More issues with housing...

[knk2011]

So we went to meet our case worker today, I'm not entirely sure if it's helped us much, if at all.


Basically, after doing all of our paper work, she talked us through our options.

Option A
We can separate. OH stay here and I go alone into temporary accommodation under my SMP, which would mean I am essentially not paying for anything. We told them no, that we wouldn't even consider splitting up. (She didn't blame us at all for it, but had to make us aware that it was an option).

Option B
We can go for temporary accommodation. We would still have to pay for this. The temporary accommodation could be either;
A bed and breakfast - where we can't take our dog or own furniture.
Shared housing - can't take dog or own furniture.
Something called Easy Lets - where we can take our own furniture, but not the dog. It's basically an empty house, but our case worker would have to nominate us for the place as soon as a 2 bed place came up.

Option C
We can put in a homelessness application - as after the 25th June, we don't have anywhere to live. Case worker said it should be a straight forward application and we should be instantly accepted and moved up to band B. (We were moved from band D to C because I am over 20 weeks of pregnancy) It also gives us the option to rent privately through the council, as long as it's a 2 bed place, no more than £525 a month - our council see this as "reasonable rent".



I'm not sure what to do or what to think.
I'm actually a little worried. Apparently there are over 500 people in band B, so it could still take us forever to get a place. Renting privately through the council isn't going to be any easier than doing it on our own either, because it's still impossible to find places that will take our dog or an agency that doesn't require a guarantor.


All I know is, I'm 28 weeks pregnant and I have no idea where we're going to live

 

[Willow87]

Have you looked through newspapers for private landlords? If you are looking for a flat then there is no way you will find someone who will take dogs and tbh, it's not really the best place for a dog anyways. trust me been there done that lol.

Is there no one that can act as a guarantor?

Have you tried gumtree? I have posted ads on there before and it has worked.

 

[_Lexi_]

Unfortunately if you haven't privately rented before, most agency's will want a home owner as a guarantor. Some places that say 'no pets' it can be worth asking. We were told no pets, but they allowed my cat, and my best friend rented a place that was 'strictly no animals' but after meeting her dog, they allowed her. I wouldn't assume you'll get a council place in time for baby. I know in my area, band b is still a 2-3year wait list, as you have everyone from band a, and people ahead of you on band b. after 3 years I gave up and took my name off the list, managed to find a private rent and can claim housing benefit. Doesn't matter what our rent is, as long as we can cover what the council don't. Can one of your parents not agree to be a guarantor for you? If you don't have one, then chances are it will be quite difficult for you to rent privately/through an agency as a lot of places won't take the risk, especially with you being on smp, having a baby and a dog in the property. Look on gumtree/rightmove/notice boards, ask everyone you know if they know anyone that has any places available. Good luck x

 

[MrsGards]

Until I married into military I have always rented privately. I've lied on applications, even managed to hide 2 cats and 2 guinea pigs in "strictly no animal" houses. I know with my local council that " no housing benefit" can be overcome by having it paid directly to yourself and ticking the box on the back which says they can not contact your landlord etc..
I was in between jobs at one point when I moved and got my best friend to say I had worked for her for blah blah years and yes I ad a job and was very good at it..... followed up by a letter. I'm not saying lying is a great thing, I'm saying you do what you need to to get by. Can the council put up the deposit for you if u find a private place to rent? That's another option maybe. X x x

 

[Pink Flowers]

Unfortunately if you haven't privately rented before, most agency's will want a home owner as a guarantor. Some places that say 'no pets' it can be worth asking. We were told no pets, but they allowed my cat, and my best friend rented a place that was 'strictly no animals' but after meeting her dog, they allowed her. I wouldn't assume you'll get a council place in time for baby. I know in my area, band b is still a 2-3year wait list, as you have everyone from band a, and people ahead of you on band b. after 3 years I gave up and took my name off the list, managed to find a private rent and can claim housing benefit. Doesn't matter what our rent is, as long as we can cover what the council don't. Can one of your parents not agree to be a guarantor for you? If you don't have one, then chances are it will be quite difficult for you to rent privately/through an agency as a lot of places won't take the risk, especially with you being on smp, having a baby and a dog in the property. Look on gumtree/rightmove/notice boards, ask everyone you know if they know anyone that has any places available. Good luck x

I agree with what has been said here.

We are strictly no pets and have a cat, snake, lizard, gecko, 2 gerbils and 2 guinea pigs (almost) and the landlord has allowed us to have them all!

ETA do not lie on the forms, it is illegal. You can loose your application to the council for doing so.

 

[knk2011]

Until I married into military I have always rented privately. I've lied on applications, even managed to hide 2 cats and 2 guinea pigs in "strictly no animal" houses. I know with my local council that " no housing benefit" can be overcome by having it paid directly to yourself and ticking the box on the back which says they can not contact your landlord etc..
I was in between jobs at one point when I moved and got my best friend to say I had worked for her for blah blah years and yes I ad a job and was very good at it..... followed up by a letter. I'm not saying lying is a great thing, I'm saying you do what you need to to get by. Can the council put up the deposit for you if u find a private place to rent? That's another option maybe. X x x

Yeah they will help us with the deposit as long as the property is no more than £525 a month in rent. We then pay the deposit back to them or something. Our main problem is the guarantor and it would depend on what the agency require in a guarantor. I hear that some places just want the guarantor to earn a certain amount a year - in which case my OH's parents can do it for us. They used to own their own property but now choose to rent. My dad owns his own place, but he's in so much debt that it's not likely that he'd be willing to guarantor us.

 

[knk2011]

Unfortunately if you haven't privately rented before, most agency's will want a home owner as a guarantor. Some places that say 'no pets' it can be worth asking. We were told no pets, but they allowed my cat, and my best friend rented a place that was 'strictly no animals' but after meeting her dog, they allowed her. I wouldn't assume you'll get a council place in time for baby. I know in my area, band b is still a 2-3year wait list, as you have everyone from band a, and people ahead of you on band b. after 3 years I gave up and took my name off the list, managed to find a private rent and can claim housing benefit. Doesn't matter what our rent is, as long as we can cover what the council don't. Can one of your parents not agree to be a guarantor for you? If you don't have one, then chances are it will be quite difficult for you to rent privately/through an agency as a lot of places won't take the risk, especially with you being on smp, having a baby and a dog in the property. Look on gumtree/rightmove/notice boards, ask everyone you know if they know anyone that has any places available. Good luck x

I agree with what has been said here.

We are strictly no pets and have a cat, snake, lizard, gecko, 2 gerbils and 2 guinea pigs (almost) and the landlord has allowed us to have them all!

ETA do not lie on the forms, it is illegal. You can loose your application to the council for doing so.

Are you trying to start your own zoo?!

I have said to OH that we may need to leave the dog with his parents for now and then just see what we can work out once we're in a place. Most important thing at the moment is getting a roof over our head and getting ready for the baby.

 

[Pink Flowers]

Unfortunately if you haven't privately rented before, most agency's will want a home owner as a guarantor. Some places that say 'no pets' it can be worth asking. We were told no pets, but they allowed my cat, and my best friend rented a place that was 'strictly no animals' but after meeting her dog, they allowed her. I wouldn't assume you'll get a council place in time for baby. I know in my area, band b is still a 2-3year wait list, as you have everyone from band a, and people ahead of you on band b. after 3 years I gave up and took my name off the list, managed to find a private rent and can claim housing benefit. Doesn't matter what our rent is, as long as we can cover what the council don't. Can one of your parents not agree to be a guarantor for you? If you don't have one, then chances are it will be quite difficult for you to rent privately/through an agency as a lot of places won't take the risk, especially with you being on smp, having a baby and a dog in the property. Look on gumtree/rightmove/notice boards, ask everyone you know if they know anyone that has any places available. Good luck x

I agree with what has been said here.

We are strictly no pets and have a cat, snake, lizard, gecko, 2 gerbils and 2 guinea pigs (almost) and the landlord has allowed us to have them all!

ETA do not lie on the forms, it is illegal. You can loose your application to the council for doing so.

Are you trying to start your own zoo?!

I have said to OH that we may need to leave the dog with his parents for now and then just see what we can work out once we're in a place. Most important thing at the moment is getting a roof over our head and getting ready for the baby.

Ermmm I was thinking of it, bit of extra cash while I am off work

But thats a good attitude to have because a lot of people wont compromise and they end up stuck. x

 

[_Lexi_]

Pink flowers - how do you almost have two guinea pigs?! x

 

[Pink Flowers]

Pink flowers - how do you almost have two guinea pigs?! x

I have the house and stuff but there is mud that needs taking to the tip before I can get the guinea pigs Waiting for the man child and the boy child to dig it up, most prob tomorrow.

 

[Tami]

It's difficult, we we're in this situation if you remember but luckily my mum's partner earns enough to guarantor us, and this is all they wanted in a guarantor. We had enough saved up for the first months rent and deposit/admin fees (the first thing we saved for when we found out we were expecting!) and we made a point of making sure that we could bring our cat, our letting agency as a whole is no pets, but if you ask them they will contact the landlord and they then give you an extra form to fill in for pets in case of damage.
We moved into our home on the 1st of this month so it can be done! Personally we gave up on the council situation months ago. We were on the list before we even fell pregnant because living with my parents wasn't practical but we heard nothing! Can you look to other family members to guarantor the rent? As long as you always pay the rent and they trust that you will it shouldn't be a problem, but obviously it would be unfair to get a guarantor if you don't think you'll be able to cover any rent the council wont pay.
I know it sucks, but would option A really be so terrible with the situation as it is? Either way you need to leave before the baby is born (I remember you saying that you can't stay beyond this) and at least you would have somewhere!
You'll have more time to save money and somewhere for you and baby while the dog stays with your OH and his parents, a kind of temporary solution?

But I know even as I type that that I wouldn't want to do it either. It sucks all round doesn't it.

 

[knk2011]

No, OH refuses to be separated from me.

I could ask my Dad if he would guarantor us at a push, but I'm hoping we can find an agency that would let OH's parents do it. My dad is a difficult person to deal with lol.

 

[Tami]

In my experience we were only asked for someone who earns a certain amount, not a homeowner, I can't remember the exact calculations now but I know I posted them on your topic before somewhere, lol. The thing is it has to be 1 person, not them as a couple, so one of them will have to earn enough themselves. I'm sure it was something like the annual rent x2.5 is what they had to earn, so for a rent of £500 a month it would be £15k. I'll have a dig around for it later, but I'm sure it differs between agents.
The problem with your dad is you said he has debts already? There is a chance he wont pass the checks they run because of his credit score, and he too would need to be in full time employment earning a certain amount.
I'm trying to think of another way around it, but most places will want a guarantor. I think if you could pay so many months rent in advance it might sway it with the landlord, but that could be a hefty sum!

I'll have a google around and see what I can come up with, I wonder if the council have a scheme for this?

 

[Tami]

It seems that some councils do, or did at one point, have a guarantor scheme, so it might be worth giving them a call and asking? Some landlords might not be happy with this anyway, but it's better than nothing!

 

[knk2011]

It seems that some councils do, or did at one point, have a guarantor scheme, so it might be worth giving them a call and asking? Some landlords might not be happy with this anyway, but it's better than nothing!

I asked our case worker today, apparently our council don't provide any kind of guarantoring. The only thing they can do for us is housing benefit etc.

I have booked a viewing for Tuesday morning though.
It will allow our dog.
2 bedrooms and it's £525 a month - so it's within the council's boundaries too.

If we want it we have to pay £250 as a holding fee, then there's £150 which I'm pretty sure had something to do with us having the pet. Then when we pick up the keys there's first months rent and deposit which is £625.

Works out to a total of something like £1,550. But she did say that that was everything, no other fees.
Unfortunately the last two places we were meant to view were snatched up before we even got there.... So fingers crossed this works out.

 

[Pink Flowers]

Hope this one works out for you.

Ask them to do a break down of the deposit etc just so you can see on paper what you are paying for what. they £150 is an "extra" deposit in case the animal breaks anything x

 

[Tami]

What happens with the holding fee? Do you get it back, get it deducted from your next months rent or do they keep it as admin fees?

 

[knk2011]

What happens with the holding fee? Do you get it back, get it deducted from your next months rent or do they keep it as admin fees?

Pretty sure they keep it. But she said there's no other hidden fees.
The place looks pretty big. It only has a shower cubicle, but I've heard lots of ladies bath their babies in baby baths until they're too big for it, then upgrade to the kitchen sink and then shower them.

 

[Tami]

Thats a lot of money to pay in admin fees if thats the case, I would double check that!
I think you'd manage with just a shower, although after birth you might long for a warm bath! We're the opposite we only have a bath! But it's a lovely huge enamel thing with weird old fashioned sausage taps, lol. Like this but longer.
https://i.ebayimg.com/t/Old-style-bath-taps-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMTk1/z/mF4AAMXQjWtRKOm2/$T2eC16Z,!%29UE9s3wDd4,BRKOm2Q0cg~~60_35.JPG
We'll just get a shower attachment, but like you said there are plenty of alternatives, baby baths, sinks, etc!

 

[Mummy_to_be87]

I was evicted by my landlord at the end of April, I was given 4 weeks notice and went straight to the Council people and applied as a homeless person, as I have a 1 year old and was heavily pregnant I got accepted inside two weeks, I have been to see the house and its lovely, they will pay for the rent and I am allowed my dog! I cannot wait to move in soon, hopefully the baby will hold off so I can get moved in its such a stressful thing but dont panic there is always ways around it and you have loads of time, I only had about 8 weeks :/ and in the end the landlord really done me a huge favour, the house I have been offered is 100 times better than the one I lived in!

I really hope things go great for you and you get the house you really want, try not to stress, everything will work out alright and you will be in a nice new place soon!