How to keep this Housing Association flat?

November 13, 2006 3:35 PM

Lets say that I am living in a flat in the UK that belongs to a guy who is a secure tenant of a housing association. He is not living in this place for a long time. Now the housing association wants to check who is living in the flat.

So this guy (old family friend) is a secure tenant (which means he can live in this flat for ever) but few years ago he decided to move abroad (Europe) and let me stay in his flat. I pay the housing association rent, and I pay him a small rent too. The Housing Association knows that I am living in this flat as this guy's tenant (this is legal as long as he lives there), but they don't know that he is not living there for a few years now (he had to let them know if he had left the flat). This guy has no interest in coming back to the UK and quite happy for me to stay there as long as I want. Recently there was a letter from the Housing Association saying that they are going to conduct an audit of their properties and will visit the flat one day in the next couple of weeks with the aim of establishing if the people who live there are entitled to do so.
What can someone do in order to stay in this flat? And what shall I expect to happen? Does anyone has experience of a similar situation and knowledge of what might happen? I can contact this guy, but he is away at the moment and will not be back for a couple of months.

posted by slimeline to law & government (6 answers total)

You say that the Association is fine with you living there - can't you just tell them what you said above, namely "he is away at the moment and will not be back for a couple of months"? It's the truth, right? Of course, it could get tricky when they ask how long he's been away and when he's coming back.
posted by nomis at 3:45 PM on November 13, 2006

I should explain. He is away from his place of residence in Europe for a couple of months, so there is no getting hold of him in the near future. He does not live in UK for a few years now. I could probably ask him to come to UK for a short while when he is back, but will the Association be prepared to wait I don't know.
posted by slimeline at 3:50 PM on November 13, 2006

Without wanting to snark, housing associations are generally there in order to provide social accomodation for people who are otherwise unable to find long-term stable housing. If you are simply living there as a convenience, and are in a position to find alternative accomodation, then it seems to me that you are occupying a property that could otherwise be occupied by a more "worthy" (and I use the quotes deliberately) tenant. But maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse, and, if so, then I apologise.

But...

If you're just using an HA flat in order to get cheap rent, then that, IMHO, is wrong. If, on the other hand, you qualify for an HA flat, then there is nothing to stop you applying, and you should do so and make it legit.
posted by gene_machine at 5:16 PM on November 13, 2006

The check is probably going to be routine. Don't sweat it. Does it look like he's still living there -- he has a room and so on? If so, just say he's away working overseas for a few months. They won't come back to check if he's really there.

What's also worth doing is casually enquiring in conversation if you are able to take over the lease. Say that "he's been working overseas a couple of times, I think he's beginning to like it there. If he decided to stay, would I be able to take over the lease on this flat?"
posted by bonaldi at 6:08 PM on November 13, 2006

Wooh, I thought for a moment that a housing association in Britain was the same as one here in the US. The US version is an evil organization of neighbors imposing their view of reality on other neighbors. In Britain I see it is like affordable housing. I would put some photos of his family around and say hes out of town. Then I would research if you are eligible to rent and start a discussion with them on how you could take over the lease.
posted by occidental at 8:42 PM on November 13, 2006

I agree with gene_machine. Housing is a serious problem in large parts of the UK and if you have friends who work in any of the numerous underpaid but essential areas of socially relevant work (nursing, teaching, social work, etc) you will know just how painful life is made by abuse of the dwindling supply. That the council is checking this out suggests they might be struggling with that reality. Check your local stats: do the local schools have an over-representation of supply teachers doing the work that should be done by regular employees? What about the hospitals? Are students and patients in your area getting less than standard forms of support because people like your mate are taking advantage of a system meant to assist someone else? He has a claim to the flat and he doesn't deserve to be punished becuase housing assistance helped him get ahead, however, if he isn't living in it and is profiting off it via rental that is another issue entirely and I can't think of anyone with any kind of social conscience supporting that.
posted by anglophiliated at 1:37 AM on November 14, 2006