council Tax/housing list

[mackem67]

Hi, I am looking to go on the council waiting list for housing but am in arrears with council tax and I know from past experience they wont allow me to go on the list.

Anyone have any advice............ie: would I be able to maybe offer them a payment of arrears while on the list??

I really need to be oin council housing as I cant afford to rent privately.

I will be going to college to do a social work degree and will only be able to work part time from September.

I will however be getting a redundancy package from my employer sometime soon , just not sure when we are getting notice, so I could pay them out of that if I had to.

By the way it's not just this years tax I owe its a few, probably around £3000 but my husband has been out of work for 6 years out of 10 that we have lived here.

THanks for any help

[Joa]

Various local authorities will have their own schemes/waiting lists/bidding for social housing. This is however not the only way to cope with not having enough money coming in to pay for rent. Vast majority of local authorities offer help with finding property in private rental sector and you can apply for Housing Benefit to help you with rent. Council Tax debt will not stop you getting HB. Start by contacting your local council's housing advice service- each council should have one. If not, check Shelter: Advice services directory

Spending some of your redundancy payment on C Tax debt is a good idea because this debt is simply not going to go away. But before you do so, negotiate part-payment, part-installment repayments. I would strongly suggest seeking help with this. You can speak to an adviser at Community Legal Advice

And finally, check if your college/uni has an advice centre. Most Student Unions do and they are usually very good. Once you are a student they can help with accessing hardship funds. And do not forget to apply for your student funding early enough as Student Loan Company takes their time to process things! Check your entitlement here: Student finance : Directgov - Education and learning

[mackem67]

Thanks for the advice,much appreciated