Why are the council no help?
I was on Manchester Council waiting list for years, as a fall back plan. All I did was give a friends house as a contact address and say I was staying there temporary but he wanted me out and they put me on the list, no questions asked.
They used to just send a letter every six months, asking me to confirm I wanted to stay on the list.
Never once queried why I never applied for any flats but I used to check the list quite often just out of interest and there were always loads going.