I lived in social housing – we paid £200 a month to get the kids to school
A mother has expressed her dissatisfaction with the cost of her temporary social housing after being evicted from her previous home.
Beth Owen, mother of four, had to seek help after her family was evicted from their rented home.
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The group, originally from the UK, were ‘homeless’ for a staggering 12 months and were placed in temporary accommodation until they were offered new social housing.
After arranging temporary accommodation, Beth was able to get the family ‘topped up’ – meaning they were given a higher priority – after obtaining a doctor’s note.
At the beginning of the trip, the homeless agent had difficulty finding a B&B or hotel for Beth, her fiancé, and the four children.
This meant that the offspring had to live with their father for a while before they finally got a temporary home.
The mother, who claimed she had “no idea how temporary housing worked” until she found herself in this situation, said she did not have to pay a deposit.
They saw it as a huge bonus, which ‘was useful because it was really short notice’.
In the videoBeth also said that their ‘temporary accommodation was rented through a private sector’, meaning there was ‘a local authority and a private landlord above the local authority’.
The rent the family paid then went directly to the landlord, who lived abroad in Romania, she explained.
If there were any problems with the accommodation, Beth had to contact the local council, but if they needed permission, they had to apply to the landlord of the property.
“The only thing I found a bit annoying was that if there was a problem, a phone call was a bit quicker than sending an email.”
She noted that when she tried to contact people who worked for the council, they often had “no idea which department to reach me through”.
In total, Beth paid around £480 a month for the rent of the two-storey house, although there were months when she did receive financial help with the costs.
”We still had to pay the full council tax, all the household bills and of course food, gas and electricity.”
Another expense they had to make was the staggering £200 a month to bus the children to school, as Beth couldn’t drive and her partner’s petrol costs were even higher.
According to Beth, who has since moved out of temporary housing, “the waiting time for social housing is different for everyone.”
How can I get social housing?
To apply for social housing, you must complete an application form and submit it to your municipality.
To find your municipality, you can simply use the municipality finder on the government website.
Once you have access to your municipality’s website, you will find guidelines there for completing your application.
After you register, you will likely be placed on a waiting list.
Please note that even if you are placed on the waiting list, this does not guarantee an offer of social housing.
Your local authority can also advise you on how to continue living in your current home and resolve any issues, such as problems with a private landlord or mortgage.
You are eligible for application for social housing if you are a British citizen living in the UK, provided you have not recently lived abroad.
Each municipality has its own local rules about who is eligible to be placed on the housing list for its area, but these rules are based on a system of ‘points’ or ‘bands’.
For example, you will probably be the first to be offered a home if you:
- are homeless
- living in cramped conditions
- have a medical condition that is aggravated by your current home
- trying to escape domestic violence
Once you are high enough on the municipality’s waiting list, you will be contacted as soon as a home becomes available.
In some municipalities you can submit an application from the age of 18, in other municipalities you can submit an application from the age of 16.
EU workers and their families and refugees may also be eligible.
You will be allocated social housing through a points system. Depending on your housing needs, you may be given low priority.
Once you are high enough on the waiting list, the municipality will contact you about available housing.
There is no limit to how long you will be on the waiting list.
In some cases, this can take weeks, months or even years, the working mother said.
The mother, who was criticised for ‘having another child’ while homeless, hit back, explaining that she got pregnant ‘before she was evicted’.
Beth’s TikTok Pagewhere she shares her journey has earned her over 18,000 followers, dozens of whom bravely open up about their struggles.
One of them said: “It’s actually a temporary shelter and this building is terrible.”
Another joined in the conversation: “I’m still waiting, I’ve lived in 7 temporary accommodations in 13 years and have been bidding for 12 years.”
A third wrote: “I have been waiting for my social housing for 8 years.”
