I pay £542 in rent for a huge council house with a garden – people are stunned at how cheap it is but there’s a reason

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To apply for a council home, you need to fill out and hand in an application to your local authority.

To find your local authority, simply use the Government's council locator tool on its website.

Once you have access to your local council's website, it should offer you guidelines on how to complete your application.

After applying, you'll most likely have to join a waiting list.

Bear in mind, even if you are put on a waiting list, this doesn't guarantee you a council house offer.

Your council should also offer you advice on how to stay in your current home and solve any issues you might have, such as problems with a private landlord or mortgage.

You are eligible to  if you are a British citizen living in the UK providing have not lived abroad recently.

Each council has its own local rules about who qualifies to go on the housing register in its area, but it is based on "points" or a "banding" system.

For example, you’re likely to be offered housing first if you:

• are homeless
• live in cramped conditions
• have a medical condition made worse by your current home
• are seeking to escape domestic violence

Once you are high enough on a council's waiting list, it will contact you when a property is available.

Some councils let people apply at the age of 18, while others let you apply even sooner at 16-year-olds.

EU workers and their families and refugees may also be eligible.

A council house is reached through a points system, so depending on your housing needs, you may be considered low priority.

The council will contact you about any available property once you are high enough on the waiting list.

There is no limit on how long you can expect to be on the waiting list.

When I was a child I grew up in a council house, and was blissfully unaware of the discrimination that came with that, until I became an adult.
My younger years were spent running up and down the stairs of my flat, meeting with other friends who lived there and making the most of the communal garden.
But now, it seems no matter your circumstance, everyone has something to say about why you shouldn’t be there.
Living just outside of London like I did, rent prices are still high, and as my mum was at home raising three kids at the time, it wasn’t easy to find a job that fit around that.
People in council houses are often labelled as ‘scroungers’ or ‘lazy’ but it’s nothing of the sort.
Most families in council homes experience overcrowding, and let’s not even mention the horrendous amount of damp and mould that comes from living in old social housing that hasn’t had work done to them in 50 or so years.
It’s not ideal for many, but it does provide a secure home without the fear your rent will shoot up every single year, which I would argue is vital to children growing up on the poverty line.

According to , the kind of improvements you can make to your council property depends on the type of tenancy you have.

Introductory tenants are usually limited to minor improvements like redecorating inside.

If you’re a secure tenant, you have the right to carry out improvements to your property. These include:

• installing a new bathroom or kitchen
• building an extension
• putting up a garden shed or greenhouse
• installing a new gas fire or fireplace
• cavity wall insulation
• redecorating the outside of a house
• fitting an aerial or satellite dish

You might need your council’s written permission for work you do.  if you’re not sure.