Hi ladies, I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I'm struggling to make my mind up on what to (as always!) basically I started my flat hunting today (it's sooooo much more stressful than I thought)

After calling 6 or 7 local estate agents who all basically told me to get lost....of course we won't accept housing benefit, I looked again online for a private landlord.

I've found a 2 bed flat for rent in a not very nice area (it's about 15/20 min walk away from local high street) and supermarkets. There were no pictures on gumtree so I have no clue what it looks like, but it's quite far away from where my mum & good friends live.

I'm going to view it tonight, but I guess I'm just a bit down as I had an image in my head of where I'd be living & this isn't it!!! Should I just give in and accept I won't find anything nice while on HB or keep looking??

Also if I do move to this place I'll be miles away from my GP and I don't drive.....will I have to change doctors so I won't have to get 2 or 3 buses there when I'm 8 months gone???


*update* Evening ladies.....I thought I'd give a slight update if anyones interested.

I went to see the flat tonight (I actually got quite excited!) and I was really positive at first....it was an OK flat, I'd be happy with it, but the letting agent put me on a bit of an edge.

Firstly the rent was £50 more a month than the advert said....then he told us housing benefit wasn't accepted.....he called the landlord to check and he said he'd accept it with 1 month deposit & 2 months rent (which is just about OK)

Anyway....he also smoked while we were looking around (and offered me and OH a fag) even tho we'd talked about me being pregnant!!!!! Plus right at the end he said ... "we can always show the rent as being £50 or £100 over what you have to pay, then you can pocket the difference" that really riled me to be honest....I know I'll be on benefits, and my family make me feel guilty about it, but at least I don't screw the system!!

Aannyywayy (I'm really incapable of being short & snappy!!) when we got home and spoke to the MIL, she was really nice and said she'd lend us 2 months rent (or more) to see if that helps pursuade landlords to accept us.

Ohhh anndd my Mum was being an eejit saying lots of ppl are on benefits...where do they live?? So I challenged her to find somewhere local that accepted HB!! She called back 2 hours later and admitted it wasn't easy (bless her she's not 1 for giving up and had looked all that time) BUT she had found a 3 bed flat right in the middle of town for the same price as the one we saw today

The only downside is it's on the 3rd floor, but me and OH both decided we had to lose weight and know we struggle to motive ourselves....so having to force ourselves to get home was a good idea!!! Fingers crossed it's still avaliable when I ring the agent first thing tomorrow!

what u have to remember babes is that you have a child on the way so if ur not happy bout this area then why would you wanna bring your child up in that area? what area are u talking anyways???
I hope u find something soon

I'd try looking some more. We've just moved now (we also have been searching for affordable rental that somewhat fits our specifications). I know it is hard looking, and you have to be a bit pushy, visit loads of places, but do not rent something you're not comfortable with.

The only problem is with HB only certain people accept it. Not many private landlords do. I'd have to say just try and get somewhere, anywhere, you can just so you've got somewhere. Even if it's not exactly ideal. That's exactly what i had to do last week. My house is a complete tip (not something i could see myself living in either to be honest) but i knew i'm going to be having to claim HB once i finish working so i had no choice but to take it. With a few coats of paint and all my stuff moved in, it doesn't seem too bad now.

I hope you manage to find something soon This may not make sense so i'll apologise now, i've sneaked on in my dinner time so shouldn't really be on

EDIT - I didn't realise you was only 28 weeks, i thought it said 38 so you will have more time to look around

Don't settle hun. Keep looking...you still have 3 months to go!

Keep looking. Dont have go for something you dont like, or somewher you dont want to live.
Finding a home is very long tiring job, wont find the place you want within a day.

I took me & OH over 8 weeks to find a place to rent when i first moved out, and 6 weeks when we moved this year. We started looking again, it had been 4 weeks and nothing... so.

Thanks for replying ladies.

Sparkle (hello again btw!) it's not really a bad area, it's halfway between beckenham & penge (if you know them) it's just I wanted to be closer to my mums.....but she lives in quite a nice area, and I know I won't find anywhere that accepts HB.

I'm going to keep looking, but no estate agents will even talk to me, and like someone said, even a lot of private landlords won't accept it!

I know I'm only 28 weeks, bit my work contract expires in 3 weeks & as soon as it does I'm entitled to HB, I'm soooo fed up of living at my MILs I just want to find somewhere & be in, in 4 weeks.

My main worry is if I say no to this place, I might not be able to find anything else in the next few weeks & I really don't wanna have to move after I'm 34 weeks (I want to be settled just in case)

I never realised how hard this would be & how stressed it'd make me!! My OHs view is he'll live wherever he doesn't care and has left it all to me.....and I can never make my mind up!

Id keep looking, what about contacting agents and not telling them straight away.. go and view it and while ur there ask them if theyd be happy to accept HB from you... you know once they have met you and seen your reliable and nice people etc.. i think sometimes when u email or call and ask they just assume its gonna cause them hassle etc.. but if they see u are genuine nice ppl then he might consider it? i dunno just an idea!

Also you can change GP's easy enough.

Personally Id advise you that if its in fair condition then go for it. You can always continue to search for something closer to your parents/friends in the meantime and just keep your current doctor for now and get a taxi or buses to your appointments...annoying but so what, its not the end of the world.

Its all very well people saying "dont settle for somewhere you dont want to live" well, honestly beggars cant be choosers as they say and until you have established yourself as a good tenant somewhere most private landlords aint gonna touch you with a bargepole. You MIGHT find somewhere closer to where you want to live but you might not...and then where will you be if you have turned down something thats perfectly fine but just not close enough to relatives for your liking?
You dont have to look at the place as "long term" but just as a halfway situation, somewhere for your own space so you can get sorted, have baby and then get back to work so you can get something better in 12-18 months.

I think i agree with anothersqish on this one hun.
You never know you might end up settling in really well in this new place....might just need to give it a chance. You dont wanna turn down an alright flat in the hope of finding something better when it might not happen. It's a starting point that you can work your way up from iykwim

Good luck
x