Hi all,

Managed to get an appointment at my council, after saying that we are living in a 3 bedroom house with 7 of us and a member of the household is also pregnant and the parents would like us all to move out as soon as possible. We have been on the list for about a year and a half (July 06) and the average waiting time is 1 1/2-3 years depending on the area.. with the areas we want being more 2-3.

Problem is, I know we REALLY want to move out but we've been waiting too long to just get any old shoddy place in an area we don't want (I want to be short bus ride distance to Guildford town centre, to be nearer to my mum who lives in Croydon). Also, we want a house with a garden for Bethanie.

Anyone who has experience/worked with the council (I know there was one girl but have forgotten her name, Vicki maybe?):
*Should this appointment push us up the list a bit? (we have bands though, not points system.. we're mid of the road - band C)
*If offered a place, will we be penalised for turning it down?
Any other tips of advice please!! I really don't want to live here anymore, genuine reasons.

Ty

I've been looking into this recently as we are having problems finding somewhere we can afford but unfortunatly the council won't let us move to another area.

Overcrowding is obviously a good reason but you get priority if you are evicted. They could then try and put you in a B&B for a few nights till something is availible but if you have enough notice on your eviction and are really pushy, you should get somewhere without having to go into a B&B.

Is there anyone where you're living who'd be happy to give you an eviction letter?

You won't be penalised for turning down a house but I think most councils give you only 3 chances. If you turn down the first two you'll be stuck with the 3rd no matter what.

We're living at my boyfriends parents, they have no problem writing us a letter as they want us all to move out asap. I did ask the man at the council if id need to bring a letter but he said no, but they may ask in future.

Im aware we only get 3 chances, but because we're being made homeless in effect, will we be pressured/forced into taking the first house/flat that becomes available? thats where I don't want to mess up our chances.. we refuse one and then we are put to the bottom of the pile?

Hi Tilly

as above u can normally be put into emergency accomadation for a period of around 2-3 months here, which can either be a b&b or a hostel, then u r given housing as soon as 1 is available, however u normally r expected to accept the first property u r offered, if you dont they will assume that u r not in desperate need, usually they only make one offer in these circumstances and only normally get a house if you r lucky!!! (unless u have 2 or more children of the opposite sex,in which case u will need 3 bedrooms) usually this would mean a house, but even then they can offer a flat. We have a system where u r not allowed to have another offer for at least 6 months if u turn one down. It varies from area to area tho, and this is just a guide to what happens in our area. You should speak to the council about the problems when u go, however if u r pushing for a house quickly , i would imagine they will expect you to accept whatever property is offered or wait a longer period of time. Hope this helps. good luck. p.s} if you are have a low income, you are able to claim housing benefit and possibly may be able to privately rent??? Good luck xx

Thanks mummy, I don't know whats considered "low income" - do you know? We filled in the housing benefit form before and I think it said we weren't eligible. We can't afford to private rent around here really, let alone Guildford.

usually if you are eligible for tax credits.. have an income under £15,000 per annum, there is a website that you can calculate your eligibility , i will try dig it out- its for this areabut should give u some idea. xx

if your local council has a website there should be some sort of link there. Did u aplly for housing benefit whilst living at familys house?? If so this would have affected claim due to all incomes in household being taken into consideration.

We don't claim housing benefit, because we filled in the form and it said we wouldn't get anything. My boyfriend earns over 15,000 a year and gets working tax credits, I get child tax credits for Bethanie.
We haven't applied for housing benefit here.

usually it is worked out by the amount of money you need to live on and if you can afford to pay rent as a guide- you need £ 40.00 for bethanie
£ 92.00for yourselfs
£16.00 as you have child
total £148.00 as a guide so therfore any income above this amount would be classed as excess. If you had for instance £ 50 extra per week above this amount for instance as an example that is the amount you would pay towards housiing costs, the rest would be provided by housing benefit. hope this helps . good luck zxx

sorry bout the terrible english grammar i am sooo tiired !!! xx