped through a rent deposit scheme which has got us into the flat we will be in from next friday.

[(.)Boobies(.)]

Any help appreciated peoples.

I live in a 1 bed flat with my daughter in Reading, Berks.

I work full time for the civil service, earning 16.5k a year.

My girlfriend (fiance if need be) is in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and has 2 children and they are in rented accommodation.

We all want to be together here in Reading, and due to being behind in her rent, she has been served with her notice to move out.

Her son is also registered with a disability.
She is registered depressed and on meds, and other meds for a few other problems.

I am also registered depressed.

We're looking at a real possibility of living in this one bed flat soon. That'll be 5 of us. Also as previously mentioned by someone, the kitchen is in the living room and the living room will be the bedroom to 2 girls and 1 boy (girl 6, girl 7 and boy 5).

Does this sound like we'd get some decent points?

I'm not looking to cheat any system, even if I have been hard done by by it in the past and have no faith in it this time round either.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Jay

[(.)Boobies(.)]

I should add my flat is also privatly rented.

I'm also bankrupt as of Sept 08. But as I said, full time employed.

Ta.

[Bluey]

You should speak to Shelter on their housing advice line and get your girlfriend to do the same to sort out your situations. They are experts and give free advice. The Shelter website also has excellent information on how the local council should assess your girlfriend's homelessness and what assistance she is entitled to.

Your girlfriend may be considered to have made herself intentionally homeless, either by not paying the rent (if she was able to) or moving out when she receives notice, ahead of the landlord actually evicting her.

[lynchy]

[colin44]

[sophstar]

i hate the fact that people think your scum if you live in council housing. im now 20 im still living with my parents at the moment and have lived in a council house since i was 3. we are not on benefits and have never been my parents have worked all their lives to make sure me and my sister have had everything we could ever want or need.
i myself work three jobs is that respectable enough for people? oh and i also just found out im pregnant. To all the narrow minded people, this is for your benefit only i plan to work for a living, not scrounge this isnt a way to bleed my country dry. i do agree with the people about the benefit fraudsters that need to get off there lazy bums this country owes you nothing! unless you are entitled to money, why should normal law abiding, tax paying citizens should pay for you!

[colin44]

[Claire3487]

I was in a Psychiatric ward for over a month and was made homeless by my consultant who told me I could not live at home for health reasons. Great, until I left there, no money, signed off from work and the council unwilling to help. I was put on the housing register 3 months ago and am band C. I have no hope in hell of getting a place and I am still homeless. I have a mental illness and am epileptic so no, health problems don't help on housing applications. All the worrying is making me worse and oh yeah I'm under 25, so they expect you rent a place for £65 a week, I can't even get a room around here for that!I'm signed off from work, so yes I have a job, but that makes it worse! I HATE THIS SYSTEM! I

[kennington]

[bambam11]

Hi All,

Im new to this site, been reading all you posts, must admit some mad me really laugh!!

Anyway not sure if anyone can help, here's a bit of background..

I was made bankrapct had my house repossed lost my car etc, moved to rented with hubby and 3 kids, since then me amd hubby split up after 15 years together, now I am a single parent on some benefits! I do work part time.. Now I have just been served a notice to quit from landlord, have to be out in 3 months. I don't have any money to re house my self and am on the waiting list. Will the council help me? before anyone passes judgement on me, I have always worked fulltime even though having all my kids, my eldest 11 youngest 5, never claimed benefits till now, and can only work part time now as I have no family help with the kids since me and hubby broke up!! can't beleive how my life has changed!!!!

Ideally I don't want to go back into another rented house as me and the kids can't deal with the insecurity of having to move again, just need somewhere stable so we can settle on get on with our lives...

Any help/advise much appreciated??? Many thanks

[Bluey]

[bambam11]

Hi Bluey,

Thanks for the advise, I have spoken to Shelter today, who did advise me to go to the council asap and fill out a homeless application. Just to let you know the reason i have been served a notice to quit is that my landlords moved aboard for a year and now want their home back at he end of the tenancy (sept), so there will be no need for them to go to the court etc, can't understand why I could be classed as making myself homeless as this is out of my control! plus the fact that the landlords have given me 3 mths notice rather than 2.

Shelter did say that the council may tell me to go back to them at a later date, but also said hopefully the sooner you go they will be able to help you sooner. Again any help advise is much appreciated.

x

[Bluey]