AIBU to not want to have homeless people with complex needs placed in the house next door to me?

[StressedandNameChanged]

I live in a 2 storey terraced house in a small residential street in an area with lots of rows of similar small terraced houses. It’s not the smartest area of town and hasn’t had the best reputation, but it was affordable when we moved here over 15 years ago, and we have been happy here. I live with my dh, and my youngest ds 12.

The end terrace house next door to me was bought by a private investment company earlier this year, and I recently found out that this was part of an organisation which combines property investment with supported housing. Following a lot of enquiries on my part, I found out that they planned to use the house as a house share for 5 vulnerable adults with complex needs and a history of homelessness. Complex needs means at least 2 of the following issues: substance misuse; history of offending; history of anti-social behaviour; mental health problems.

Communications with the organisations who will be managing the property have been problematic. They were initially very evasive, but once I had more info, the housing manager agreed to come to a residents’ association meeting to discuss the plans for the property. It didn’t go very well. On the agenda at the same meeting were problems with an existing supported housing project in the neighbourhood, where due to staffing issues and some challenging clients, the police are being called out every night.

The housing manager later offered to come and speak with dh and myself but as we were away at the time, we said we would arrange a date when we got back. Unfortunately, while we were away a neighbour put up some very offensive signs around the property, including some in my garden and went to the local paper. (This may be the same neighbour who has also been cutting cctv cables at the property). Since we got back we have tried to get in touch but no response. There is a meeting set up with the neighbourhood policing team and others, but the housing managers are not available to attend that either.

Meanwhile I have heard from elsewhere that at least one tenant would be moving into the property in 2 weeks’ time. I think the company running the property are trying to get it as a done deal with people living there before talking to anyone.

I know people can change and this is hopefully a good opportunity for the people who will be placed next door, but I also know there is no magic wand for people who have struggled with multiple serious issues for several years, and there will be relapses. I am worried about the location and the suitability of the property for this use. Most people who have suffered high levels of trauma and are trying to move away from a chaotic lifestyle want their own place where they can control their surroundings, not a shared house. I am worried about 5 vulnerable adults being housed together in a small Victorian terraced house with poor sound proofing. Many houses around here are used for student housing and they live 5 to a house, but they are groups of friends who choose to live together, and they can usually escape to their parents’ homes for a break. I know from experience the level of disruption just one tenant in a shared house can cause if they kick off, mainly to the other tenants but also to the neighbours. I am worried about some of the visitors they will attract. I am worried about the possible high turnover of tenants. I am worried about the potential disturbance for ourselves and other neighbours. I know what the streets around other hostels are like, and I will not feel safe if my street becomes like that. I am worried about the failure of the people managing the property to communicate, which doesn’t bode well if problems do occur. I am stressed out and losing sleep worrying about it.

Yes, I know I am being the very definition of a NIMBY, but I am amazed that this sort of facility can be placed in a residential street without any consultation with neighbours, the local authorities, the police or any existing services in the area.

Also, we are most likely not talking about some poor misunderstood MH patients here

Yes, in my experience it is the most high risk people who get the most support, for obvious reasons. Thanks to austerity, those who pose little risk to others are often left to fend for themselves, sadly.

I have lived all over the place, and I have had neighbours partying with amplified sound into the early hours, drug deals on motorbikes, insults and items being thrown at my young children, teenagers smoking weed at the end of my (small road), stones being thrown at my windows, car engines being revved regularly at 5am... and I've never lived near supported housing! Not living next to supported housing is no guarantee of a peaceful life. Anyone making noise that shatters the peace of others (possibly whilst crying, "It's only for one night") is a self-obsessed, inconsiderate fuckwit, incapable of peeking beyond their own lives, too unintelligent for empathy, and so wrapped up in their own warped sense of what they deserve and the freedoms that should subsequently be awarded to them that they are little more than cancers in our society. These people are everywhere. I hope your new neighbours are peaceful, OP. I don't really understand the posters who cannot appreciate your concerns as they surely appreciate that you are dealing with uncertainty, and that is something we never enjoy.

Rosy I’m not saying OPs next door neighbours will be sex offenders but many of the people I work with in community residential are. TBH it doesn’t matter what they’re background is as long as they are supported properly, but not everyone is.
Your self righteousness is boring.

In my town there are several houses for vulnerable adults. They are however not housed in a terrace. The houses are detached and strategically thought about. No close neighbours , a decent sized garden and close access to buses.
They are in the community but have space that any difficulty that may happen doesn't cause difficulties for those living near by. This makes for a more peaceful and easier life for the clients and staff. This leads to a better recovery rate.
So from a clients point of view a terraced house isn't ideal at all. From a neighbours point of view it's not ideal either. Some of the incidents will be upsetting to frightening. Yes absolutely everyone deserves to be part of a community but in a way that is beneficial to all for it to succeed.

their background

I would absolutely hate this op and anyone who says they'd be fine with it are lying.

No, you're the one thats thick witted when you can't even recognise that the reason I'm so upset could likely be that I am personally involved. These people as you call them could be anyone in your family at any time in the future.

If there was more confidence in these people being supported and supervised people wouldn't be so bothered by this. In my friends case the police didn't want to know because the house was run by a charity and the charity just accused them of being disablist for not wanting to be kept awake all night by antisocial behaviour.

Ridiculous thing to say, how can you speak for the entire population, formerbabe? While I wouldn't say "Bring it on" unreservedly, neither would I say no way without knowing the facts. Homeless people with special needs need to live somewhere, I don't think I'm so special that it shouldn't be next door to me.

YANBU. Nobody wants to admit to it but body wants to live next door to a group of ex cons, ex dug addicts etc. The best you can do is make sure that the organisation knows that you have a child in the house and report any incidents. In your place I would try to move though.

Unless you're suggesting that supported housing should be built miles from anyone else in an isolated area (which is patently ridiculous) you must accept that it will always be somewhere residential

My cousin has some of the needs mentioned in the OP and he lives in supported accomodation which is in a self contained block in a housing scheme. That is a lot different to sharing a party wall in a Victorian semi (when we lived in a Victorian semi we could hear our neighbour coughing). DH is from Switzerland and his cousin lived in a halfway house for a time after rehab - it was also a self contained black, adjacent to the rehab clinic, on hospital grounds.

I am guessing you live a nice middle-class existence where nobody would dream of putting a house like this

But houses like this are put in nice middle class areas.

Surely sex offenders would be unlikely to be housed in such a place unless they were at very low risk of reoffending? (My work brings me into contact with sex offenders). There’s usually a very cautious approach to sex offenders being reintegrated into the community, especially if they have been through the inpatient or mental health system.

@StressedandNamedChanged

I’d love to see this thread updated when it all goes ahead. I’m truly hoping for a positive outcome.

Rosy I am sorry that your family member is having problems but I stand firm that if the government wants to do supported living they have to support it properly by having a residential warden and acquiring properties with more space. They have cut corners here, outsourcing to a private firm, shoving them in a 2 up 2 down and expecting the neighbours to be happy with it. It’s bound to fail.
Also you are being wilfully blind if you don’t realise that some of the residents will pose a risk to those around them. You might think that is fine and dandy but it’s actually not. Everyone needs to live somewhere but people also deserve to live in peace. And it’s always the already disadvantaged who have to put up with it. They wouldn’t dream of plonking this into the middle of Waitrose-land.

OP you’re scared right? Which is normal as it’s fear of the unknown - ie you don’t know what to expect.

However surely it’s better to have people mixing and then they learn what is socially acceptable as part of their reintegration. Otherwise how can they become fully functioning members of the public?

The government don’t buy houses for supported living. There is no money for it - or very limited. That’s why people with learning disabilities or autism spend decades in hospital.

It’s not ‘outsourced’ - pretty much all care is privately run - much of it by foreign owned companies. Some value profit more than others.

The success or otherwise of an individual site often depends on the manager for that site/setting.

They wouldn’t dream of plonking this into the middle of Waitrose-land

Yes they do.

Devilish is right - they do.

Thanks to austerity, those who pose little risk to others are often left to fend for themselves, sadly

I remember austerity the first time round (80s Thatcherism) and it was just the same. I can think of a few households in my street/ a couple of kids in my class whose parents were barely functioning alcoholics, filthy houses, kids skinny and dirty and social services never seemed to get involved. You needed to make a real nuisance of yourself to ever come to the attention of the authorities.

Homeless person with "complex needs" here.

YABVVU.

the police are being called out every night. This can happen with neighbours who own their own homes and who don't have complex needs.

My previous flat was next door to a home like this.

The only disturbance I ever got was a new resident who made a mistake and came into my kitchen thinking it was the kitchen he had been told to go into.

He apologised, went to the correct door and an hour later knocked on my door to appologise again.

I know one anecdote doesn't = data, but this was my experience.

Most people who have suffered high levels of trauma and are trying to move away from a chaotic lifestyle want their own place where they can control their surroundings

This statement is also not true; many would like to live with other people, and regardless of preference, many simply can't afford to live alone. There are huge benefits to living with other people after trauma.

I won't pretend I can't see your point but YABU. These people have to live somewhere. If not on a 'residential street', then where do you propose they reside? A purpose built tower block safely away from 'decent people'?

If I were you I'd just chill my boots and wait to see what happens. If people disturb you, then complain to the council as you would about any other antisocial behaviour.

Hawkie, that’s so true. One of the worst neighbours I ever lived next to was a counsellor, in a lovely area.