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Tips and hints for council house bidding?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I've just been given a bidding number, and hopfully will be upgraded to emergency or gold bands (the 2 highest) now that I have been given notice.
I used to bid for houses when I was on a list somewhere else, but I was so far down the list, I never used to do it that seriously because I knew I'd never get anywhere with it. But now we need somewhere ASAP, but I'm not sure whats the best way to go about it.
Most of the places available are either flats without lifts (which isn't suitable due to my mother's ill health), or out in the middle of nowhere, with very limited public transport (i'm talking 1 bus a week kind of places).
We need to find somewhere soon, because we're already a couple of weeks into our 2 months notice, but I don't want to get stuck somewhere without public transport or find somewhere thats not suitable for mum.
I get 3 bids a week, so has anyone got any suggestions on how to bid and what I could or should be looking for, and what to avoid? There are a lot of housing association places, but I don't know if thats a good thing to go for or not...
I used to bid for houses when I was on a list somewhere else, but I was so far down the list, I never used to do it that seriously because I knew I'd never get anywhere with it. But now we need somewhere ASAP, but I'm not sure whats the best way to go about it.
Most of the places available are either flats without lifts (which isn't suitable due to my mother's ill health), or out in the middle of nowhere, with very limited public transport (i'm talking 1 bus a week kind of places).
We need to find somewhere soon, because we're already a couple of weeks into our 2 months notice, but I don't want to get stuck somewhere without public transport or find somewhere thats not suitable for mum.
I get 3 bids a week, so has anyone got any suggestions on how to bid and what I could or should be looking for, and what to avoid? There are a lot of housing association places, but I don't know if thats a good thing to go for or not...
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Comments
Good luck.
So what do I do if pretty much everything I'm either not elligible for (because of the wrong area) or because of the housing associations requirements...
?
I don't know how we're going to get something because even if we are going to be top banded, we aren't going to be put very high up the list in another district...
I know I'm just getting a bit anxious about all of this, but I watched channel 4 news tonight and their piece on homelessness really freaked me out.
It's been a few days since you last posted; how is the bidding going? Got any further with developing a strategy to this?
I would confirm katralla's advice though, in that if you don't use your bids this will go against you. So use your bids and even if you do get a property further out or unsuitable you can then apply for a transfer...
Keep us posted.
Also you say that some are not suitable due to your mothers health, if the council know this they should be able to give you extra priority on medical grounds (if they haven't already) just by explaining to them what's appropriate and what isn't and you would just need to fill a form and get a signature from a GP.
Housing associations may also be a good idea in your situation, they probably do have waiting lists aswell, but it may just be that something suitable for you pops up from somewhere and it gives you more chance of finding accommodation as it gives you more options.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Councilandhousingassociationhomes/Housingassociationhomes/index.htm
This link has lots of information on housing assocations and may help.
My advice would be to use your bids, even if you don't use all of them or you only find one property that's suitable for you. You don't necessarily need to use all your bids just make sure you keep bidding so they don't bid on your behalf or lose priority. Sometimes when my bidding comes around there's hardly anything at all to choose from and then other times there are loads! Just keep going, something will come up eventually, hope this helped a little.
Good luck and I hope you get sorted soon
We have a meeting with the housing dept this week so hopefully they will be able to help some more...
How did your meeting go? Any further progress?
Hopefully something will come up because there nothing much on the rental market right now
we're still looking privately, but anything that doesn't look and smell like its been squatted in is to expencive (i'm not being dramatic, we've seen some truely awful places). Everywhere on the council list is above ground floor, apart from 2 places, 1 of which we've bid for, the other i too far out in the sticks. Theres not a frequent bus route there. There are so few places on the rentals market right now as well...
I'm not sure what we do...time is really running out. I think we might just have to find a not great rented place until something on the council list comes up.
This is all so shit, and my anxiety is just going through the roof
Sorry to hear about the struggle to find somewhere suitable to live; I think perseverance will ensure that you find the perfect place.
In the meantime if you are finding your anxiety difficult to manage, you may want to consult your doctor about this and they should be able to recommend the best option for you.
It's great that you post on here regularly about the situation and we are able to provide you with support as a result. But it may also help to have a conversation with someone on the telephone; maybe just getting things off your chest will help you manage your anxiety. You can call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90. They offer confidential emotional support.
I hope this helps and good luck with the house hunt.
Went to see a guy at shelter, who was really helpful in terms of letting us know what our rights are, but still no closer to finding anywhere. Hopefully something will come up on the council list within the next few weeks. Nothing is coming up on the lettings market locally.
2 places on the rental market, both are more than we wanted to afford, but I'm going to see if they'll accept a little less. We've started looking much further affield, even asking friends if they know of anyone with a caravan so we can stay out of B&B so we still have a choice with council properties. We've got 23 days to find something else before we are going down the possession order route...a bit scary!
Running out of time here, the council seem to think that they'll have us housed by the end of the month, but we're still between 10-15 from the top of the list. We've literally done everything we can to get ourselves as high on list (both me & mum put in medical forms, letter from drs saying we need to continuity of care, they've got a copy of the notice to quit), bar getting myself pregnant (not going to happen), and I'm running out of straws. We're going through all our stuff and starting to put it into storage so that we can go stay with friends or something, so we can stay out of being put wherever the council see fit and having to put up with it if we go into B&B at their expence.
Can anyone think of anything else? I've already looked at property guardians but you have to be in employment, and there aren't many house sits around here. We're going to go and talk with the council again next week, and get shelter to send them a letter about the harrassment, but I don't know if theres anything else we can do. I just don't understand how its ended up like this.
I've got a matress, and an solid wood desk - which I'm going to sell. We've been looking at the local furniture recycling places for things a putting deposits down, we got a living room chair today, but even if we get a council place, we'll have to buy white goods.
Ah, the fashions of the eighties....
(I nearly wrote angel grinder and wenches going spare...now that would provide entirely different bedroom furnishings )
Thanks guys, it feels a lot better that I can just keep adding bits and keep you updated and get feedback, makes it feel less like I'm doing it all wrong!
Good to read all these updates from you since I last logged on to the boards.
Are there any local second hand furniture shops or charity shops? You can pick up great bargains if you're looking for furniture etc.
Good luck!
I will reply with any further ideas if I think of any.
7 away from the top of the list with the council this week for one place, which is the closest we've got to the top so far, so maybe next week it will be our week (which will be great because our notice is up next wednesday. Going to the council tomorrow with an advocate who will hopefully get us put into the emergency group because we are going to be imminently homeless...
I'm doing what I can to keep myself up beat, but with things like have happened today (plus 2 more nasty emails from the landlady), I'm really struggling.
Nothing wrong with housing associations,I know a few people who rent from HAs with no gripes at all, in fact they recommend it over taking a private let.
We now need to move out by next Wednesday or we will have to pay the court costs for the landlady to get a possession order to get us out. I don't understand it really, but no one told us, not even shelter. We don't have that kind of money to throw away, and even if we did get legal aid, its the hassle and the harassment. I'm so close to walking out, its getting unbareable. We're putting our stuff into storage and unless we can find friends to crash with for a few weeks, we're going to have to go into B&B (hugely begrudingly, I'm worried its going to be a hell hole full of rowing couples and crying babies, i don't know if i'm going to be able to handle it).
So, everything is getting packed, and I feel like I'm falling apart a bit... nothing more I can do right now though
The council changed their mind and were umming and arring about the legality of the notice to quit (again), but shelter confirmed with them that it is legal. But they are now saying that if we leave before the court baliffs chuck us out we could be seen as making ourselves intentionally homeless (WTF??), so they may not put us up in B&B. So we've put a lot of our stuff into storage, and we're waiting it out. Tomorrow is officially our eviction date, we and shelter have both sent our landlady letters asking her not to come her and telling her about our situation, but I don't put it past her to turn up and start shouting the odds. We've changed to locks just in case (which we checked that we were legally allowed to do), and my support worker is coming first thing to talk about our next moves and to provide some moral support.
I've got nothing left now. we're not going to be offered anything this week, and because it'll take 2 weeks after we're offered something before we can move in, its looking unlikely we'll have anywhere for xmas. Mum has said that she's going to stay with a friend the otherside of the country rather than go into B&B, because it'll make her ill (she has ME), but that leaves me either staying in B&B on my own (going to make me v anxious), or staying on a sofa in cardiff (which will mean I'll be paying £50+ a week to commute back to college).
I don't think I can do anymore...
You may be able to find somewhere in your area on a short term let, some are as little as 3 months and some don't even require a deposit. You could also place an ad on there detailing what you need and where which I have done in the past and received responses even within hours of posting an ad.