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How do you get a council property...
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Just wondering how someone gets a council property...is the most effective/quick way to become a single mum?
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Of course, if anyone brings a life into this world just to get a council house they're a complete cunt, the baby should be adopted and they should be steralised
The easiest, most effective way is to get pregnant by some criminal, tag-wearing scummer of a boyfriend. Make sure he's got previous for violence which puts you and the baby at risk of domestic assault and they'll move you before you can say "i know my rights".
All the while being confident that the free money will keep coming because saps like me keep working and paying taxes.
If I hadn't seen it happen so many times I'd be alarmed at my own cynicism.
Only if you already have a kid, otherwise there'd be a waiting period involved.
Mind you, it depends on your area. Some places its fairly easy to get a council property if you apply, but other areas there isnt that many to go around so youd be unlikely to get a property very quickly at all
Someone who's fleeing domestic violence or homeless with children will be top of the pile. Someone who's got a perfectly good home and no children will be bottom of the pile.
If you already have a home that is practicable for you to live in then having a child won't bump you to the top of the waiting list.
Yeah but that's life, it doesn't mean that you should get a free house. If you can't afford a full house maybe you could rent a room in a house share.
Yes you can. Get a job. Do what i did. Couldn't get a job i wanted so did the crap jobs. Cleaning, washer upper, road sweeping. There's jobs out there if you want work.
since when are council houses free houses? You rent them and you pay rent. Theyre just more affordable than privately rented.
Pah whatever you know what I mean.
and even if you are at the top of the pile, you could be waiting for a very long time.
when i was 16, my dad got custody of me and my 2 brothers due to the domestic violence, etc that we had to put up with whilst living with my mother. we were classed as homeless as my dad had to give up his job to look after us and therefore, we had nowhere to live. and soooo we lived in a homeless family hostel for over a year so we got points for being homeless. the flat we were given (one bedroom between 4 of us - they only provided us with TWO beds may i add and im not talking nice beds with a mattress. they were army style fold up beds) meant it was very overcrowded. my brother had to sleep in a corridoor for over a year ffs :mad: sooooo we were given more points for it being overcrowded. my dad developed sciatica in his back due to the condition we were living in and couldn't walk. he was on crutches and it was a struggle for him to even stand up. my brother became severely depressed too because of the conditions we were living in. and soooo, we got more points for health reasons.
and yet, despite all this, it took well over a year to get a home.
worst year of my life.
if you have a perfectly good home to go to curvy_lass, just go. most people go home after uni. i didn't but i got a job straight away and went into a house share as that was affordable. house shares are just as cheap as uni houseshares. its because of people that just have kids to get a council house and people who just want one because its cheap (when they can afford normal rent!) that families like my own have to stay in those gawd damn awful places due to the lack of council houses being available.
yes, i will probably get flamed for saying that but im bitter. like i say, worst year of my life.
and yes suzy is right, you do have to pay for council houses if you are in full time work. my dad pays quite a bit! infact curvy lass, it would probably be cheaper for you to just go into a house share!
So if you don't want to live with parents have a look on Gumtree or such like and see about a house-share.
Getting a job is impossible at the moment...
no its not. i know loads of people who have just got jobs.
If I was starving and at risk of being homeless, Id take any job I could.
No, it's not. You may not get the job you want, you may not get the job you're qualified for but if you're prepared to do the shitty jobs, there's work out there.
This thread makes me angry. Surely the point of going to uni is to get a decent job when you leave? So why won't you be able to afford to privately rent? How do you think other people manage? I do sympathise with the whole not wanting to move back with parents thing, but there is no reason why you can't move in with them whilst you look for a job and somewhere else to live.
That's what the Government tell you. But largely it's bollocks.
I've got a good degree from a good university and it took me a year to find a job I wanted to do and that was fitting for my skills. However, rather than mope about it, I ended up temping at the royal mail sorting office and an insurance call centre. Even then, it did take me four months to get a temp job.
Happy days they weren't.
The idea of going to University is to further your knowledge in a subject that you like and want to know more about and would perhaps like a career in.
In theory it should help get into certain jobs as these kind of jobs require a degree level of education to do the job (supposedly). That in itself isn't always the case. My job is degree level entry but 15-20 years ago the same job were taking on school leavers at my level and putting them through qualifications whilst they worked, the job hasn't really changed that much.
I think it's naive to think that having a degree will get you a job. Most people still have to do rubbish jobs when they leave uni.
Firstly, council houses are very hard to come by now due to the massive shortages and so a points based system is usually used to find the most "at risk" candidates and single parents are not always priorities in some areas!
Have you considered (as previously mentioned by another user) house sharing? This can be a much cheaper alternative to renting by yourself and can allow you to meet very interesting people! These may help:
http://www.housepals.co.uk/
http://www.spareroom.co.uk/
Secondly; getting a job (as previously acknowledged) can be extremely difficult at the moment, in the current economic climate, try just going around local shops and business' stating that you're willing to take on any job they have or try one of the many online job sites. If you manage to get a part time job that's enough to sustain you, then try also volunteering somewhere as these can often lead to paid jobs and look great when applying for other jobs!
Hope some of this helps!
Why I was conceived wouldn't matter to me at all (and actually it doesn't) as long as I'd had a good life after that. All it would do is make me think less of who my mum/parents was/were at the time, but if they'd shown different mindsets since that wouldn't matter either.
What's even more frustrating is climb too far up those ivory spires and nobody wants you....even the rubbish jobs.
I finished my PhD in May, but have been jobseeking since last May, as I thought I could probably combine the final bit of writing up with a full time job. Whilst on the whole I've being applying to jobs I fancy (public sector, research jobs, project officers, MPs assistant jobs, as well as the academic jobs) most have been posts that I could demonstrate either the skills or experience to do, and I've also applied to a large number of admin jobs too. I've filled out about 85 or more applications in total. But of the 5 interviews I've had in that time, none of them have actually been for the admin or MPs assistant jobs that I have concrete experience for, so I just assume that they would rather pick a new graduate than someone they're afraid will bugger off on some higher calling the moment the opportunity pops up. I haven't bothered even applying for retail jobs for a couple of years now, because similarly, last time I tried (and applied to a good dozen or so places, including Boots, who I had worked for before, albeit in another town) I got zilch response despite having the experience.
Luckily I have a part time admin job in a school which I've been doing throughout my PhD and they've decided to take me on full-time at least until Xmas so I have a little breathing space now, but finding anywhere new seems impossible at the moment.
It's stupid isn't it. Good luck with your hunting I imagine posts within an academic environment will be more sympathetic to your 'over qualified' status? iyswim
Don't forget to try agency work too if it's applicable to your sector, at least that way you could gain some experience even if it's not such as stable option as a conract job.
**must add if people are struggling to find work volunteering is good, it can sometimes lead to paid employment but if nothing else it stops you being bored at home and can show employers a willingness, you may even pick up a few useful skills**
That's what I thought and most of my admin applications were to universities, but I still got no joy
I will do if it looks like my school will give me the boot after Christmas, but for now I've got it as a full time job, I don't see the point of looking for similar posts at the moment. Before it became full time I was reluctant to try agencies because I didn't want to give up a part time but otherwise secure job for something that may only last a few weeks. I haven't previously had any work come my way through the agencies I joined before, but I'm willing to give them another shot...