Has anyone managed to get a council house with an extra room for having a SN child (long)

[Marne]

I'm not sure if i am posting in the rite place but here goes,

We live in a very small 2 bed house, we rent privately and pay 500.00 pm. I have 2 dd's on the autistic spectrum, both of them have sleep problems and dd2 has to sleep down stairs (or they wake each other up), dd2 has (up until now) slept ok down stairs but is now finding it even harder to settle, she doesn't stay in her bed and often gets out in the night. I sleep down stairs with dd2 and dh sleeps upstairs to be on hand with dd1 (who has night terrors). Dd2 could really do with a SN bed with high sides but we have not got the room downstairs or in dd1's room.

If we did put them in the same room it would have to be in a bunk bed as there is not enough room for 2 beds, neither of the dd's are capable of climbing into the top bunk let alone sleeping in one.

We have a couple options,

We apply for a 3 bed council house and hope that they allow us a 3 bed house and find us one in this area (which will be tricky).

We rent a 3 bed house privately which we would struggle to afford and they are few and far between here.

We stay put and struggle with dd2 sleeping down stairs.

We love where we live, we are in a small village and we don't want to move dd1 from the village school but this limits where we can move. Would we be entitled to a 3 bed house through the council or don't we stand a chance?

[Phoenix4725]

try it do you have ss worker that might help and is there may council properties there

i have 3 bed with ds1 ds2 ib one room dd another , ds 3 in his cupboard bedroom.I am currently sleepig in lounge while they decide if ds sn warrant him having own room early or if i got to wait till dd is 10 so know how you feel

[Deeeja]

In my local authority you would be entitled to a 3 bedroom house, although you would have to argue, quote the dda alot, get lettrs from your dds' psych, paed, social worker, gp, school if you can, to build your case.
Also, since your dd has to sleep downstairs, then I think this counts also as overcrowding. Get your ot, if you have one, to do an assessment too.
I hope you get things sorted.

[Woooozle100]

Do you have a social worker? You need an OT assessment of yr house (you don't have to have social worker for this but often best way in)

They'll go through yr needs - and if house doesn't meet yr needs (stress that it doesn't), they'll come back with surveyor type person who will look at adaptions / viabilty of moving

We are in the situation where we have been advised to move and was told that it would be easier if we were renting as council has some stock of adapted housing

Obv I am talking about physical disabilities but don't see why it shouldn't apply. My understanding is that its all based on accomodation meeting needs

[Phoenix4725]

yep thats what were waiting on not helped by fact they sold of all 4 bedslocally so there considering extension into attic ,which means i would finally have a bedroom if goes ahead

[Marne]

We havn't got a social worker, how do i go about getting one?

I am in the process of filling out the forms for a council house and i have got to the part where i have to explain why dd2 needs her own room and it states that i need letters from GP/PEAD etc.., im not great at filling in forms, i seem to have been filling this one in for weeks now and i really need to get it sorted.

I have been sleeping down stairs with dd for 3 years, if we had the extra room she could have a special bed (that she can't get out of) and i could sleep with dh (which would be nice).

I would also like somewhere with a garden so dd could have a safe area to run and play in.

[Woooozle100]

If you have specific child disability team in yr area I would get yr paed to refer you to them

if not, you can contact yr local office yrself, speak to duty sw and ask for a home assessment visit (with sw) They have a 'duty of care' in assessing children with sn

hardly like you are expecting too much to be able to sleep in yr own bed with yr own dh. Hope things do get sorted for you - and you Phoenix

[daisy5678]

Hi Marne, no clue on the housing but to get a SW, you ring your SS department and ask for an initial assessment from a Child Disability Team Social Worker. They legally have to do an Initial Assessment if your dds are dx'd with autism. From that onwards, it's a bit of a lottery, but they have to do that bit.
Good luck.

[daisy5678]

cross posted!

[5inthebed]

Under those circumstances, I would say you should be entitled to a 3 bed council house. If both your Dd's need seperate rooms especially! Your Ep should be able to get something in writting for you, don't ask your GP, as I find their letters are generally crap.

[bubblagirl]

also you should get environmental health officer in to do assessment of your flat as it could give extra points regarding health and safety

if the children's bedroom is quite small it shouldn't have 2 children in anyway especially with sn and needing own space but rooms need to be of a certain size to have 2 people

again get a social worker involved who can help you

oh and also living rooms are not allowed to be used as bedrooms anymore unless you have dining room then you can be asked to make that into a bedroom

[tiredmummyoftwo]

I used to work as a housing lawyer, I would recommend you to get a legal aid lawyer if you have one near your area as you definitely need to show that your house is having detrimental effect on your children's health. For this you need a lot of reports from professionals, e.g social worker, paediatrician, GP etc (all the reports everybodyelse mentioned previously) and they would not do it for free unfortunately, so best to get the legal aid board pay for it. Also like bubblagirl said you need to get measurements of your rooms to work out whether you are socially or statutorily overcrowded. The lawyer should be able to help you with forms and things if you need to get extra help. More than anything, if you do go to a lawyer and then you get negative reports from the professionals at least you have not spent your own money to pay for these professionals.