To want the council to house me after leaving abusive husband?

[EllenandBump]

I left my husband on 5th november and went down to mum's in kent. I then applied to the coucil for housing as my mum hasnt got the room for us to stay there permanently. And when i say abusive, he stabbed me in the leg in one incident.

Today, I received a letter to say that bexley council advise that i approach northampton council (where i left) to get rehoused.

Is it so unreasonable for me to want to be housed in the borough i spent my first 16years of life, where my sister lives and the same borough as my mum was born in and has lived for all 64years of her life?

I have explained that i have PND and need support and have no friends in northampton, and only had my husband there. My mum and sister are my only family. just dont see how they can refer me back there with a clear conscience. Although, i havent told the police the extent of it, cos i didnt want trouble from his family and just want to move on, i dont really want to have every thing dragged up in court.

Ellen, can you find a private rental that will take Housing Benefit?

Ellen it's not down to CAB whether he has to go through a contact centre and I'm afraid it's not down to you either.

You'll have to prove everything you're saying...and even then the courts might wonder why you continued in a relationship with him long enough to have an 18 month old, if you thought he was that bad an influence.

OP I second what worral says about proof so please make sure you report EVERY threat or incidence of violence to the police no matter how seemingly small because you may need this evidence later.

Slightly off topic but further up the thread someone said that all Bexley coucnil properties were on violent estates, this is not true. My mum lives on very nice estate in Bexley village where the houses are a mix of council and privately owned. There has never been any trouble or violence in the 15 years she has lived there.

Yabu there are not enough houses to go around. Some people have to wait for years. You can't just expect to be given one

Why don't you just look for a private rental? It doesn't sound as though your mum's place is overcrowded to me, apart from the rabbits which is a bit bizarre.

I was in the same kind of situation OP and I eventually got my hometown council to house me. It took several months and it took a lot of hard work, reading up on the legal duties of the council etc. Also I got support from WA, my psychiatrist (I got a referral to deal with PND as a letter from him carried more weight than one from my GP) and we also had social services involved. A lot of hoops to jump through but it's all about gathering evidence as others have said. DV gave us more points for bidding, and so did the PND. We were heavily overcrowded as well - not sure if you'll be considered to be, but you get extra points if your own family is sharing bathing/cooking facilities (sharing with your mum will count here as she is a separate household).

Thankfully, now we are suitably housed - and we are in London, where demand is very high. A lot of people have the impression that it's impossible to get a council house here and/or that it will all be in awful areas, but our neighbours are all lovely and we've had no problems. There is actually quite a high proportion of council housing here but our street is mixed council/private.

Unfortunatly, he wasnt taking drugs when we first met, or at least not illegal ones. He was on anti depressants, but that wasnt a problem, its been since my son was born that he got really bad on cocaine and kept saying he would get help. Fortunatly, our account is still in joint names so i can still get online and print statements out to prove he is getting money regularly put in from his mother, as she transfers it straight from her account so it comes up with her name. As for contact my maoin reason for going through a contact centre is so i dont habve to see him. If they wont allow me to do that i could leave my son with a babysitter to be picked up from and dropped back off to. I just got some general advice. Surely it wont go in his favour that he has made no attempt to contact me over the past five weeks to see his son and i dont see him doing anything about it any time soon. My other worry is that my MIL will try fro custody of him, saying we are both unfit parents as when i was diagnosed with pnd, she asked my ex if she could look after him whilst i got better!

I dont expect just to be given one but what peeped me off is that they havent even put me on the housing register at all! I grew up here but they wont help me!

Private rented isnt an option as i have no rent in advance or deposit, even if i did it is really difficult to get a landlord willing to take housing benefit.

And maybe we wouldnt have such a shortage of properties if when they sold one, they used the money to but another.... instead of expenses!

Some councils have deposit schemes whereby you pay it back to them week by week, worth checking out if yours does too.

I have to agree though that I doubt you'd get housed for overcrowding. There simply aren't enough council homes for all who need them.
Looking for a private rental is your best option. And I don't say that lightly as a year ago I was homeless myself and living in a B&B and the council simply wouldn't help as I wasn't a priority need. I saved up a deposit by literally not spending ANY of my wages aside from launderette costs. I walked to and from work, and ate there only. It was bloody hard but 2 months later I had saved up the money for a deposit and month in advance for teeny tiny one bedroomed flat. And lost 2 stone sadly that was the only good thing about that time, and sadder still have put it all back on!!

Wishing you good luck.

I thought you were only elligible for the rent deposit scheme through the local council if you were considered in priority need, or thats how northamptons worked when we were needing to move from a private rented, despite being pregnant, and there was mould in the kitchen cupboards, ice everywhere and a leak in the roof, and the front windows glass was held in my cellotape but we were not in need, and placed in the "no housing need" band.

There are no other rent deposit schemes, i have been online and gone through absolutely every web site i could find on ask jeeves.

Thank you. xxx

They wont house her whilst she is a tenant elsewhere, she has to forego the previous tenancy. She also wont get housing benefit whilst she is a tenant elsewhere.

I cant give up the previous tenancy or i have made myself intentionally homeless but it was a joint council tenancy with my ex, and i dont feel it is reasonable for me to return to cos he still lives there.It seems bollocks. The housing benefit isnt a problem because he is the one claiming not me, and i have informed them that i am not currently living at the property, and heavnt been since the 5/11/2011. surely therefore i should be able to claim housing benefit, because its not me claiming. x

I am in a similar situation but without the violence just a landlord not renewing my tenancy we are having to move in with my Mum into a small bedroom and have been told to just wait, Shelter gave me the best advice.
I lost residency points as I left my hometown for 15 years when I served in the forces and have only been back for 3 years.
When I had my homeless assessment one of the questions I was asked was about domestic violence and was told that if that was the case then you will not be considered intentionally homeless and therefore the council do have a duty to house you even in temporary accomodation if needs be.
Our plan is to stay with Mum for a few months and then get her to write a letter stating she can only house us all for a few more weeks I don't know if this is of any help but feel free to pm me and if I can pass on any tips I will.
My Mums friend also studied housing and homelessness law and could ask her about your position if you like.

Contact Woman's Aid, Shelter and Refuge. Also the CAB.

Don't give up. sure it won't be easy, nothing is, but you have to keep at it

You could write or email the council threatening to speak to your MP. It can put a rocket up their arses.

Good luck whatever you do.

RE: The benefits. PLEASE ring your jobCentre Plus and ask for an urgent / emergency appointment with a LOne parent advisor. They will be able to contact child benefit and try to speed it up, given the circumstances - as your Ex is commiting BENEFIT FRAUD by claiming the Child benefit when the child is not resident with him.

They can also put you on the 'fast track' for your Child Tax Credits. They should have done this automatically when you became a Lone Parent - if they haven't, then MAKE THEM. The 'fast track' for CTC takes a MAXIMUM of 4 weeks. Mine took 8 DAYS to change over when my Ex-P walked out on me when DS3 was 4mo. That was THIS YEAR, so not old advice. They can (and should) do this for you, explain on the phone when you ask about the appointment with the Lone Parent Advisor.

RE: The housing. If you are fleeing DV, you can present yourself to ANY council in the country, even WITHOUT a Local Connection, and they MUST put you on the housing list. And as you DO have a local Connection - Bexley Council HAVE have have to accept you. Speak to Shelter - they are VERY good at what they do!

HTH.

Oh - your mum WILL need to write a letter stating that she is asking you to leave, and a date that she is asking you to leave, due to overcrowding. You need to give that to the council, then on that date, present yourself to them, and they will have a DUTY to house you in temporary accommodation. That means you will be classed as homeless, and they will HAVE to put you on the waiting list. But while your mum is happy to have you stay there, they won't bother doing anything - so get the letter, and take it straight to your council, and ask to go on the homeless register.

Again, HTH.

Just give up your tenancy and find private housing.

LHA for Bexley is £800 a month so you could choose properties from private housing stock which costs that or less and have housing benefit cover rent. A quick search of Righmove shows 44 2 beds in Bexley at £800 a month or less. Why can't you go down that route? Sometimes it is worth helping yourself a little bit. I'd prefer this anyway, you get to make your own choices rather than being "allocated" something. Good luck.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/Bexley-93932.html?maxPrice=800&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=2&index=40

I dont expect just to be given one but what peeped me off is that they havent even put me on the housing register at all! I grew up here but they wont help me!

I have two friends on HB - both are in private lets. The council has now only reconsidered to house one in a council property, for the sake of stability, as the child has been diagnosed with ADHD and short term lets and perpetual house hopping isn't beneficial. She's been offered Larner Road Estate and one in the Crays (I forget the name) both estates are awful. She was told it would be a month. Three months later in yet another temporary let, she is still waiting.

It's going to come across as harsh, but why should Bexley put you on the housing register? I fancy living in Westminster or Chelsea, but I'm sure they won't have me.

Are you on the electoral roll at your mothers? I kknow you've only been there a month but it is a semi-perm move. At least that would show you are resident in the area. Have you enrolled your child in a local school?

Private let is your only solution using HB.

ESA + CTC + CB per month for single parent and one child = £638 per month

natation - surely the level of ESA depends on whether you are in the WRAG or the support group? And also if you have completed the first 13 weeks of your claim - because until you have been on ESA for over 13 weeks, you get no extra money to what you would on IS or JSA - for the first 13 weeks of an ESA claim, you get £67.50 a week.

You then get an extra amount that depends whether you are in the WRAG (Work Related Activity Group) or the support group - the support group gets more - but only 6% of ESA claimants are allowed to be in the support group, so it is more likely that the OP is in the WRAG. And, TBH, as she has only recently left her abusive ex - the likelyhood is that the OP is still within the first 13 weeks of her claim, so getting no extra money than she would on JSA or IS.

There is no way that any council will house you whilst you are on a council tenancy elsewhere, housing benefit also wont pay you diddly squat whilst you are a council tenant elsewhere.

And also, natation - the OP has already explained - she doesn't have the money for a deposit and first month (or two) upfront, AND it is very hard to get Private Landlords to accept HB/LHA claimants, often the LL's insurance doesn't allow it, or their letting agency doesn't.

You obviously have NO idea how hard it is to get a private rented property if you are on benefits! Where is the OP meant to get between £1,600 and £2,400 from to pay the deposit and first month or two's rent? Most councils no longer have any rent deposit schemes. So unless you have that amount in savings - you are stuffed.

Bearing in mind that the OP and her DS need to eat, and have clothes, and pay bills etc, where out of the OP's benefits do you propose that £1,600-£2,400 comes from? The money tree in her mum's back garden?