please i need advice

[karin]

i know a lot of you know me on this site although i dont come on very often but im at the end of my tether as you all know in jan this year my father died in spain my mum came home in june to sell the house we live in she sold it in 2 weeks which is good for her but not so good for us we have been to housing a dozen or so times to be told there is no house for us and we should private rent as we have 4 sons me hubby an a dog and both of us dont work no one is interested in taking us (bad risk or something i think) although dhss will pay our rent to the landlord anyway bout 2 weeks ago i went up on a saturday as our council have a one stop shop whereby councillors have surgeries well it just happened to be the leader of the council who was there that day with another councillor expained everything to her an also put in a complaint that a 60year old couple were given a 4 bedroomed house in our area which i thought wasnt fair,last week we received a phone call from housing to have a meeting with homeless officer an all they could offer us was homeless accomodation which is a horrible place you have to share bathroom,kitchen and living room with other people an they charge you 100.00 per week to store your furniture i refused it an asked why people coming into our town could not have this instead of all the houses she said find private rent when i mentioned a house down road from us which had been empty for 7 months all i got was theres something wrong with it,its been excuse after excuse an im sick of it,i have also got my twins's football manager involved in it he's a social worker well he rung me yesterday to say it was looking hopefull i was to go up every day to see them but when i rung them this afternoon i was again told whats the point coming every day theres nothing we can do for you get private rent im going round an round in circles an to top it all we only have 3 weeks at the most in this house please help me im out of my mind with worry thinking we will all end up in the street karin

[Paula]

<'>

 

Id go to the local papers or the local evening news with this its got to be worth a try .

[lorryw]

Hello, sorry you are having a tough time

Could you get in touch with your MP? Sometimes they can make things happen quickly.Also have a look at the Shelter website, sorry not sure of the web address, I think they can be helpful and know all the relevant legislation to make council get a move on

Loraine

[Bagpuss]

Oh Karin

 

I've never faced this before...so feel at abit of a loss as to what to suggest. You must be worried sick I hope someone can give you some advice hun <'> <'> <'>

[lorryw]

Just found the site...www.shelter.org.uk

good luck!

[marmalade]

Don't know whereabouts you are Karin, but here (in Surrey) there is a chronic housing shortage, as the LA sold all their housing stock under the right to buy scheme!

 

Anyway, if you were dealing with my LA they would tell you that as they have offered you accommodation then they would not be obliged to offer you anything else!! Never mind that a rat wouldn't live in the accommodation that they offer!

 

Are you on the Housing Needs register?

 

If not you need to get on it NOW.

 

Make a fuss. Make a lot of noise.

 

I take it that at least one of your children is either AS or ASD? Use it. How can your children cope with this kind of stress and interruption?

 

Some letting agents WILL take clients who receive benefits, but it's hard finding one. I sat down with the phone book and rang every single one starting from A. I stopped at P as that was the first time I got a "yes" to the question "do you deal with people who receive Housing Benefit?"

 

I can give you more info on renting whilst being on benefits (I've been doing it for 6 years nearly!), so if you want ot PM me, then feel free.

 

There is help out there, but like everything else, it's hidden and has to be fought for.

 

Don't give up, I will help if I can....

[ellisisamazing]

I don't really know what to say......... <'>

 

I can only wish you lots of luck, and hope you get a positive outcome.

 

Is there no way your Mum could help you out financially, even if just to find a temporary place to bridge the gap between waiting for a DSS rented home? I know this is a lot of upheavel, but may be easier than being forced into B&B with children.

 

Lisa xx

[ellisisamazing]

Hi Karin,

 

Was thinking about you and wondering how things are progressing?

 

Take Care <'>

 

Lisa xx

[marmalade]

Me too...

What's happening??

[Cariad]

All I can think of is ringing the local paper and saying how you have a son with a disability also(which looks even worse), and writing to your MP. I'm so sorry you are going through this, you must be worried to death

[karin]

hi everyone sorry i havent replied to you all nothing has happened since i last posted im still here in the same situation although tomorrow im going to phone the chief executive of the council he is my last hope to help me get a house if not its the papers for me nothing else for it our local mp is useless he doesnt even live in the same town as us and only cares about things that get his photo in the paper keep smilin luv karin

[hev]

karin <'>

[Kathryn]

Karin,

 

<'>

 

Good luck for tomorrow - hope you get through to someone high up who can help.

 

K x

[loulou]

Hi Karin,

 

The council is obliged to house you if you are threatened with homelessness in the next 28 days (which you are). Unfortunately it is often in one of those "half way" hostels, like you described. There is no way that would be acceptable for a child with ASD.

 

If you haven't already filled out a Housing Needs form to register on the waiting list, go and do it straight away. There is a section in it about homelessness. Also, you need to fill out a Medical Form, so you can put down about your son's needs.

 

Councils make me mad . How can they house a couple in a 4 bed house? It's ridiculous. A friend of mine has just been given a 3 bed house and she only has one baby. Meanwhile i'm stuck in a 2 bed with my baby sharing my room as i can't risk putting him in with Kai. At least i have a home though.

 

Fingers crossed for you ,

 

Loulou x

[karin]

hi everyone thanks for all your replies and encouraging help loulou i filled a housing form in over a year ago we have just been sent a renewal form asking us if we still want a house although they just sent us a letter last week about our meeting with the homeless officer doh im sorry to say this but in a recent national poll our council came out as one of the worst in britain for housing needs in the 90's they dont know how many houses they actually own as my mum received a letter from her solicitor last week to say there would be a 2-3 week delay in selling her house because when he sent the deeds to the land registry they phoned back to say our council still owned the land although mum an dad have owned the house for 27 years an shes not the first person its happened too he has had 8 in the last 2 weeks and a total of 15 in the last month what chance have we of getting a house if they dont know who owns what ho hum,but i didnt phone head of council today went to welfare rights who couldnt see me till next week full all this week she gave me a new list of private landlords an also a number to phone about a new project called accomodation who may help us fingers crossed oh and i also got the twins specialist to write them a letter to say they were on the autistic spectrum disorder (they are both going for tests in september to see how far along the spectrum they are so not actually diagnosed yet)when i enquired bout this to the homeless officer she said she didnt know if she had received the letter as she hadnt got our file with her although it was her department who phoned us up to come an fill a homeless form in ho hum never mind keep smilin luv karin

[wilson]

hi everyone thanks for all your replies and encouraging help loulou i filled a housing form in over a year ago we have just been sent a renewal form asking us if we still want a house although they just sent us a letter last week about our meeting with the homeless officer doh im sorry to say this but in a recent national poll our council came out as one of the worst in britain for housing needs in the 90's they dont know how many houses they actually own as my mum received a letter from her solicitor last week to say there would be a 2-3 week delay in selling her house because when he sent the deeds to the land registry they phoned back to say our council still owned the land although mum an dad have owned the house for 27 years an shes not the first person its happened too he has had 8 in the last 2 weeks and a total of 15 in the last month what chance have we of getting a house if they dont know who owns what ho hum,but i didnt phone head of council today went to welfare rights who couldnt see me till next week full all this week she gave me a new list of private landlords an also a number to phone about a new project called accomodation who may help us fingers crossed oh and i also got the twins specialist to write them a letter to say they were on the autistic spectrum disorder (they are both going for tests in september to see how far along the spectrum they are so not actually diagnosed yet)when i enquired bout this to the homeless officer she said she didnt know if she had received the letter as she hadnt got our file with her although it was her department who phoned us up to come an fill a homeless form in ho hum never mind keep smilin luv karin

 

Hello Karin,

 

It sounds as though you are really getting the ball rolling. Don't forget to try housing associations. They are classed as private landlords, but most provide social housing with good tenancies. We recently moved to a private landlord: a large brewery. We had assumed that only people who worked for the brewery or the associated estate would be able to rent from them. However, they have let us rent a rather nice house for a very reasonable monthly sum. Some large property owning estates are being forced by local authorities to upgrade their empty housing stock and put it up for rent to ease the property shortage and the amount of derelict buildings in an are. So it is worth asking around to see who owns what.

 

Good luck

[karin]

thanks wilson but im afraid in my area if you choose to go with housing associations you loose your place on the housing register an are taken off it as far as their concerned you are housed so they dont worry bout you any more an anyway im not a snob or anything but our housing associations are either full of junkies or alkies they tend to put them all in the same area thanks anyway all adivce greatly received just a quick update on my situation i made such a hoo hah this morning to the chief execs secretary hubby an i have a meeting next tuesday with the head of council (whom ive met before) and the homeless officer not expecting miracles but at least i will get my questions answered instead of being mumbled to every time i ask something keep smilin luv karin

[loulou]

Hi,

 

Well done Karin . I think your persistence will pay off. It never seems like a fair system to me. I know of people who just seem to get housed without any trouble and others are stuck on the list for years.

 

Where i live you can be nominated for Housing Association properties by the council. You can get a house much quicker this way, as lots of people don't want HA properties. I was put off by the HA "estates" where i live as they're a bit dodgy. However, my current house is HA, but it's the only house belonging to the HA in a row of private houses so i was lucky. You could try calling a few HAs and enquiring.

 

Good luck with your meeting,

 

Loulou xx