Council housing

confused000

Hello,
I am looking for some help/info!

Myself my partner and child are living in a private rented house, we are both in receipt of social welfare and also rent allowance therfore are on the housing list. An have been for 5years.
Someone had suggested to us that we look into building our own house on family land and ask for help as this would get us off housing list and we would no longer need rent assistance.

Has anyone any experience with this?? What help is there for this? Or is it simply untrue that the council will build you a house from scratch? Who do we ask about this or apply to??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Mrs OBumble

You ask your council housing office. It's a question they've heard before.

Victor

Councils have in the past offered mortgages. I don't know if they still do. Unfortunately, as you seem to be dependent on social welfare, it would seem to be impossible for you to repay a mortgage.

I can't see them building a one-off house on someone else's land.

Realistically, I think that someone got their wires crossed.

Mrs OBumble

I believe it's happened in the past in rural areas where the land belonged to the family in question. In fact I can name a specific house where it's happened. But I don't know if it's all councils, or just some, and what their criteria might be.

Sleepy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

But I don't know if it's all councils, or just some, and what their criteria might be.

A fat brown envelope I'm guessing?

Surely building someone a house out of the taxpayer's pocket is a criminal matter?

If the land was to be signed over to the council in exchange for getting first shot at living in any property they built on it there might be some argument but frankly, if you have land you have the means to house yourself.

JimsAlterEgo

Sleepy wrote: »

A fat brown envelope I'm guessing?

Surely building someone a house out of the taxpayer's pocket is a criminal matter?

If the land was to be signed over to the council in exchange for getting first shot at living in any property they built on it there might be some argument but frankly, if you have land you have the means to house yourself.

would have thought so - sell the land and use it to pay rent

Call me Al

Lots of people have had council houses built for them on their own land.

I don't know if they have the opportunity to buy the house back from the council with a discounted mortgage, (I know in the past this has happened), or if nowadays they are renting forever.

Mrs OBumble

Sleepy wrote: »

A fat brown envelope I'm guessing?

Surely building someone a house out of the taxpayer's pocket is a criminal matter?

If the land was to be signed over to the council in exchange for getting first shot at living in any property they built on it there might be some argument but frankly, if you have land you have the means to house yourself.

There were perfectly legal approaches, like the Rural Cottage Scheme, which saw people sign over land to the council - and have the opportunity to buy it and the house back later.

Just because someone has land doesn't necessarily mean they have the cash to fund house construction or to qualify for a mortgage.

The RCS is now closed. But I'm sure that rural councils still have a legal obligation to assist people who cannot afford adequate housing for themselves, and that this has to be in at least the general area where the people are from. I don't know what the details of such schemes area - possibly they involve local authority mortgages.

blindside88

There is such a thing as a council mortgage. There are very strict terms and you must show that you have been refused mortgages from a number of other sources. But as you are both on social welfare you will not meet the requirements to be given a mortgage by a bank or the council. As was suggested already if the land is in a desirable location you could sell it subject to planning and buy or rent a small house