Council house empty bedrooms

[Leah-Lacie 10]

I don't think this will affect people who are registered disabled, or pensioners.

 

Pensioners being the people most likely to occupy (along with parents whose children have fleed the nest) extra bedrooms. Forcing parents whose children have fleed the nest to move could lead to massive social problems. The amount of children returning home to live with their parents as adults is very high now and it is still increasing due to high rents and cost of living.

 

Could be saved by the housing benefits cuts for under 25s, less children will be leaving home, and more returning, meaning their parents no longer have a spare room.

 

I'm just imaging now loads of couples 'separating' and having separate rooms, but still living together whilst one finds a new home - I guess you'd have to convince the council, but would be hard for them to prove it wasn't true.

[Leah-Lacie 10]

I don't think this will affect people who are registered disabled, or pensioners.

 

I think it does affect disabled people from what I can tell from this booklet I have here. Not anyone over 61 though.

[leviathan13 348]

what a load of crock on my road and know doubt all this country we have a single mother with 1 child from shall we say from abroad moved to this country 2 yaers ago has a 2 bedroom house waiting time 10 years same road forigen family 5 kids cant speak a word of english 4 bedroom house waiting time 10 years plus

 

Not saying that people from abroad don't get rehoused - but you said asylum seekers, not immigrants.

 

Also, you slate them for not being able to speak English...

 

And how can the houses have been going to waiting time if they got them "straight away"? If they had been granted leave to remain, then they can access social help. This is a government policy. They then, if they have no permanent address, can request a priority assessment based on homelessness. If this request is granted, they will bid for properties along with all other applicants with priority status.

 

Plus - when a property is advertised as "Estimated waiting time of..." it is just that, estimated. There are times when properties will go to less than the estimated waiting time, or much more in many cases. It all depends on who bids for the properties each week. I've seen 1 bedroom flats in some areas go to waiting times of 20+ years, and 3 bedroom houses go to waiting times of less than 5 years.

[chem1st 10]

Paying on a per bedroom basis is an insane policy.

 

There are no legal minimum sizes for bedrooms, nor are their maximums.

 

Wrt so called 'social housing', generally it has been built to Parker Morris standards as a minimum.

 

So you have the absurd situation where some 1 bed flats are actually bigger than 3 bed houses in terms of floor space.

 

Sheffield has also built properties with the need of specific demographics in mind. This could lead to racial/religious tensions.

An example is housing for Muslims, with two reception rooms (one for men and one for women). So these people have an extra room, but it is not a bedroom.

 

Some people have kitchen/living room, whilst others have a large kitchen & a large living room, effectively an extra 'room'.

 

There are many social flats with what is termed the 'box room'. Too small for a bed, but bigger than a cupboard, designed for storage for people, back in the 60s, these rooms are often used as children's bedrooms.

[chem1st 10]

Stop press!

 

Spacious 0 bedroom house for sale. This 0 bedroom house benefits from a large hallway leading to the female childrens living room, male childrens living room and kitchen, the kitchen has a door leading to the conservatory. There is also a downstairs toilet and bathroom.

 

Upstairs are the male and female adult living rooms and bathroom two.

 

On the 3rd floor is a library, study and further bathroom, there is also access to the loft.

 

I repeat, this is a 0 bedroom house!

[Leah-Lacie 10]

 

There are many social flats with what is termed the 'box room'. Too small for a bed, but bigger than a cupboard, designed for storage for people, back in the 60s, these rooms are often used as children's bedrooms.

 

My nan used to have a 3 bed maisonette on the Lansdowne estate (Mount Street, Sharrow) with a large double room, a smaller double room, and a 'box room' which would have easily fitted a single bed, but didn't even have a proper window, it was kind of a longer letter box, the same window as was in the bathroom. Didn't make a great bedroom, but would fit a bed, so was counted as being one. It also had a dining room easily big enough for a single bed, so could, in effect, be counted as a 4 bed property.

[chem1st 10]

My nan used to have a 3 bed maisonette on the Lansdowne estate (Mount Street, Sharrow) with a large double room, a smaller double room, and a 'box room' which would have easily fitted a single bed, but didn't even have a proper window, it was kind of a longer letter box, the same window as was in the bathroom. Didn't make a great bedroom, but would fit a bed, so was counted as being one. It also had a dining room easily big enough for a single bed, so could, in effect, be counted as a 4 bed property.

 

Or a 3 bedroom property with an indoor greenhouse (no windows required)

 

A friend of mine lived there, his property was 1 bedroomed, very small indeed! The bedroom was small, the living room was small, the kitchen was small and the bathroom small (but standard size for council). The property suffered from mould (I think they all do/did after so many years), this was due to the stone guttering being flat and holding water rather than letting it drain away, a massive design fault!

[Leah-Lacie 10]

Or a 3 bedroom property with an indoor greenhouse (no windows required)

 

A friend of mine lived there, his property was 1 bedroomed, very small indeed! The bedroom was small, the living room was small, the kitchen was small and the bathroom small (but standard size for council). The property suffered from mould (I think they all do/did after so many years), this was due to the stone guttering being flat and holding water rather than letting it drain away, a massive design fault!

 

The 3 bed ones, usually on the bottom floor are actually huge!

 

Living room is probably one of the biggest I've ever seen, then a downstairs loo, decent sized kitchen, and a dining room (I've actually seen many people knock this through for a huge dining kitchen) and then the 3 bedrooms upstairs with a bathroom. I think a lot of prospective council tenants probably reject them due to them being maisonettes, which is quite silly, as they're decent sized properties. If you've got kids, do as my grandparents used to do with me, chuck them out the living room windows to go and play on the huge grassed spaces

[speleo1 10]

i am on the list for giving up my 3 bed house for a 2 bedroom house,but i am told there are no 2 bedhouses for me to do this,so if i dont get moved from now till next year 2013 i will have to pay extra for no fault of my own

[chem1st 10]

i am on the list for giving up my 3 bed house for a 2 bedroom house,but i am told there are no 2 bedhouses for me to do this,so if i dont get moved from now till next year 2013 i will have to pay extra for no fault of my own

 

Wouldn't it be possible to have two bedrooms converted into one, or for one room to be designated as a study, or perhaps converted to a 2nd bathroom/shower room?

[leviathan13 348]

i am on the list for giving up my 3 bed house for a 2 bedroom house,but i am told there are no 2 bedhouses for me to do this,so if i dont get moved from now till next year 2013 i will have to pay extra for no fault of my own

 

What you probably mean is there are no 2 bedroom houses where you wish to be rehoused. There are 2 bedroom houses advertised each week somewhere in Sheffield, and to priority. They just aren't where you want to live.

[Leah-Lacie 10]

i am on the list for giving up my 3 bed house for a 2 bedroom house,but i am told there are no 2 bedhouses for me to do this,so if i dont get moved from now till next year 2013 i will have to pay extra for no fault of my own

 

I would be happy to exchange my 2 bedroom private rented property (landlady happy with DSS) for a 3 bed council house in the same area (which do exist, but never seem to come up, I really don't want to move out of area though, due to schools/work.