I can't get a council house and its driving me mad!

You should be entitled to working tax credits as well as child benefit money. There are alot of factors taken into consideration and you have more options than you think.

There is no point in trying to get yourself a council house and there are reasons why.

- You will not get one(as already pointed out). But if you were entitled to one then join the que.

- You want to be able to live where you want and not some crap that is given to you

- You want your child to grow up in a nice area, once that has been chosen by you.

Your wages will not be the only money you will have. Trust me I have been in exactly the same position.

Feel free to PM me and I will help you in any way I can.

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


My wife and I never had kids because we didn't think we could afford it, Kids are expensive and it's cruel to the child to have one if you can't afford to provide a proper environment. One of the reasons for the recent rioting was that too many people had kids they couldn't afford to care for / look after properly so the kids went feral.

In cade you ghaven't heard, there's a recession on. Plus Labour, which at one point had a surplus, left power with a HUGE deficit. The ConDems have no choice but to run an austerity budget so people have to learn to shift more for themselves.

And don't blame the immigrants. They work hard and create jobs. In the riots the rioters were mostly UK-born but the shopowners who were bravely defending their shops after the police retreated were immigrants.

Originally posted by ALOSTSOUL
I am about to become the proud father of my first child and as such I have been battling to get a council house. I need a council house because I just cannot afford to go private. I work for a reputable formula one company but evnn still, after paying rent (private) I would be left with around £250. No where near enough to raise a child.

So my only opition is to rent a (much cheeper) council house but alas I am being told I earn to much money. I am being told that my £1100 a month is plenty enough to cover; rising food and fuel price, baby stuff, rent, etc. After many arguments with the grunts I decied to write my MP. That was four weeks ago and big suprise, no reply.

When did this country decide to punish the hard working and reward the lazy?
When did it decide that immigrants have more rights than the natural born?
When did MP's decide my voice doesn't count?

I guess I will have to stay at my already overcrowd mothers house. I hate not being able to put a roof over my soulmates heads.

Damn I hate this #ry.

ALS

Actually it just sounds like they are fobbing you off because the council list is so long. There ARE ways around this if you are willing to play the game...Yes unfortunately you WILL have to play the game...

As a means to an an end by all means stay at your already overcrowded mothers house for a time...That alone is useful to the cause. It sounds like you aren't married yet. Does your soulmate work right now?, Is she going back after her maternity leave? Does she work part time or full?
The trouble is, unless you live in a not so crowded area you are barking up the wrong tree expecting a house with just one child - a baby no less. The best you can expect unless you are really lucky is a one bedroomed council flat for the time being. To my knowledge though you will be considered for a two bedroomed house once the little one gets a bit older, especially if you aren't fortunate to be given a ground floor flat.

You should approach this differently...You know how the system stinks. You know who it's already geared towards. Instead of YOU pushing for a council property, your pregnant soulmate should instead. She shouldn't mention you apart from lying through her teeth that she has nowhere to go other than your mothers and you all want her out...

I know it's truly awful to have to stoop to such levels but it's a winning formula...Once she's in the council dwelling you can go and get both names on the tenancy and live how you intended to in the first place...

Much luck

Sorry, no sympathy from me.

You want to raise a child, you do so on your own earnings, just like your grandparents would have. Yes, times are hard and you need about £50k in the bank just to get a morgage worth having but its the same for everybody.

In this economy, Durex is your best friend!

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


Could just start some craft. Children aren't actually that expensive if you start to make a great deal of what they need with your own hands. and some good 'ol discipline.

reply to post by Mr Moon

What do you do for Mclaren?

I prep and ship spare parts to the racing team.

ALS

reply to post by plnelson

In cade you ghaven't heard, there's a recession on. Plus Labour, which at one point had a surplus, left power with a HUGE deficit. The ConDems have no choice but to run an austerity budget so people have to learn to shift more for themselves.

Don't patronize me, I know the state of the country. My argument is as a worker do I not deserve the same treatment than the non-worker.

And don't blame the immigrants. They work hard and create jobs. In the riots the rioters were mostly UK-born but the shopowners who were bravely defending their shops after the police retreated were immigrants.

And I don't blame the immigrants. Hell if I was them I too would take all the advantages they are given. No my blame sits firmly with the governments neglect of the working class.

But shopowners were immigrants? I think you'll find there were a mixed amount of small/big businesses.
ALS

Was that your income after tax? Sorry but I had a mortgage on less.

reply to post by GonzoSinister


very sound advice mate ,this is what a love about ATS so many helpful people .To the Op i had to wait till i was 26 till i got my first decent offer of a house which is only a flat and now my girlfriends got one in the oven and il need at least a 2bedroom now i have almost no chance ,every empty council house in my area is being turned in to homeless units where they put people who have maybe been at risk in there previous area i.e battered wifes but alot of the time its just problem familys .

sometimes it can feel like you get no reward for working hard and being a decent member of the public but you just gotta know how to play the system you cant be totally honest with them otherwise you get nowhere ,if i was you id get your girlfriend to put her name on the housing list as single (but expecting)she would then be high priority and get one a lot quicker .

Originally posted by TrixXxtaR
Sorry, no sympathy from me.

You want to raise a child, you do so on your own earnings, just like your grandparents would have. Yes, times are hard and you need about £50k in the bank just to get a morgage worth having but its the same for everybody.

In this economy, Durex is your best friend!

Another fool who can't read obviously..

reply to post by kindred


£170 a month rent? Where do all you people live? What about elec, gas and water? Council tax?

I own a place, ok, now owning, private renting, not too different. Apart from owning is expensive, really expensive!

If that guy is anything like the countless millions who private rent or own this is what you pay for.

Rent/Mortgage (South East London, Kent typically between 500- infinity a month depending what you rent/buy)
Electricity
Gas
Water
Council Tax
Insurances (building and/or contents, gas insurance and the rest of it)
Phone (if you have one)
Food bills
Then there is travel to and from work
a car, if you own one, if not, travel expenses.
Car - Insurance (pay monthly or what I do is budget to pay in full when renewed. Tax - budget towards renewal, MOT/Service - again I put away a bit each month so its not a shock)

Then the kids!!!
Nursery, typically around 400-600 a month
school dinners (don't get them free unless on the ponse)
school uniform

I will be honest with all of you, my partner and I have a very good joint income every month and we get by with zero help from the state, but it's not a total life of luxury. We saved 30k for a deposit on a house, I was working 7 days a week, three jobs for 4 years to get that 30k!! We don't have holidays, we have days out, we don't have a mass of gadgets, we have Sky for TV, internet blah blah. We have a nice house, modest car and one of the fortunate ones to own a property, but it's hard!!

I'm not going to say if I can do it so can all of you, because that's insanity, it's hard, really hard! At any point I live as such that in my mind I or my partner could lose our job, so I admit, I do save a fair bit and pay off as much of the mortgage each month as I can to get rid of this madness as quickly as possible and my partner contributes the same, but still!

How do you guys do it? I get the feeling that some of you must either still live at home, rent a room or certainly have nowhere near the outgoings that the OP more than likely has! Unless the rest of the country really is cheaper by a million than the South East.

I have to say, if you all live on your own and manage, well done! I'm impressed! Live within your means is the key, but whatever any of you do, including the OP, unless you live in Council Housing, SAVE SAVE SAVE. As hard and sometimes impossible as that is, it pays even if its just 20 quid a month, do try. You could lose your job in an instant and these landlords and banks and the like will turf you out like no tomorrow! Try and save as much as you can, especially if you have kids! It sounds like rubbish old man's speak, but it's not and I'm 30! I just hate to see hard working people struggling so much! I'm fortunate, but many of us aren't and at any point I could fall in to that and so could any of you! Save and don't be ashamed to do any job, a job is a job! You're providing a service and contributing, earning your keep! It sounds like working your life away, but in the long run, it will pay off! I don't want to be looking for rent/mortgage payments when I reach 60 or even 50 for that matter!

To those of you not left home, do yourselves a favour, lob your old dear and/or old man rent money and stay there! You're better off!

Good luck!

Originally posted by starchild10
Was that your income after tax? Sorry but I had a mortgage on less.

Thats an average month after tax.

ALS

reply to post by Suspiria

As a means to an an end by all means stay at your already overcrowded mothers house for a time...That alone is useful to the cause. It sounds like you aren't married yet. Does your soulmate work right now?, Is she going back after her maternity leave? Does she work part time or full?
The trouble is, unless you live in a not so crowded area you are barking up the wrong tree expecting a house with just one child - a baby no less. The best you can expect unless you are really lucky is a one bedroomed council flat for the time being. To my knowledge though you will be considered for a two bedroomed house once the little one gets a bit older, especially if you aren't fortunate to be given a ground floor flat.

There are currently 6 people living in my 3 bed house, Me and GF, 3 Brothers and mum. My GF doesn't work. Truth is many have advised us to go down the "single mum" route but why the hell should I? What happens when I want to marry her? Do we lose out?

Still though thanks for the advice, I fear we may have to take this route.

ALS

Originally posted by ALOSTSOUL
reply to post by Suspiria

 

As a means to an an end by all means stay at your already overcrowded mothers house for a time...That alone is useful to the cause. It sounds like you aren't married yet. Does your soulmate work right now?, Is she going back after her maternity leave? Does she work part time or full?
The trouble is, unless you live in a not so crowded area you are barking up the wrong tree expecting a house with just one child - a baby no less. The best you can expect unless you are really lucky is a one bedroomed council flat for the time being. To my knowledge though you will be considered for a two bedroomed house once the little one gets a bit older, especially if you aren't fortunate to be given a ground floor flat.

There are currently 6 people living in my 3 bed house, Me and GF, 3 Brothers and mum. My GF doesn't work. Truth is many have advised us to go down the "single mum" route but why the hell should I? What happens when I want to marry her? Do we lose out?

Still though thanks for the advice, I fear we may have to take this route.

ALS

Don't worry, they won't chuck you out if you get married. You aren't exactly a lottery winner are you?
I know it's embarrassing to go the single mum route, but needs must. They don't care in the end so long as the rent gets paid.

Once you do get settled and baby is here make sure you go to the tax office straight away and get Working / child tax sorted as others have said. It may not be a great deal depending on your work hours or wages but it can be enough to keep some wolves from the door. Of course you won't forget the child benefit.

For those judgmental folks who may read this who are completely bereft of a clue those tax credits and CB EVERYONE is entitled to if you're income doesn't boarder on around £45,000 a year (A limit most of us can only hope to attain).

Just a thought outside the box....

Have you considered coming to America...specifically the South...say NC or Va.

I just looked at a used trailer/singlewide on a small lot in a small town that sits on a beautiful recreational lake...for less than $10,000 USD...

And there are other properties here like that...own a cottage for about $40,000 USD with a decent size yard.

Jobs...there are jobs...just have to have the skills to get them.

I have met more than a few English, Scot, Irish, and Aussie immigrants here...some are even business owners, farmers, or work for someone else.

Despite what some say, there are still some good opportunities here in the US...especially in the South... and no, we don't all run moonshine, have orange race cars, fly rebel flags, and have pregnant cousins for wives.

Just a thouhgt...from what i read, English laws and red tape are overbearing.

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


Dude, the councils are handing over their houses to Associations who are inexplicable able to get their grubby mitts on billions of tax payers pounds that for some reason councils can't.

To my mind the only question you shoud be asking yourself is -

"Is it better to raise my child squashed up with mum or in a place like this - ?






I swear your child would be better off being raised in a caravan, there are suprisingly a good number of people choosing this option these days.

Hope you and your family get a place soon.

Im lucky enough to be on the house owner ladder but I have to admit house prices are vastly over the value
of what they should be!I think in the last 12 years they have trebbled in value!

IMO 10 years ago was an honest reflection of their true value in relation to wages,for many now they have no chance of buying in at the bottom end of the chain as its too expensive and to make matters even worse rents have been absurd too

Looks like you got a hard time here by some of our american cousins early on in this thread who dont think the state should help.I can understand their logic,but i think a civilised society should help but not spoon feed

A healthy workforce with a roof over their head is a better workforce than one with out state help ranging from cheaper housing and free medical attention when needed.

Fingers crossed that you and your family get somewhere you can afford,and congrats on your baby

reply to post by AlreadyGone


I have actually considered moving to America but there is no way on this god green Earth my GF would. I don't have any family outside the immediate but she does and she would never leave them.

Perhaps I could convince her in a couple of years.

ALS

reply to post by AlreadyGone


Don't know about anyone else but I've often have thought about going to America, but then I hear that it's going downhill fast. The UK is totally finished, but I wouldn't want to move to America if that isn't far behind. Maybe he could move to New Zealand, I now consider Canada and New Zealand as the last places on Earth that a Brit could go and live quite easily, no language barrier (for the most part) etc. Canada doing very well economically wise, relatively speaking and it actually seems to care about it's country and from people that I've known to move out to New Zealand I hear it is just like how the UK was in the 60's, nice and relaxed. I would class Australia in that too, but it's so damn hard to get in to! I think they've seen how the UK has gone and acted to avert that happening there.

Another out of the box...In England, can you buy a piece of property and "live off the land?"

Here in the US...depending on the state, you can buy a piece of land...build a yurt, cabin, tee-pee, bunker...whatever...and raise your own food, cut wood to heat by, riase livestock...and have a small business to support yourself.

There are some really good magazines and periodicals on that lifestyle... Mother Earth News...BackHome... CountryLiving and Small Stock Journal,,,