My landlord has given me notice of eviction for the end of february, but my local council have told me to stay in the house until i get a court order served on me. Do Iegally have to go down this route, cant my council house me without this? please help

[hazel999]

[Teleph0ne]

your council is right, they can't help you without an eviction order from a court not your landlord. It isn't fair I know but there are so many ways that people use to attempt to get local authority housing that they have to enforce it

[hazel999]

thank you, i thought that to be honest just double checking. Have been told a whole load of things its all very stressful i have 3 children an the youngest is only 12wks, could do without it lol

[sherrardk]

We have been through this and the reason they want you to stay is because you pay any legal costs incurred. If you want them to help you they have to spend money. If you are on benefits and can find a landlord who will rent you a property you can get help from the Housing Benefit people in the form of a deposit (which you will have to pay back) and they will pay your rent. If you can't find anywhere then they may put you into temporary accommodation (but it probably won't be anywhere you would actually want to live). Is the notice to quit from your landlord an official document sent via a solicitor? - If so, show this to the housing people as it is proof enough that you are about to become homeless. In addition, they don't tell you this, but you need to search the net to find out the maximum they will pay for you to rent a property that you are eligible for (for example, they might currently pay £500 a month rent for a 3 bedroom house but under the new rules they might pay up to £650 for a different house but they would not increase the amount they pay for your current property - you have to actually move to get an increase). Hope this helps.

[hazel999]

thanks that is a lot of help,by any chance do you know if the notice to quit from a solicitor serves the same purpose as a court order? basically they categorize people from A- E dependant on how " in need" you are viewed to be, and at the moment I am a group E in spite of the possibility of homelessness in a matter of weeks. This means I currently have no chance of being housed elsewhere. However I have onlly handed in an unofficial notice to quit from my landlord, do you think that this could be the reason for such a low priority grading?

[jb190281]

If your landlord gave you written notice to leave the property, it would need to be 2 months notice, therefore if he only gave it to you today, it would be illegal.
with a valid notice, your local authority should 're-band' you according to your situation (ie faced with homelessness within X amount of days)

[sherrardk]

We were given a Gold category when given the notice to quit (even though we have five children) - and really it doesn't matter what category you are given as if they haven't got any houses then they haven't got any houses. If you can find a private rent then they can help you as they can give you financial assistance. If you are on the waiting list you are going to be in the same boat as other people so you may still not get a house. I suppose they think that as you have somewhere to live (even though your landlord is trying to get you out) you are not as 'in need' as someone who has actually been evicted. Is there any chance that you could find a private rented house? Where we live the council will pay more to a landlord than they could normally expect to get from a private rent so you might find that is an incentive for a landlord. Hope this helps, I know how stressful this can be.

[hazel999]

Thanks alot for your time, all answers very helpful.