Council house question? please help!?

Question

hi i live in a 2 bed gff which is rented off the council i have a boy and a girl who are 2 and 4 i have seen an empty council house as i was walking down the road the other day and apparently if you see a empty house to go down the council and they might let you transfer is this true ? as i dont want to go down there tommorow and make myself look stupid! many thanks xx

Answer 1

You are correct in a way but in a way that won't affect you. People on the council waiting list can bid for an empty property rather then having to move into the first place available like they use to. Your local council will advertise an empty property either online or in the paper and people on the waiting list can bid for it then the council chooses which one is in more priority need. However you can't bid if you are already housed with the council, you will have to fill out numerous forms to ask for a transfer or exchange. Your local paper will have a section in there advertsing people who wish to exchange the council place for a different one, try there and see if someone in your area will swap with you.

Answer 2

It doesn't work like that I'm afraid, you have to wait on the list.

Answer 3

dont know what area you live in but to move from council property to council property now you have to bid for a place online usually, They wont let you move into any old place just because its empty, If your local council is still on the old system of who ever is on the top of the list gets the house then i'm afraid you wont be at the top your children arent old enough to have a room each (council rule). Register at the council for a swap or get registered on the homesearch, then start bidding on the properties in the area you want to move to. Either way go into your local office and say you want to move to a bigger place, But your children are still to young for the council to considered you for a 3 bed even though they are boy and girl.

Answer 4

No there will be names on a list allready at the council chances are someone will move in that no one knows then slowly people will be getting arrested and Familys will start to break up My advice would be next time yourwalking down the road dont slouch were decent clothes coz your on CCTV

Answer 5

I don't think it works like that, but no harm in asking.

Answer 6

I am sorry but it does not reall work like that. You can almost 100% guarntee that the house has already been allocated to a family.

There was a council house near me that seemd to have been empty for a few weeks but that was only because they had some work to do on it.

The property I live in is council and it was empty for about 4 weeks before I moved in. This was because of decoration, checking gas boilers, replacing kitchen cupboards etc.

You are lucky to have somewhere to live and you obviously will not be a priority as there are so many other people on the waiting list who are in worse situations than you

Answer 7

The house could be empty for a number of reasons, including waiting for re-decorating or repair. What it is not, is sitting waiting unwanted! All Councils have waiting lists a mile long and you would not be considered for an exchange without going through normal procedures.

As you already have a ground floor flat your priority is likely to be fairly low.

Answer 8

It's not as simple as that.

You have to go to your local council and sign up for a house. Because you have children it would be really easy for you to get a flat.