women's refuge / council re-homing scam

[reallywoundup]

well- this is a long one, its wound me up unbelievably but i'm guessing i'm going to be told to leave it.....

Some friends aquaintances (lets call them family A) of ours hail originally from Telford, on a rough estate and moved down to our sleepy seaside, welsh town nearly two years ago- they have brought their own problems (feral children and general neighbour from hell type behaviour) BUT they live a little way from us and its never been a problem, we rarely see them these days as we have distanced ourselves.

Yesterday a good friend phoned me (family B), she lives a couple of doors down from them- she was, to put it mildly 'in a tizz'

The story unfolded and here it is as told by the neighbour:

A few weeks ago, a family from telford (family C) (apparently the best friend + partner + 4 children) all came down to stay- enjoyed it, would like to move down here.

two weeks ago, A tells B that C has been "beaten up- like mega" by the partner, B shows concern and is told that they are running away and coming to stay at A's tonight- they never showed up.

A week later (so last friday) C turns up at A's with children and wait for it PARTNER in tow- no marks etc ( i know they could be hidden- but wait for it!) and they are all lovey dovey

B thinks this may be fear etc- doesn't want to upset him and so says no more. Meanwhile A now has 4 adults and 8 children in a small 3 bedroomed house

A then admits after some wine white lightning that C was just about to be evicted from her HA home in Telford because of antisocial behaviour and rent arrears, thus meaning she would never qualify for a council or association home- so they decided to claim that she was a victim of domestic violence and come to the town to escape her partner, the council would put her up temporarily in a womens refuge but it wouldn't take long to get a house, then she would have a new house and the partner could move back in. In the meanwhile the partner would be staying at A's, because its close to the refuge so he can take the kids out and see her

Now i would have taken it all with a pinch of salt but i went to see B today and was told by a sober (i think) A the same story with C sitting there agreeing/ snogging the face off partner

So, my issues are:

1. they are going to be the next neighbours from hell
2. she is fraudulently taking up a space in a women's refuge that soooooo many others would be glad of
3. when she gets a new house there is going to be murder when the partner moves back in as the waiting lists are so long for social housing- it never seems to go to the locals who have grown up here and want to live independently in their own homes

What would you do- leave it, report it (and to who?), ignore it/them

I would report it in about 10 seconds.

what scum

oh fuck it, i'd report them. i'm not into the whole grassing people up thing, but if they're actually saying it to your face then you should do something. because, y'know, someone could get killed for the want of that place.
fwiw though i'd be very keen to say that you don't know if there is violence, i mean there may be...

I would be amazed if the local HA took her dp moving back in lying down. If they have reported DV in the relationship (physical violence, specifically) then surely SS are involved with the kids? That's certainly been my experience (both on here and in RL) and SS are very keen for children not to be exposed to violent relationships.

If the dp moves back in and SS get wind of it then she could have her children removed.

As Tafka said, this could blow up in the faces, you could probably goggle and find some stoires where this has happened and drip feed to family A examples where this has happened to see if that puts them off.

Message withdrawn

dilemma is right, esp in relation to b

My parents next door neighbour died & as it was council property they decided to use it as a home for battered women (its a huge 4 bedroomed 2 reception roomed house)

A lady from miles away was moved in with her 5 children to escape her partner.

Within 3 mths he has moved in,eldest child has moved her boyf in & had a child with him,despite the property supposedly being a safe house with NO men allowed to live in it.

Turns out SS know all about it & dont want the hassle of re-housing the whole family (apparantly she has done this before) so they turn a blind eye to everything they do & the kids are little bastards who treat everyone elses gardens & cars as their own personal playing field.

Report them, before they get a house given them.

i have known of someone who did his, i didnt know till it was all done though

oh joy!! sounds like we could be in for some fun- i pity anyone who would have to live near to this bunch of animals family! I experienced them first hand today at A's house.

Feck me they were atrocious the youngest boy apparently won't wear trousers- so instead of explaining the importance of modesty etc she lets him run around in a pull up in morrisons (he's 4/nearly 5 and quite capable of going to the loo but i don't think she can be arsed to take him ffs)

She is now in the 'women's house' not sure if by calling it this she feel's less guilty than if it were the 'refuge', but brings the kids down to A's house every day to see their dad.

OOOOh it'll all go tits up- there has been a lot of curtain twitching going on apparently- its quite a small friendly cul-de-sac, and it would seem a lot of people are 'concerned' !! So i am not going to report it myself however it has been noted by the appropriate people that i am willing to say a few words

PLEASE report them before someone like me has to live next to them.

Report her if you like but she won't last 2 seconds in a refuge, I suspect. 1) They are very hard places to live and she doesn't sound like a compromiser- lots of people leave in the first few days because they hate it or just can't hack it. 2) Staff are very hot on safety and they will probably pick up that she is continuing to see her partner and question that strongly, being clear that it is a dealbreaker that will result in her losing her place there. And if she does stay the course, well, she will be there for a long, long time. She will be considered officially "safe" in temporary accommodation and in no more priority than anyone else. I have worked with people who were in refuges for well over 2 years and have never seen anyone get a move into permanent social housing before about a year (that would be unusual and quick). The places they were then offered were not always the greatest either. It is a very difficult environment and last resort option, imo, and people who stay almost always genuinely have few other choices. Indeed sometimes people who should stay for safety reasons do not.