Law-Forums.org

[yago]

im in a 4bed with my family and there are 8 of us me my patner n 6 kids we need a bigger property so the council told us to look private rented but the trouble is some of them wont take dss where do i stand

[darik2]

im in a 4bed with my family and there are 8 of us me my patner n 6 kids we need a bigger property so the council told us to look private rented but the trouble is some of them wont take dss where do i stand

There's no rights being violated here.

Councils across the UK are short of large family houses; it's likely they literally don't have any councils big enough to house you and your family. (NB - birth control is also an option for you)

If they're suggesting private rental accomodation, then start talking to lettings agencies and ask for properties which accept DSS.

[edin]

You could try getting a job.

[gowan]

In theory, you have the legal right to a home which is the right size for your family. In reality, very few councils have houses with 5 or more bedrooms within their stock, and those they do have rarely become available. They cannot give you what they do not have. The council are correct that the most likely option for you of getting a larger house is to rent privately. It's more difficult to find landlords who accept Housing Benefit, but ask the council if they have a list of landlords who will. Contact local estate agents and register your details and requirements with them. Ask around amongst friends and relatives - do they know somebody who is moving house.

Meanwhile, is there anything you can do to declutter your house so there's more room? Could you and your partner give up your own bedroom to one of your children and put a sofa-bed in the living room for yourselves? Do you have bunkbeds or cabin-beds in the children's rooms - these free up floor space. If you have a garden, consider putting a shed in it, then putting less-used toys and household items in the shed.

Alternatively, have some of your children adopted. Or sell them to the circus. Joke.

[dureau]

If the Council do not have a bigger property they are entitled to ask you to look in the private sector. No-one can force Private to take DSS so unless you can find a housing association which has bigger houses then you are stuck. Most Council houses with 4 bedrooms would be registered to house more than 8 people especially if some are under 10 years old as they only count as half a person.
Seems to me you have very little choice but to make the best of it.

[jerard]

sorry but there is a very long list of people who need a bigger house all you can do is keep looking for a private let who will rent to DHSS .

[sylvester37]

sorry but there is a very long list of people who need a bigger house all you can do is keep looking for a private let who will rent to DHSS .

Stay with the council, you may feel a bit cramped but you are not legally overcrowded, and if you give up your council tenancy and go into private renting you will have a lot more problems, notably less security of tenancy and even more housing benefit cuts.

There are very few council four beds or larger, and the private renting benefit cap now pays for nowhere larger than a four bed regardless of your family size, so you may not gain a lot from trying to move.

[cadby]

You've got far more space than many families your size. You don't have any 'rights' to a bigger property just because you'd like one.

[jerrick]

I've found that I have no rights at all. I've rented about 24 abodes in the past 11 years and no rest is in sight. I'm hypersensitive and no landlord can understand that enough to put me in a quiet place. I was thinking, maybe I should buy a plot, dig a hole in the ground and live in it. For you, I suppose it's the same; no rights.