Will i get the councils help?

Question

i have been given a notice to quit, i have 1 child and i am pregnant.

i have been given a doctors note for depression, because of the unstableness of privately letting. I have lived in 8 houses in 6 years, and im having to move again. i dont want this for my children and its depressing me. Im waiting for them to get back to me. Will they help or continue to say your adaquetly housed ? When thats not true.

Answer 1

Not some one else who thinks the local council can supply a home at a drop of a hat.

Other people are homeless at least you have somewhere to live at the moment

Can't the father's of your child and the one on the way support.

I would say that you are housed and do not meet the rules of homeless

regulations.

Answer 2

Hi mj -

Council housing can be a confusing area.  Who gets a council flat (or house) depends on many different factors:

- poor health made worse by housing conditions

- lack of, or shared use of some facility, for example a bathroom or toilet

- an inadequate number of bedrooms for the size of your family

- length of time you have lived in the area

- length of time on the waiting list

- separation from your family (including a family which is overseas) because of inadequate accommodation

- homelessness

If you're pregnant and you already have a child, you should be classed as "in priority need".  Clinical depression would probably also give you some priority.  However, if the local authority thinks that you're already "adequately housed", it doesn't have any responsibility to rehouse you.

If you have to leave a private tenancy because, for example, you can't afford the rent, you could be classed as "potentially homeless"; the council would have a responsibilty to rehouse you.

If, on the other hand, you have to leave a tenancy because of something that you've done (e.g. antisocial behaviour or breaking the terms of the lease), you could be classed as "intentionally homeless"; in this case, the council would again have no responsibilty to rehouse you.

Generally, there are far fewer council properties than there used to be (many have been bought by their former tenants under right-to-buy legislation, and the government doesn't allow councils to build new housing).  So competition for council housing has increased enormously.  This means that unless you have a lot of priority, or you're willing to take a flat or house in an unpopular area, you could be waiting a very long time.

You could try asking local housing associations directly about accommodation; they often have less strict rules about who gets priority for property.  Housing association rents are usually fairly cheap, although they may be slightly more than council rents.  You might want to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau for information on local housing associations; you can find them at http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/g... - enter your postcode in the box under "Find my bureau".

You might find the "Local authority accommodation" section of the CAB's "Adviceguide" useful, too:  http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/fami...

The homelessness charity Shelter also has a lot of information on this topic:  http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice...

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Good luck!