Would this be intentionally homeless?

[Miley89]

Would this be classed as intentionally homeless?

I'm panicking as it says if we are seen as intentionally homeless the council have no duty to house us and social would remove my child :(

I can't reply to certain comments for some reason :/

But im wandering why it would be unlikely I'd get a council place?

Is that because this could be seen as intentionally homeless?

No, it would be because there are not enough so a huge waiting list.

Op getting a council property and not being intentionally homeless don’t necessarily go together. If they have a duty to house you that can be discharged by helping you get a private tenancy more likely if there is a big shortage of council homes where you live.

I truly do appreciate every one of your advice! It means so much to me so thankyou.

I lost my son 8 years ago due to a heart condition :( ever since I have suffered with extreme anxiety, I mean I haven't eaten for days or slept due to worrying about this.

The thought of my 4 year old being removed is making me sick :(

We don't have a garden so we use a tumble dryer, we never dry washing indoors.

We can't ventilate my eldest daughters room as her radiator is broken and her room gets extremely cold.
The mould was caused by no ventilation in the attic and a problem with the roof causing water to leak through.
As soon as we see mould we clean it off!

Ofc there's normal wear and tear, however any major defects in our home are listed in the enviromental health report and say that it's a landlord problem.

Also the landlord has said that he's been concerned over the condtion of the property for many years, however he hasn't once contacted me in regards to this.
It was myself who contacted environmental health as the damp and mould were getting too severe.
We have 2 single glazed windows which don't open and omg the mould on these are crazy and no matter how much we clean them the mould will return:(

OP I’m a landlord which would make me suspicious of mould being due to tenant behaviour but it really sounds like your LL has not been pulling his weight here. Unless there’s no other issues ( neglect/ abuse) I really don’t see why SS would take your child. Apart from anything else, it would probably be more expensive to put your child in care than to rehouse you. I wish you all the best.

Where are all the empty council houses? There are lists - lists that people have been on for years. Why do you think you’d get a council house?

Sorry you're confusing what I'm saying... I understand that there's a list, I'm aware that we could be in temporary accommodation for many years.

What I was asking is if it's intentionally homeless than the coucil won't have a duty to help us and me and my children would be homeless.

The housing officers will have seen (and been annoyed at) hundreds of landlords trying to claim negligence by tenants in substandard housing.
I can absolutely understand how unsafe you feel atm, but there is no way you will lose your child over this and you will be housed - it might not be great housing, but you will qualify as statutorily homeless.

No, it would be more likely because there is way more demand for social housing than there is stock. You may be wise to contact Shelter or your local Citizens Advice about this.

Again, speak to Shelter or CA. Otherwise its a lot of conjecture and guess work.

No. This is not deemed as 'making yourself intentionally homeless'.

These letters/forms are created to cover virtually every scenario.

You do need to keep all your documentation with the landlord and notes of any contact back and forth. Photo's too.

You also need to remain in contact with your Local Authority/Housing Advisor. They have a duty to rehouse you and your child in accomodation - though this can be temporary accomodation such as a Travelodge.

Social Services will only remove a child from your care for an extremely good reason - so if there is no historical issues regarding that, do not worry about that aspect.

Do you have a support network in your current area? If so, you need to stress that you have strong links and want to stay close to relatives/friends for support reasons. The same applies if you work in the area and if you child goes to school in the area.

Unfortunately this is happening due to the change in the Renters' Rights Act that came into effect this year. Your Homeless Advisor will be well aware that this is potentially the real reason for you being asked to leave.

Good Luck. Keep in touch with your Advisor. 💐

you are more likely to be house due to being evicted - but you need to go through the process (which due to your anxiety, will be hard for you) It s a process - you get evicted and then o back to council, you're already on the council list as you've listed next week.

Then you are placed in temporary accommodation and you will be most likely moved up a band at this point as you are now homeless. So you'll have more priority over others

so you keep bidding on everything that comes up

Its hard to detach though from the entire process, but think of it as going into this with a purpose of getting social rental which you can stay in and not get evicted due to LL wanting to sell.

The other thing I would advise is to ensure you don't get behind with your rent or council tax and you inform council tax as soon as you are evicted - as then the LL has to take over the council tax and you will have to pay council tax on any temporary accommodation.

Ive known people go from homeless to a 2 bed place within 3 months, as they bided on everything they could within their band and got on the list asap as soon as they knew they were being evicted.

Also I would advise you to start saving for a deposit on a social HA property - if you get a HA property they usually require a deposit, so its useful to have something put aside for that. Council properties rarely ask for a deposit.

Try and think of the eviction as a ticket to get social housing, but it will be a bumpy ride getting to that place

Thankyou, it's the intenional homeless that's worrying me :( as it says the council won't have a duty to help us after 28 days and my children could be removed

Just to note HA deposits are usually one weeks rent, very rare to be more, though you will be advised at the time, so suggestion of saving is a wise one.

You said elsewhere they issued you 2 invalid section 21s.. why on earth haven't you been looking for somewhere else for months now??

Honestly you think it's that easy to find a private rented?

It's really not! I look every day there is nothing that it's our price range!

Are you on the home choice system and eligible to bid?

Keep that and take it to the council.
the council are not daft they know what landlords are like. So long as you have the evidence (and hopefully evidence where you have flagged this to your landlord previously?) then it should be fine!

In my area, the council generally work with private sector landlords and will relieve homelessness via this route. They have lists of private sector rental that are happy to take people on benefits, and operate a bond scheme for deposits. Extremely unlikely to get rehoused in social housing. But I live in an area with an extreme shortage of social housing.

You’ve annoyed your landlord by circumventing them and going to environmental health/ private rented standards. For future reference, in any PR property, reporting in this way is almost instantly guaranteed a notice served as the service can fine your landlord - first up to £7k, then up to £40k! Most landlords will not take that risk, especially for when lots of work is required and will evict then undertake when property is empty. Also it’s really difficult to guarantee trades access when they have a tenant in situ.

i used to work in homeless also, intentionality is hard to prove. Social services apply significant internal pressure to the department to avoid intervention from them as it’s seen as one part of the council taking from another. In case it does come down to it though, Shelter have a legal team that can and do frequently challenge intentionality decisions too, in case you get to that point.