Council refusing to let us adapt our house

[cantsleep]

We have a small 3 bed council house. Seperate bathroom and toilet both minute and difficult to use, there is literally only room for the bath in there it is tiny.

Downstairs we have a living room and kitchen which is same size, a small utility area by back door.

I asked the council could we move the kitchen area to the right hand side where the utility area and back door are, freeing up so much space that we could then have another small room downstairs. They said no.

I also asked could the bathroom and toilet be knocked through to make a larger bathroom, they said no again but the surveyor who came to the house said we could change the bathroom door to open outward s rather than inwards even though for health and safety reasons we shouldn't really As it could be opened, hit somebody and make them fall down the stairs.

I am really cross that the council are so unhelpful. Even to the point that we asked for the 3 small steps to the door be levelled out and to have a slope instead and they said no and gave us 2 stupid ramps which didn't even fit so are useless to us and even if they did its a shared entrance so they could t be left there which would mean us constantly putting them down, going out, picking them up etc etc.

We really need a bigger bathroom and are in desperate need of an extra room due to health issues and I feel the council are being very nasty saying no to our requests.

AIBU to be so annoyed, I feel like going to see them and not leaving till they agree.

I love my kitchen as well, but that's because I designed it, the designer refused to do any new drawings after a major wall had to be moved that had a massive effect on the wheelchair access. If the build had carried on as he had planned DD would have been confined to her bedroom.

I am sure your DD would have loved to have seen that MrsDeVere

The designer of this build has no idea of building regulations for disabled access, he designed a ramp that went around 4 90degree turns, no landing, turning circles, hand rails or incline. there was a suitable alternative which he decided to ignore. So atm DD has no independence when in her wheelchair as I have to rig up 2 separate ramps to get her out of the front door, take them up again to shut the house up and put them back down when I get home.

We manage. just!

The council have recently changed all their rehousing criteria and it has to be literally life and death situation to get a transfer, apparently we are adequately housed.

This coming from the LA that wouldn't house me for 5 yrs and got their own medical advisor to disregard letters written by dds consultant. I will re submit all the letters etc.
We have 4 dc sp its very overcrowded, would be manageable if had just a little more space.

Op you have already had such good advice I can't add any more to it but I had a over whelming urge to say this.....

some people should really stop going on threads about grants benefits and social housing and spouting opinion as if it is fact,when in reality they sound like thoughtless wankers who have no idea what they are talking about,its rude goady and could mean someone who needs support takes longer to obtain it

Yep. Will be over crowded more so as your baby grows. Could you sleep in living area? Sofa bed? I gave up my bedroom this way in our old house. The dc all had the 3 beds between them all. It doesn't sound like you have many options in current house

It's a possibility when dcs are older that we could sleep downstairs but currently the level of care they need during the night is high.

Dh ends up sleeping on the floor between dds beds most nights and I end up going between ds room and mine to go to either ds1 or ds2 who still wakes up far too much.

When my dad had his amputations, the council put in a through the ceiling lift, widened all the internal doors and put folding doors on the downstairs toilet and upstairs bathroom. It only took them 4 years from his operation for this to happen, during which time he had to sleep in the dining room, have sponge baths and use a bed pan. We also had to wait 2 years for a ramp to be installed. When he died it only took them 2 weeks to write to my (also disabled) mother and tell her she had to move out.

I hope the people saying YABU are only saying that because they are ignorant about how difficult living in a house that is completely unsuited to the needs of a disabled person is. How it slowly strips away dignity. I know this government is trying to convince everyone that people with disabilities are scroungers, but please can we not begrudge someone with disabilities somewhere to live that is suitable for their needs?