tooney1 Posted August 9, 2018 Report Share Posted August 9, 2018 I'm not sure moving south (off Shetland) will aid the situation since there is a housing crisis across the country and it's likely you'll hit the same problems with other local authorities. However you might find more affordable private rent or better job opportunities. £10 an hour in a full-time job plus 5% deposit will get you a mortgage, so it's not that out of reach unless you are unskilled/minimum wage. Unfortunately public sector housing owes you nothing if you are able bodied and can afford private rent or a house-share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 Get your granny to give you a letter saying she's giving you notice to quit her house on a certain date. That makes you 'homeless' through no fault of your own, and very, very likely eligible to be offered some sort of 'Temporary Emergency' accomodation. You'll have to take whatever they offer you or you'll disqualify yourself from being considered 'homeless' by them, and it may well be a grot hole in the back end of nowhere, but accepting it gets you on the ladder for a permanent place down the line a bit - anywhere from 6 months - 2 years seems to be about average. While you're supposed to live in whatever that 'temporary emergency' accomodation is, not everyone chooses to do so full time. Moving a few bits of furniture and personal possessions in to it, spending an occasional night there, and collecting mail once or twice a week is all some have done with it round here. BGDDisco 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGDDisco Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 It helps if you aren't applying for a house on your own. Most social housing is 2 or 3 bed houses, and single men don't have the points required to get higher up the housing list. Could you apply jointly with a best mate and share a house - this worked for me 20+ years ago, (it was kind of like my student days having a flatmate) - and after a while one will disappear off with a partner have kids and get their own house. Then you ask officially for sole tenancy and bingo! you've got a council house. tooney1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 Get your granny to give you a letter saying she's giving you notice to quit her house on a certain date. That makes you 'homeless' through no fault of your own, and very, very likely eligible to be offered some sort of 'Temporary Emergency' accomodation. You'll have to take whatever they offer you or you'll disqualify yourself from being considered 'homeless' by them, and it may well be a grot hole in the back end of nowhere, but accepting it gets you on the ladder for a permanent place down the line a bit - anywhere from 6 months - 2 years seems to be about average. While you're supposed to live in whatever that 'temporary emergency' accomodation is, not everyone chooses to do so full time. Moving a few bits of furniture and personal possessions in to it, spending an occasional night there, and collecting mail once or twice a week is all some have done with it round here.and if found out likely to lose the house and possibly face prosecution as well as depriving someone that really needs it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 ^ There's always that risk, but in reality 'proving' a person isn't living someplace when they have some of their stuff in it, and have mail delivered to it is very difficult. You'd need to stake the place out for an extended period, or set up cameras to get irrefutable proof. Its the chance you take if you think its worth it to get on the housing ladder, if you don't, you don't. I've never heard of anybody being 'caught' and being prosecuted up here, and even if you were and lost the house, you're just back to where you started. Many have thought it 'worth a try' over the years and gotten away with it, so if you've been on the list for years with no luck, what do you have to lose, and the odds seem stacked in your favour anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetland_boys Posted August 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 I will get a letter written and see where it gets me. I do know someone who does exactly what you have said and it seems to be working fine for them. It does piss me off though when i know someone like me could do with a house yet they pretend to be living in their nice country house but stay with friends in the town. I also know a couple who have a council house each and live together in one and the other house is sitting there empty but i guess that's happening all over. Nigel Bridgman-Elliot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ghostrider Posted August 12, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 Its abusing the system and shoudn't happen, there's no argument about that, but when the system seems to be so easily abused, and those running it seem disinterested/incapable of policing it any differently, what can you do to try and get ahead but follow those who have already made progress. Its not fair on those who play by the rules, as you've already found out with years of knock backs, but that's at least as much the fault of those operating the system as anybody taking advantage of it. What some folk are allowed to get away with, more and more folk will try and get away with as well. The Cleaner, Nigel Bridgman-Elliot and wotsit 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 What is really disturbing is that the people who pay the most in, hard working single men, get the least out. Does anybody else think that the much vaunted points system is stacked to heavily in favour of the "disadvantaged" ? Nigel Bridgman-Elliot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 it does seem unfair single adults are treated differently because of sex. the councils south have stamped down on fake/relettings why cant shetland it may just provide enough housing to meet some of the demand. seems madness to be wasting over 400 a month on an empty house. if subletting then that should be treated as fraud. Nigel Bridgman-Elliot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffererof1crankymofo Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 @paulb - what makes you think single adults are treated differently because of sex? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooney1 Posted August 13, 2018 Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 It helps if you aren't applying for a house on your own. I think this is a good point. Council houses for a sole occupant is a rarity, and depending on your viewpoint, perhaps a luxury that shouldn't exist in social housing. Individuals end up there after relationship breakdowns or if there a joint custody of children etc., but rarely from the outset. Ghostrider's point was also good and to follow that on I guess it would help making a case that it is a strain on your Granny's health as well as your own if she is not the type of person to give you marching orders. CAB may be able to form a good and objective letter here for you. However, the contradiction that comes across to me is on one hand you state you are desperate for a house, but on the other quote "i could afford private rent but having a huge chunk of my wages going to some greedy landlord". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted August 13, 2018 Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 However, the contradiction that comes across to me is on one hand you state you are desperate for a house, but on the other quote "i could afford private rent but having a huge chunk of my wages going to some greedy landlord". It's like everything else. No one likes paying anything more than they have to ! In a lot of cases, high private rent is because you are paying someone else's mortgage, or because that is what the landlord thinks that the market will stand. Either way, it's just exploitation. Best advice I can offer is tighten up on what you spend (if possible) and try to save a deposit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooney1 Posted August 13, 2018 Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 It's like everything else. No one likes paying anything more than they have to ! My point is if truly desperate you'd absorb a private rent or share. Other decision-makers will unfortunately see it that way also. There is most definitely a void and it is difficult for first time single buyers who play buy the rules, but that isn't going to change anytime soon. Being a landlord is a business and I'm not sure if landlords can be completely described as greedy since it can be a high risk business if you end up getting squatters or the place trashed. Yields have always been higher in Lerwick than elsewhere in Scotland but there is an opportunity to haggle, especially if you have longer term aspirations (noting new laws mean there is no fixed minimum term like 6 months or a year anymore, so longer term can make you more favorable to landlords). New laws also mean landlords can't suddenly hike prices up or turf you out for someone else during an oil boom. Save a deposit, absorb a private rent if you have to for your own happiness (sharing will cut it in half or more), and skill up if possible until you can buy, would be my advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetland_boys Posted August 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 Ok well i retract my contradictory statement then and say i cannot afford private rent as yes i can pay it but it would leave me with 50 pound or less to my name at the end of the month with my current wage. I cannot get a mortgage but cheers for the advise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffererof1crankymofo Posted August 13, 2018 Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 @ Shetland_boys Is the £50 after bills, including food? If so, that's no different to a lot of folk. If it is £50 before bills, then you would probably qualify for Housing Benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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