to think the council should move my sister now

[ray81]

My sister lives in a third floor flat. She has neighbours that are always arguing and fighting. The other week there was a big argument and the lad beat his girlfriend up, the police got involved and she was asked to be a witness by the lad and she said no because she knew that he had beat her up.

She has just been told by another neighbour that a few nights ago the lad got realy drunk and she had to stop him putting a petrol bomb through her letter box. FFS i cant beleive there are people like this out there.

I have told her to go to the police and the council and ask them to move her, she suffers with panic attacks anyway and is on AD because she is scared of dying.
AIBU to think the council should move her as a matter of urgency because this lad clearly has a screw lose and could do anything and next time there might not be someone there to stop him

I think the comment is fair to be honest. Why should the OP's sister be moved when:
a) that sees her being move from her home, even if she was happy there before
b) it does not solve the fact that the neighbour is a nutter, and leaves it for the next neighbour who is homed there?

OP - I feel for your sister, but she must go to the police and get this sorted (along with the neighbours if they have greviences too) and get the man removed.

From a professional perspective, there is no evidence that she is in direct danger (I know this sounds ridiculous, but she has not been threatened and there have been no attacks on her property or on her or her kids). A neighbour talking about a petrol bomb sounds a little far-fetched as well - that would be a 999 call and an immediate and heavy Police response. Everyone in the building would have known about it.

It's the police's job to deal with the guilty parties in conjunction with the local authority.

If she is desperate to move then she could do one of a few things:

Apply to the local authority for an exchange (bear in mind that exchanges generally take place between less salubrious properties simply because people rarely want to leave a nice house/flat)

Apply to move on health grounds. She would need to reactivate her application to the housing register, fill out a form for additional health information and get supporting evidence from her GP. This could potentially give her a greater degree of priority on the Housing Register. A record of the events would also be helpful in doing this. Bear in mind though, it would probably need to be the flat itself that was causing/exacerbating the health problems, and in this case it sounds like the neighbours. You can get bad neighboursa anywhere.

She could demonstrate that they are under direct threat and request emergency accommodation, though this is likely to be a terribly shitty B&B.

If she hasn't done any of the above then the council can hardly be being unreasonable.

Tbh, I think the best she can do is assist the police in their enquiries as much as possible and wait for the storm to blow over. Keep a log of events for future reference in case this carries on for a long time and make sure she is getting decent support around her anxiety.

its a block??

so then EVERYONE is going to be affected...so they should all be moved,not just your sister

and where to? there are council waiting lists....full....no housing stock!!

those stuck in a flat could all go round saying this kind of thing,hoping to be moved to a nice safe house with garden........just to try and get moved......you need proof op,police involvement,and be prepared for your sister to find herself ad her 3 children in a B and B too,more likely than the 'house' scenario!!

Lovely a thread about people living in luxury council flats. You know, the ones given a free house at the tax payers expense.

Still want one? Still jealous?

This is the reality for many. No choice about where you live, being stuck next to dangerous bastards and no hope of a move.

The day I moved out of social housing a thanked the Lord and opened a bottle of fizz.

I no longer have to kick crack heads out of my foyer and my younger kids have no idea what a burnt spoon and blackened tin foil is for.

She can get on the list, for sure, but it'll likely be hostel or skanky B&B for a long while before she's actually re-housed.

hope your sister is ok, and the police are doing soemthing.

if she feels unsafe and threatened in her own home, she can also contact womens aid for advice.

'everybody is entitled to feel safe in their home'

Exactly why the man should be moved and not the OP's sister. Everyone in the block should feel safe. As sprinkledust said, they should all be moved if one is.

Yes, the lad in question is the one who should be moved! To a jail, preferably.

Move her to where exactly? Is someone, somewhere, crapping council properties? Can I have one too?

Like others have already said, there isn't much the council can do about this without some evidence that this bloke is dangerous.

Just an update....

My sister has been to the police they have taken a full statement and are going to speak to the lady that he told he was going to do it, they have made no mention of what they are going to do about him yet but will come back to her once they have spoekn to the witness. They have also mentioned that he is well known to them (we think for domestic voilence as he used to beat his gf up, shes moved out and no longer with him.

She also went to the council and they have given her her options, which are management move, exchange, or private renting. The lad is well known to them to and they have a court hearing on weds to try and get him evicted (to do with other things) so hopefully she wont have to worry and he will be gone soon.

She realy doesnt care where she goes BandB, hostel etc as long as her and the kids are safe. She is seriously considering private renting as she knows the likelyhood of being moved is slim. So she is staying at my mums until she has decided what to do.

The police have realy bugged me as they dont seem to bothered by it whereas i have a friend who is being taken to court for swearing at her horrible neighbours. The justice system is just crap sometimes.