What’s A Council House?

[RainbowRainbow]

Or any council property.

[emmie]

one run by the local council, authority, usually called social housing these days,

[douglas9401]

A house built by a local authority for renting out.

[RainbowRainbow]

Do you need to apply? An application form?

[barry1010]

Yes, you apply to the council in the area you wish to live. You are alloted points based on your need. Some people have to wait a very long time for a council owned home.

[douglas9401]

Only if you want to be a tenant.

[emmie]

you go to the local council and ask for Housing department, are you single? as the chances of getting social housing are slim, especially for those singletons. If you were to get on the housing ladder, which could well be a long wait, sometimes its best just to rent privately.

[Ken4155]

A council house is one which is owned by the local council and rented out to tenants. It is usually a house with many structural faults, episodes of damp, electricity problems, etc etc. When that happens, you contact the council to inform them and, after a 6 month hiatus, they send someone out to investigate. Then, if all your 6 numbers are drawn, they send someone out to 'fix' any problems. These are usually temporary 'fixes' so keep the council telephone number handy.

[emmie]

i have never found that with my flat, it's only had a small amounts of faults over the many years i have lived here.

[emmie]

admittedly their repairs dept leaves something to be desired, but i can't complain.

[Ken4155]

Emmie, i was speaking through experience. Many moons back, we moved into council property and experienced a small damp patch in the back bedroom - size of a football. Reported and ignored. Summer came and said patch disappeared - only to reappear in the winter and slightly larger. Reported a few times and ignored each time. Got to a point a few years later where the size of the damp patch had almost quadrupled in size. Eventually the council sent someone out to investigate. When he used his 'damp detector' - a thing with a point on it - his fist almost went through the wall. This guy then went through the house checking everything and found faults we hadn't even discovered. We were later moved out of the home while certain repairs were made. We were told we would be in temporary accommodation for 6 weeks. SIX MONTHS later, almost to the day, we moved back into hour home. As i shut the front door behind me, the two lengths of skirting board, that ran either side of the hallway, both fell!

[emmie]

then you were pretty unlucky -

[Ken4155]

What made it worse was that i had just redecorated the living room when we were moved out and when we returned, the decent wallpaper i put up had been replaced with woodchip!!!
They gave me £30 compensation:-(

[douglas9401]

Or you've been pretty lucky.

[pat2604]

Here you go Rainbow.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-council-housing

[pat2604]

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/social-housing/applying-for-social-housing/getting-a-council-home/

[ladybirder]

Barry you can't choose the area in which to live. It's where you are living when you apply, surely?

And I don't think they should be for life when there is a housing shortage and families are on the waiting list for years, crammed into hotel rooms.

[bednobs]

my understanding is you can apply anywhere. Whether you get where you want is anpther matter though.

[barry1010]

You can apply anywhere but you won't necessarily be successful unless you have connections to the area such as family, work or support