Leaving a Council House

noneedforaname

HI just wanted some advice of the following,

My wife and I got a council house a couple of months back and its turning out to be an absoloute disaster, mainly due to anti social behaviour around the area by teenagers etc we are thinking of cutting our losses and getting out of there. The area is really toxic and has a really bad vibe and we simply dont belong in the area.

We dont have kids and have spent years on the waiting list so we were delighted to get the house and equally sadened when it turned out to be such a dump. The house itself is fine but as I said the area scares us to say the least.

I know there are some reprcussions when you do leave a council house such as you would not recieve rent allowance for 12 months after you leave but that shouldnt matter unless I did lose my job in that time but I have a pretty secure job and hopefully that wouldnt matter.

I have put our name down for a transfer from the area but I do not see that happening anytime in the near future.
I know writing letters etc to the council would go in our favour but I spent so much time in the past writing letters to get the house were in now I simply have no faith in the process.

Moving nearer to my work and saving on travel would pretty much equal what were paying in rent now.

Both of our health is suffering right now and being in such an environment is really not worth living in.

So if you have any experience in this area or know of anybody who has please feel free to post any information you may have

Regards

foxy06

If I were you i'd leave. From your post you seem to be able to afford to rent elsewhere so why stay where you are unhappy?

dory

Life's too short, cut and run. And you leave a council house vacant for someone who really can't afford to live anywhere else.

jim69

if you have a decent secure job how are you entitled to a council house anyway ?

noneedforaname

Im not earning that much and the wifes health is not the best, I'd reckon thats why we got a house.
As i said earlier I spent years wrtiting letters and putting the pressure on so thats would be another reason.
We rented privatly in the good oul days and had to move at least once a year which was a real pain. Landlords had it all then selling houses left and right but hopefully that will no longer be the case.

What Im really interested is about the repercussions though, Ive read else where your not entitled to rent allowance at any stage so Ive I did loose my job which is always a possibility we would be screwed. If it depends on the council involved we're with cork county council.

January

jim69 wrote: »

if you have a decent secure job how are you entitled to a council house anyway ?

Maybe they earn inside the maximum earnings for applying for a council house...

It's kinda really none of your business though...

mikemac

jim69 wrote: »

if you have a decent secure job how are you entitled to a council house anyway ?

Most council tenants work and they pay rent to the local authority.
If they have a good job, the rent will reflect this.

If anything, it's rent allowance that is propping up a huge percentage of landlords, but that's for another thread.

OP, go talk to threshold , they are helpful and will have seen your situation many times before. At the very least, they'll point you in the right direction

noneedforaname

Right, please dont let this go off topic Im simply asking for peoples experience if they have any to the origional question asked.
Open up a new thread if you wish to discuss why people get council houses etc.

yellowlabrador

I've known a few people on rent allowance that left their cork county council houses and rented private. You receive no help for 6 months. These people moved due to their kids being bullied on their estate. It's very difficult to get a transfer and even a social worker can't help much, also it's very hard to move town, even if you work miles away. Have you thought of a swap? If you find someone who wants to live where you are and have similar properties, it might work. You never know, someone might wants to move to be closer to relatives

noneedforaname

Yeah we've thought about a swap and have contacted people who have been interested in swapping but all I have to do is mention the name of the estate and thats the end of it!

jim69

its a forum,im allowed ask a question,if poster wants to reply thats his business.

donalg1

if you can afford to move you should, and by the sounds of it you would be ok for six months so if something happened to your job then RA would become a viable option, life is too short to spend it in an estate where you are unhappy.

You could try talk to the Anti Social Officer in the Local Authority and the AHO but you would more than likely be waiting a while for a transfer to somewhere else.

upinthesky

is it possible to get rent allowance after you give up a council house??

donalg1

lisar816 wrote: »

is it possible to get rent allowance after you give up a council house??

Thats a tricky one, you see to get rent allowance you need to be deemed to have a housing need by the council, so if you give up a council house it could be argued that you obviously dont have a housing need so therefore dont qualify for RA. Although a CWO might see it differently if you give it up and have been renting privately for six months they may allow you to get RA but again i think this is their decision, i wouldnt imagine you can surrender a council house today and get RA tomorrow though.

upinthesky

donalg1 wrote: »

Thats a tricky one, you see to get rent allowance you need to be deemed to have a housing need by the council, so if you give up a council house it could be argued that you obviously dont have a housing need so therefore dont qualify for RA. Although a CWO might see it differently if you give it up and have been renting privately for six months they may allow you to get RA but again i think this is their decision, i wouldnt imagine you can surrender a council house today and get RA tomorrow though.

thanks its iv seen a nice 4 bedroom house for little over what im paying a week for my council house and its in the country id love to take it
when you get a council house it kinda ties you down kwim?

millythecat

im in the same boat i would love to no how you have got on! and i agree your def tied once u get a council house

donalg1

lisar816 wrote: »

thanks its iv seen a nice 4 bedroom house for little over what im paying a week for my council house and its in the country id love to take it
when you get a council house it kinda ties you down kwim?

Yeah that is true but then this is what some people are looking for, they want the security of tenure a Council house gives. I hope when you are considering the 4 bed house in the country you arent taking into account any future Rent Allowance you could receive. You should only be looking at surrendering the Council House if you can pay rent elsewhere without receiving Rent Allowance.