Debate
8/10/08 21:17
8/10/08 12:48
I search the shop windows too, have ads up in random places! I get the list once a month, just in case, but no one ever wants my area! Nearly got lucky last year, but it fell through. Was gutted!
8/10/08 12:31
tbh you'd be surprised by those lists, theyve worked in my favour twice, and in my brothers favour once.
mine:
moved from a large 2 bed flat in countryside where i was getting a hard time, back to my home turf (small flat though)
and moved from this small flat to a nice big flat 5 mins walk from the main railway station in the town centre (as the girl I swapped with wanted to be nearer to her family)
my brother: moved from a grotty maisionette close to several main A roads, to a semi detached house on an estate (what he wanted) as the girl he swapped with's husband worked close by to where his maisonette was
keep checking that exchange list and dont give up on it, I used to go down every week and read them (no mean feat as there were about 4 big folders to look through!)
depending on where you are as well, I think you can advertise in the 'loot' newspaper - that has an exchange list going for council/HA tenants too
8/10/08 12:24
Noobi, they do have the exchange lists, but I live in a 'no-go' area, it has a bad rep, my flat is top floor, 2 bed with no garden. I have no hope! I am a member of several exchange forums too. I'm not one of those wait and see people I have to do all I can before I give up, lol!
8/10/08 12:04
Dp calls them useless jobsworths8/10/08 12:02
OMFG MissC what kind of example are they setting? doesnt the council exchange exist anymore then? the one between tenants I mean
8/10/08 12:02
oh missC thats a classic. when our rent went up on our last place i went to the council to say we couldnt afford it i got told:
' well if your partner gave up work you could claim benefit'
now is it just me that sees the problem there? dp would have to give up a perfectly good job in order to pay the rent?
8/10/08 12:01
i agree gv,i live in the se, renting around here costs as much as my mortgage but that is the way things are and people have to face that its not something that has happened over night and try and help themselves i just can't understand why in this day and age people still expect the council to find homes for them
people do get help with their housing with hb if they go private
8/10/08 11:58
In regards to the comments about stop having kids if you have no room....
I have been after a transfer for a while, to be closer to my nans (both are in ill health), and to move closer to my home town and where there appears to be more work available, I asked the housing officers at the council which is the best way to go about this, would the grandparents doctors need to write a letter as a request? Do i need to recieve carers allowance to be moved? etc etc... This is almost a word for word telephone call I had a couple of months ago...
'Miss C how many children do you have?'
'2',
'how many rooms do you have?'
'2'
'Miss C the only way you will get moved will be to a bigger property because we do not do like for like transfers anymore.'
'Well, eventually I will need another room, but this isn't about size'
'Miss C I am basically saying the only way you will get transferred back to your home town will be if you are to get pregnant and require a larger property.'
'you are telling a single parent, on income support to get knocked up again if she wants to be moved?'
'Yes'.
'that's not very responsible at all is it?'
'I guess not.'
so there you have it... not much hope for some of us eh?
Hopefully when the bf moves in and we will both be working we can rent somewhere bigger or maybe buy.... it obviously depends on the state of the countries finances... I am not holding my breath.
But if I am to be completely honest with all I don't think I will be giving up my flat, I don't think many jobs are going to be secure, and I will never be able to make up the difference on private housing rent, even with full HB. my rent is reasonably low, and my heating is included in my overall rent (I still pay the difference on that though, of course), which makes my fuel bills very cheap at winter and with dd and her illness I am not going to chance moving just yet.
8/10/08 11:55
True Miss Mindy but there is still not enough affordable housing... to buy or rent. There is still a need for council housing and there ain't enough of it, certainly in the SE anyway.
8/10/08 11:42
(okay yes I have a nice 4 bedder to rent out at the moment
)8/10/08 11:41
where I am from, if it is too expensive to live somewhere, we move
8/10/08 11:39
when I first moved up this way I lived in a dingy flat with mushrooms growing on the bathroom wall (seriously!), whilst living there I got very ill from the mold spores and dampness from the flat, so there would be no way on earth I would bring a precious child into that environment intentionally, I felt guilty enough my DS (then 8y/o) was living with me there!
I moved in with DH, fairly soon afterward even though I wanted to leave it a while before living together, and even then it was another 2 yrs before DD was conceived (tmi
)we're still living in our nice little house and need to move as soon as able, but there was an awful lot of work this house needed (decor) before we could even think about that, still not done yet either.
if OPs children are in council/HA, the rent is going to be a lot less than private rent and they have plenty of time to save a deposit for somewhere to call their own. i dont agree with right to buy options, as that takes houses away from the housing needs of the council and although many do stay and live in the property there is others who use it as a money making scheme, buy for pennies and sell for big money - that's not right imo. but I do understand this isnt always the case
8/10/08 11:39
why do people still think councils should supply homes, in the 80's thousands were sold off (not that i agree with this) and that was 20 years ago. things have changed so much we now have bettter access to further education so we can get better paid jobs, we have many more options to buy/let through ha's, its about time people stopped thinking what can be done for them and start thinking about what they can do for themselves
i shall be renting out my 2 bed flat (no profit at all) and probably moving into a 1 bedroom flat as times are hard but that is the way it is but i shall go to work, cut back on things, study so one day i shall get a better paid job and most of all will not join in with all the moaning minnies, oh i poor, oh council won't give me a home but give all these immigrants a home, oh i a single parent, oh my husband works long hours so i can't work, i can't afford childcare so better off not working, - there are always excuses but we all have the ability to change our lives ourselves if we really want to
rant over
8/10/08 11:37
Nothing to say really, except I think it's a really nice house! I wouldn't mind it
Oh ok then - I suppose really the situation would be better if a) there were more council houses available and they hadn't all be sold off b) the govt backed affordable home schemes for 3/4 bedroom houses, instead of all the developments with 1/2 bed flats and houses you see everywhere...
8/10/08 11:36
my house WAS big enough before i was put into emergency accomodation because my neighbour set fire to her house so both propertys became unstable. If u read the sun website even local estate agents are saying the property is only worth 6,000 a month so y are the local council paying over 12,000
8/10/08 11:33
sorry i forgot to add that they are offering to help towards private rent...
8/10/08 11:30
the council are offering to help them with their rent, if they cant afford the rest then something is wrong. you cant just sit there and complain, get off your arse and dos omething about it. save up for somewhere better, god 8 yrs they could have saved loads.
and why keep bringing kids into the world knowing their flat isnt suitable? would you really bring a child into a damp dingy cold flat? i know i wouldnt, i would wait until i had the funds to move to a better property. so they are just as bad. god imagine what the world would be like if we all adopted attitudes like theirs......
8/10/08 11:26
or buy a caravan so you and your partner can live in it and your kids can live in the house/flat.8/10/08 11:24
If your house is too small STOP having more children!
A.its the sun,they talk rubbish.
and
B.if their in that much poverty they should just move to somewhere cheaper,up north is sooo cheap.