council house question.

[Kiddleywinks]

To be fair, it's the fact that it IS a joint tenancy that's creating the problem.
If it had been solely in her name she'd have been able to move 2 years ago.

When a relationship breaks down, it's not always easy to get both parties to co operate with each other, especially when not co operating will cause the other party more hassle, so there should be something in place for when a party leaves and the landlord is informed. Maybe a time limit is set before the tenancy becomes a single one automatically.
Even if it was a 2 year period, at least then the occupier can see an end to the misery

[bunyip]

1st paragraph I do agree with you (I live in an ex Council House didn't buy it from the tenant, who bought it but she actually didn't make a fortune out of it because she sold withing the 5yr min stay and so she had paid £35,000 when the house was valued at £75,000 so she had to pay the balance of £40,000 to the Council when she sold).

2nd Paragraph No if they want to try it out for a bit but no they should not have two houses for the extended period my neighbour has (9 years!!) that is taking the pee and as a Tax payer I shouldn't have to pay that. If I had taken that stance when I was dating who would have paid for the two houses? At a certain point I had to take the plunge so to speak. Having said that dh moved into my flat when we got married and whenever we had a tiff I would remind him that I could kick him out!! The house we own now is in joint names so not so easy to give him the push.

3rd paragraph. I agree I think footballers earn a stupid obscene amount of money and only the Football Fans can change that by not buying season tickets and not going to matches but that will never happen. The only redeeming thing is that while they earn it these footballers pay huge Tax Bills.

Happy to agree to disagree on those aspects where we differ. I've lived in council as well as being homeless for a time. Ironically my mother insisted on buying her council house and is now lumbered with far more house than she can cope with in her old age. Had she stayed in social housing, she could've transferred to something of a more suitable size with warden support. She now has 3 bedrooms full of stuff she won't clear out, can't clean the place, and watches the area go downhill whilst being unwilling to do anything about it.

Was just trying to consider the woman's potential safety.

Taxes. I don't mind paying them, but would rather they were used to build more homes for people here than raze them to the ground halfway round the world.

Btw, do footballers actually pay taxes, or just lodge the money in their dog's Monaco bank account?

[LauraS]

To be fair, it's the fact that it IS a joint tenancy that's creating the problem. If it had been solely in her name she'd have been able to move 2 years ago. When a relationship breaks down, it's not always easy to get both parties to co operate with each other, especially when not co operating will cause the other party more hassle, so there should be something in place for when a party leaves and the landlord is informed. Maybe a time limit is set before the tenancy becomes a single one automatically. Even if it was a 2 year period, at least then the occupier can see an end to the misery

There are things in place in law to deal with one party in a joint tenancy leaving, it is a very common situation, and one the HA would deal with regularly so I think perhaps something is not quite right in the situation you describe. I would suggest that your friend gets in touch with Shelter because they can, if they feel it is appropriate and your friend is getting nowhere, provide a duty solicitor to take some notes on her case, give her advice and liase with the HA on her behalf.

[Kiddleywinks]

Thanks for that Laura, I will pass that info on today :thumbs up:

I agree that something's not right.
The HA are telling her this, she has it in writing, so I'll tell her to take the letter to shelter too