Need help with council housing?

My husband and I have recently spilt and I am currently in army accommodation, however before long I will be given 3months to move out. I cannot afford to rent privately so that is not an option. So what should I do? I have no where to go, would the council help to rehouse me? We have no children together and no savings. Also will the council take into consideration that I have mental health problems?

I'm guessing I would need to stay in a hostel for a while until they find me somewhere but will I ever get a place due to the fact I'm not 16 with three children???? I hate that I'll be penalised just because I tried to do things the right way around. Can any one give me some advise or has any one been in a similar situation? if so what happened?
Additional Details
sisterofthedarkmoon - I KNOW that these people get housed! I know a ton of youngsters with children who get housed pretty quickly, why should I not be able to have a council home? I work, I always have done, I pay my taxes, I'm an honest law abiding citizan - seems to me you either have to be a drug addict fresh from prison or a child thats having children to be housed... you may think I'm bitter and you'd be right in thinking so, I'm tired of paying for these scroungers and yet I get no help whatsoever.

When you are threatened with homelessness within 28 days make a homeless application to a local authority with whom you have a local connection. They will look at ways to prevent your homelessness such as helping you to find private accommodation that you can afford. If this happens they will only put you in accommodation that you can afford. If they cannot prevent your homelessness then they will make a decision and issue a homeless decision. They will asses if you are eligable for assistance, if you are homeless, if you are priority homeless, if you are intentionally homeless and if you have a local connection. You have to pass each stage to get onto the next stage. Eligability is to do with residence in the country, if you are a british citizen then you are likely to be eligable unless you have been living abroad for a long time. Whether or not you are homeless is to do with whether or not you have accommodation that you have a legal right to occupy. Priority is whether you, or anyone who makes up your household, are more likely to suffer harm or detriment than another person who is homeless. Intentionallity is whether you have done or have failed to do something that has lead to you becoming homeless and local connection is about havig connections to the local area that you applying to, such as immediate family (parents, siblings, spouse or child -not grandparents or aunts/uncles/cousins) or whether you have lived or worked in the area for 6 out of the las 12 months or 3 out of the last 5 years.

So for you (on the information you have given)

1 - You appear to be eligable for assistance
2 - It appears that in the future you will be threatened with homelessess when the army serves you notice - however at the current time you are not threatened with homelessness and your application will stop here.
3- You appear to have priority need (if you have confirmed diagnosis of bi-polar, this will need to be confirmed by a doctor in writing on letter headed paper)
4 - As it is a result of a matrimonial breakdown and you have no legal right to occupy the property once correct notice is served then you are not likely to be assessed as intentionally homeless.
5 - depends on where you apply to.

At the current time you would not be assessed as homeless as you are not imminently threatened with it. However when you are served notice apply to a local authority. It seems that they will have a duty to provide temp accommodation whilst making investigations and if you are accepted then they will have to offer you permanent accommodation - although this would likely take a year or more.
However as you are working you are not likely to qualify for housing benefit to pay for the temp accommodation as the cost of this is likely to be higher than renting privately as it is supported.

You could in the meantime apply on the general waiting list but your not likely to get aything.

Have alook on the shelter web site for more info or contact them to help you make your application - they are **** hot and will really fight your corner for you. And i dont think they charge.

Good luck xx

PS - Contrary to what others are saying, some councils have retained their housing stock and all still have a duty to homeless applicants. Local authorities who have sold their housing stock have agreements with the companies they have sold to that they have to house applicants they out forward.

EDIT - MUM21 is incorrect. Having bi-polar disorder will more than likely give you priorty for rehousing under the homeless act. Generally we would not accept Anxiety as making someone priority which is where she seems to be coming from. B-polar we would.

You say you are working so probably private renting will be your only option. As you are on your own a small property is all you need and should not be too expensive.

Council housing is as rare as hen's teeth. Get your name down on the lovcal Housing Association list too but you will probably have a long wait.

The truth is that you can probably afford to rent privately because your local council will give you housing benefit if the rent is not above the legal limit for your area and if you are unemployed or on a low income. Many councils also have rent deposit guarantee or bond schemes where they give you a loan for the deposit and rent in advance to get private rented accommodation because there are not a lot of council properties around at the moment, contact your local council or Citizens Advice Bureau for further information.

Depends on where you want to live - if you want houseing in the area you are in then - contact the local council there and also any other sources of advice.

You may also need a letter from your doctor, but in any case contact other sources of help.

see

http://www.mentalhealthshop.org/products/rethink_publications/housing_options_for.html

there is a pdf download with info.

There is no longer council housing for new applicants. Social housing is now under the control of housing associations, they tend to work on the same basis as the council use to with priority given to families, single parents with children and the disabled. It's not impossible for single people to get social houding but how fast you get housed is down to a points system. Your awarded points depending on your personal circumstances, you will receive extra points because of your mental illness so long as you can get your doctor to write a letter for you to state that you do suffer from ......... The housing association will ask for proof of anything you state on your application, letter from doctor that your receiving treatment etc, you will also need to give a letter from the MOD housing to state that you have been served your notice. You will get extra points because you will be homeless through not fault of your own also. Once you have filled in an application form, and provided proof of your circumstances, your points will be allocated and you'll receive a Reference number, you can then bid on up to 2 houses a week. It's usually quicker getting housing this way then the old council way but still bare in mind that you will be given less priority then others and it still may take up to a year to be housed. Until then you may be placed into temporary accommodation in a B&B. You may be better off looking for private rented accommodation and applying for housing benefit to help with your rent, quicker and a lot easier now that they have brought in the new system where you no longer have to state to landlords that your receive housing benefit.

Having a mental health condition won't get you housed much quicker im afarid, As i can tell by your name, you have bi-polar i understand how hard that must be for you i work helping people with your problem, however mental health conditions no matter how severe they are aren't considered a case for disabilty with the council, my husband was diagnosed with Anxiety nervosa +++ and the council gave us just 5 more points, which didn't really help, as yours is a more complicated problem you may get 10 more points though.

I sympathise with your problem a friend of mine was in a similar situation a few months back, luckily she had a decent job and could afford to rent privatly.

I would suggest you apply as a homeless person, they may put you in a BnB or a hostel, but hopefully before one of those becomes available a studio flat will pop up.

I understand your point, it appears that people with children get housed asap, although in my husband and mines case that is not true, we had our daughter (unplanned) at 18 and were technically homeless, the council did NOTHING, both of us worked paid our taxes since we were 16 but poeple we knew who were unemployed criminals got housed straight away!, we have to privately rent now 3 years on, which costs us a fortune.Hopefully you will have better luck than us.

ps in my experience single people tend to get housed quicker, because there are more 1 bed flats and studio flats available then 2-3 bed homes. Infact i no one man who got housed into a 2 bed flat, when we applied for it the same week as him.

Apply to the council with a formal letter of eviction and you will be made high priority.

good luck!.

They are no linger councils but housing associations. You will have at least two housing associations that deal in your area like new charter or first choice homes. What you have to do is call in, fill a form and they will give you a registration number after they have registered you. Then all you do is (Where i live every thursday) apply on line by logging in with your number, or if not you can call in and apply manually. They offer property on a points based system, so explain that you are going to be homeless.

As you say since you're not 16 with 3 kids its somuch harder.

If you have mental health problems that should be taken into account, make sure you tell them things like how distressing things are and they should consider you a priority and you should be put straight into housing.

If they don't consider you a priority, you'll be put in emergency accomodation (a bed and breakfast or hostel) until they find accomodation for you.

I've had the same problem for the past months and it's no fun. Good luck with everything though! x

You seem to be under the clear impression that being '16 with three children' is the criteria for being housed! In 'civvy street' most of the 16 year olds out there with kids are now placed in a hostel. However, you, are a single female with no dependents so the council will regard you as being able to look after yourself and rightly so. You could start by looking through the local papers where property's are advertised for rent. Good Luck.

They'll take ALL your circumstances into consideration and yes they will re-house you. Go straight to your local unemployment office or social security centre and give them the information they require to apply for benefits which are relevant to your situation and also ask their advice on the correct office to put your name on a council house waiting list.

Good Luck x

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