Homeless application - need advice.

[PrickWhittington]

Posting her for traffic, really need some advice as my head is whirring with it all:

Me and my 4 DC (DD1 is 19, other are children) were made homeless last May due to my LL selling, and us being unable to secure another private rental.

We have been in temporary accommodation since then, which yes, is a roof over our heads but also too small (2 bedrooms and 3 beds for all of us), it's is damp, the boiler never works, has mice and just not a nice place to live to put it mildly. For this, a 2 bed terrace in a really dodgy area I pay £259 a week, £60 a month to park near it, £140 a month to store our stuff and £95 for our cat to be looked after.

I am on home choice that allows me to bid for social housing, and was in band B, and after a year of bidding we were just starting to have some chance of securing something long term. However, when I became ill earlier in the year, I applied for housing benefit, and it took them 14 weeks to process. During that time, I knew I would have to pay some of the rent but not how much. I rang and was advised to put a certain bit of money by each week so I could pay the proportion I actually owed when the claim was processed, which I did - paid the amount in full as soon as I was asked to.

In June, I became ill and was in hospital, so couldn't pay it online, but every time I rang to try and pay it, I was either unable to hold for the amount of time needed (up to an hour and I have a PAYG phone). They then rang me and asked for payment, I said I would pay it by the paypoint card they had issued, then discovered I couldn't find it. I spoke to the call centre and told them this and they said another card would be issued, I waited for it but it never arrived. In early July, I went abroad for my eldest son's wedding. I had an email asking to pay the arrears. I emailed back to say I was waiting for my payment card to arrive so I could. They then said it is not possible to issue another card. I explained I was abroad and unable to make a call lasting over an hour. I then got an email threatening to move our banding down a grade to band C if the arrears weren't paid immediately, so I ended up having to borrow over £50 for credit for my phone so I could phone and pay it (was on hold/ the phone for over an hour to do this). I emailed thento say it was paid.

A week letter I get home to a letter saying our banding has been downgraded to Band C due to arrears, the letter being sent and my payment crossed. I then sent several messages explaining that I had paid, and the reasons I had not been able to do it earlier, which I had made them aware of.

I asked, as the letter said I could, for the decision to be reviewed in light of the fact t that I had already paid when my banding was downgraded, and always paid it in full and on time before I came ill. The only person who would reply to me was a temporary accommodation officer, who said may be if "I asked very nicely, they'd do that for me' (wtf?)

Fast forward to now, they have eventually moved me back to band B from the date I cleared the arrears (which coincides with the day they downgraded it). I got a sort of 'there you go, all is now sorted' reply from them.

However - it really isn't Ok, as yes I am back in band B, but my priority date has now been changed from last May (the date we were made homeless and accepted into band B) to the end of July this year (when they 'put it back' into Band `B). This means that now instead of being somewhere at least in the top 10 of securing a property because we had been waiting for over a year, we are back at the start. So in effect, anyone who became homeless in the 14 months after we did will now me housed before us (hoping that makes sense?).

I emailed them to try to convey this to them but got a curt reply saying that no I was not in fact 'back to the beginning, but in a higher band so MORE likely to be housed. Which missed the point completely.

I think what I am asking is - is their any way I can ask them to reconsider their decision to move my band in light of the fact that I was TRYING to pay it and conveying all this too them, it was a tiny amount and had already been cleared in full by me by the time they changed my band. My history of paying was good (excluding during the time my HB was being assessed, but at their advice) both to them and my previous LL. I was only ever 3 weeks in arrears and twice when I called the contact centre they double checked this was the case as they were surprised that that action was being taken for that small an amount. I there a way I can ask them to consider reversing the decision to change my banding so my original priority date of last May os reinstated?

This is an awful way to live, and after a year of hell we were just starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel (the possibility of a home at last) and now we are back to the start because I have been penalised for something that I think was not my fault, and I had already rectified. I can't describe how hopeless this has made me feel, and if it wasn't for my DC's, I think that this would be the point of my life that I would actually give up completely. And that Is something that I thought I would never think or say, I've been through a lot and got through it but I just can't take the thought of living like we are for another few years. I've had enough.

Can anyone help me with this? I do have some savings I could maybe use for a solicitor if I needed to but would obviously rather not, plus I wouldn't' know where to start with it all. But my God, I feel hopeless.

IME temp accommodation is often thru an agent the council use solely for emergency accommodation. And it's often dire as agent know its temporary so don't maintain it & see it as easy £ andhave a "it's better than nothing' mentality ,so think you should put up & shut up.

A HA won't re-house someone into a property knowing it will cause over crowding. The OP needs a room, the 19 yr old and the 3 younger children will need 2 rooms between them (hard to say exactly what as don't know ages/sex)

Who is entering twice a week OP. I had to sign once a week & no inspection

The accommodation trust that gave us this house via [redacted] (beyond caring about outing myself....)

We don't have a tenancy agreement as such, we were just given a house that was originally supposed to be shared accommodation, charged at a daily rate. We were told we have no rights as officially 'homeless', including any right to quiet enjoyment. Housing inspectors come in twice a week to ask us to sign a register that [redacted] Council require them to do to confirm we are actually living at the property. They come in twice a week whether we are here or not. I did question it at first, people coming in when we aren't here, but was told they had the right.

The people who do it are actually generally OK, and I don't like it but have got used to it. One DS suffers from terrible anxiety and hates this happening (Ex DH was violent and we lived in constant fear of him breaking in for a long time - he kicked the door down and got in more than once, and sadly the eldest ones remember all that and it still effects them). The council know all this but don't care. I've had times when I've been in the bath/ asleep after a night shift and they just walked in. I've come home to workmen here.

The 3 beds - there is one double bed and two singles. DD's (19 and 9) have to share a bed, I have to sleep in a twin bedded room with DS2 who has ASD and rarely sleeps, which is fun... Eldest DS (16) has to sleep on the sofa, has the only living room as his bedroom. That leaves us with the kitchen as our living room that has one armchair and a table with 3 chairs. That is how we have too live. We are told we are not allowed to move any furniture or any large property into here. Hence the storage costs. I have queried the set up with a housing officer, so has the school nurse and head of the SN dept at their school- all been told the same - that 'the Law says this is an acceptable arrangement' and it does. As 'homeless we have no housing rights, with the exception of not being supposed to be allowed to be in a B and B or hostel for longer than 3 weeks if you have children, though this is regularly flouted by many councils apparently as they simply don't have anywhere else to put people.

And yes, I did try Openrent, but was given a minimum income that I'd need to prove and I'm nowhere near it. Plus they credit check so that was a no go. I honestly tried everything I could to secure accommodation, even living in a caravan, yet here I am. Every road was blocked and still is bar a lottery win really.

Post edited by MNHQ

No advice but just to say it’s so easy for anyone of us to end up in that situation. I was lucky that I wasn’t given temporary accommodation but a tenancy. However it came close- a week before I had to leave my private rent. I was the same exhausting every avenue and hitting a brick wall, it was pure luck my property came up.

• 6 weeks in a B and B, not 2.

Also - just noticed the bit about people with 'chaotic lifestyles' bit in the link I posted. . Cheeky fuckers. We were a small, stable, happy family after finally getting shot of my violent ExH and before losing our home. I was working towards a professional well respected job and doing well at it too. My eldest DC'S had both done well, got degrees and were doing well in life and earning good money. We were no 'problem family'. Love how they paint everyone in the same negative light and imply their circumstances are self inflicted. Used not it though now. Used to feeling like we are all being punished but trying to find out what its was that we did wrong..

But now, are lives are chaotic, yes. How could they not be having to live like this, pay for the privilege of it, be treated like scum and judged constantly with no end in sight not make things chaotic ffs.

Does your eldest daughter work? Could she contribute to the rent so you could find something privately? Obviously it’s a shit situation and horrific that this is the state of the social safety net, but for your own mental health it might be for the best?

"it's better than nothing' mentality ,so think you should put up & shut up

Yes - that- that's exactly it.

And YY to HA's not willing to 'overcrowding' - which leaves us in this ironic situation - I am now only allowed to bid for a 4 bedroomed property, I am now apparently (after moving the priority date) over 30th in the queue for one- approximately 5 come up each year. I do not want a 4 bed, I want a three bed as the rent and upkeep is less and we'd be housed sooner. Yet the HA's and council say my 2 girls need a room each as one is an adult (though they are happy to share). They say we'd be 'overcrowded' in a 3 bed. So meanwhile though, we remain in the set up I've described above. A tiny 2 up 2 down between all of us. So we're not overcrowded in a 3 bed twice the size. Where the fuck is the logic in that?? It is madness.

And yes - it is scarily easy to end up like me in the current climate. And becoming more and more common every day. But no one seems to care, no one is doing anything to address it.

Can you leave your eldest off your application? She could always ‘move in’ at a later date or can you just not tell them she’s there?
Sorry if that’s a bad idea I’m not sure on social housing rules

Eldest DD does work and contribute as much as she can. She is trying to save to go to Uni though so we'll see. Same bar with getting anywhere private though - they want a minimum income from a permanent job (that seem rare these days - it's all minimum hours contracts) and we don't meet that, nor will anyone accept tenants who claim HB, or have a poor credit history.

And also - even if we did get a private rental, we'd all be waiting for this to happen all over again - the LL to sell/ move back in etc. And we'd be back at square one, waiting for the bailiffs to come and turf us out, then sitting in the council offices for hours and hours being spoken down to and ignored.

My youngest DS was 10 and has ASD. They knew this, and that the complete disruption to his routine would traumatise him yet did nothing to help avoid the eventual meltdown he had after us all waiting in their offices for hours.

When he became distressed, and started screaming they called their security officer over. A massive man over 6 foot tall to a terrified 10 year old, who was already frightened of men he didn't know due to the violence he had already had to witness when he was young. They then threatened to escort us out if we didn't calm him down.

That is how they treat people, and what they get away with. That is the sort of thing you have to constantly try to 'battle' and complain about, but you end up giving up because it is a David vs Goliath battle and they get away with it. In 2018.

OP - I've sent a PM.

Are there any sympathetic councillors in your ward? Around here they do drop in clinics, can you go to one of those?

Take your eldest off the application and say she plans to rent privately. What happens once you're homed is no one's business. Also she may well be at uni/not at home any more by the time a house comes up.

Thanks for the replies.

Are there any sympathetic councillors in your ward? Around here they do drop in clinics, can you go to one of those?

I'm not too sure actually ISeeTheLight. Not too sure either what the difference is between complaining to a councillor or an MP, or what would be better? I'm pretty clueless about stuff like that tbh.

Take your eldest off the application and say she plans to rent privately. What happens once you're homed is no one's business. Also she may well be at uni/not at home any more by the time a house comes up.

I did think of this, but they wanted proof of her living elsewhere. It would also mean I'd have to omit her income etc from my HB claim which obviously I can't do as it'd be fraud. Plus they can ask those doing the inspections twice a week to check.

Also, if I'm honest, I hate that this is the case, but I don't know how well we would manage without her until our situation improves a bit. We're like a little team really a lot of the time, she sees when I'm starting to get overwhelmed with it all, and my MH starts to slide and pitches in, takes over if needed. She has the younger ones when I've been in hospital or am really ill.

In many ways she takes on some of the role her Dad should, I know she shouldn't have to, and I don't ask her to but she does. It's not something `I take advantage of and I do make sure she's rewarded/ paid for any childcare, but is unfortunately how it is and has to be atm as we have no other family anymore. I have a couple of good friends, who help at times, but they have problems, kids and jobs of their own to deal with. I'm also terrible at asking for any help, I hate it, and have a tendency to shut myself away from everyone, I know it isn't productive but it's my way.

The whole thing is just a mess. I actually feel like I am being picked on by the council ever since I had an issue with something else earlier in the year. It's not only the banding thing they have have done, they are also now proxy bidding on the very few properties I don 't bid for, meaning we are likely to get somewhere completely unsuitable.

There was an instance where I had bidded for 4 of the 5 houses on home choice that week. I hadn't bidded for the 5th house because it was 12 miles away from their school and would have taken 3 buses and over an hour each way. I can't change their school because of DS4's ASD, plus Ds3 is in the middle of his GCSE's. Also because the school have been fantastic in their SN and pastoral support and I would hate to lose that.

I was top of the list on most of them, but they offered me the one house that wasn't suitable and I hadn't bidded for. If they hadn't have, we`"d be housed by now in one of the other ones. It's just shit, all of it. They insisted it was a suitable offer and I had to fight tooth and nail against it. Was told they would discharge their duty and we'd lose our temporary accommodation. It was awful. What happened though was that the actual HA agreed that it was unsuitable due to the size of the bedrooms and because it had no separate living room, it was open plan and had a gas oven in so wasn't suitable to use as a fourth bedroom.

It was just after this happened that they changed my banding and started to proxy bid for every property I didn't bid for (only 2 of 10 but it meant I would be offered the ones I didn't bid for rather than the ones I had as they had so many fewer bids and no one else had wanted them or bidded either).

It was also when they said I would no longer be allowed to bid for 3 bed properties any more as ' a 3 bedroom was 'either suitable or it wasn't' which is daft as some are big enough (room for bunk beds/ a dining room that can used as a bedroom) and some aren't (usually the new builds as the rooms are tiny and the kitchen/ living room open plan).

So because of the changes they have made in my priority date (due to the banding thing), not letting me apply for 3 beds we have gone from very close to getting somewhere to maybe a 5 year wait. Or somewhere unsuitable that no one else wants because of the proxy bidding thing (I'm not allowed to turn anything down - have to take the first 'suitable offer' and their 'suitable offers' are not considering location, my son's SN's or my health problems)

It feels like I'm being taught a lesson for opposing them and reminded they are the ones with the power, not me. Maybe I'm being paranoid though

Again not being goady but you were abroad for your son's wedding when you are calling to explain why you can't pay rent arrears!

Perhaps that money could have paid the rent instead?

Go to your MP or local councillor and explain. Demand that you are moved back to the original date. Hopefully they can sort it for you.

not being goady

Well actually yes, you are - at least be honest about it...But thank you giving an example of exactly the sort of attitude I am and have been facing from the departments that are supposed to helping me for the last year.

But yes- I was abroad at my son's wedding. Lovely hotel, good weather. I'm sorry about that...a glimmer of a nice time to contrast the amount of times I have felt pretty much suicidal over the last cook of years.

However - I never said I did not have the money to pay the rent. I said I hadn't been able to get through to them. And on the 2 occasions I did, they said they said they couldn't trace my account with the reference number I had. So I range the home choice people, explained the situation and asked them to send me a new paypoint card to pay with. When it didn't arrive before we went, I left the money with my friend who had Kindly agreed to go and pay it for me as soon as it arrived. I had spoken to the council 2 days before I left and informed them this was the case, and was told 'that's fine, as long as it is going to be paid'. I asked them to not it all on my notes, I aways ask, but they never do. Or at least that is what they say.

Anyway, skip forward to 2 days into the holiday - I get a very arsey email demanding immediate payment or repercussions, which I reply to and then ring to explain. Then put the credit on _£50, walk around 2 miles up a fucking hill to get a proper signal that doesn't cut off half way through after holding for over an hour... `Hold for over an hour, till eventually, thank God, the 3rd person I spoke to was finally clued up enough to the payment. I then inform them it has been paid in full, well actually - paid a month In credit in case I was ill again. Luckily, on this occasion, they didn't choose to immediately cut the call off the minute you get through to someone then pretend it was actually a problem your end, not theirs - they do that ALL the time. It's great fun, especially when it Was the only chance to speak to them as I'd been at work all day. Double the fun when you can't call back as all your credit has been eaten up during the hold time!


Anyway - I paid it the same afternoon I got the arsey email (and missed over 2 hours of my own Son's wedding reception in the process which was also great. But anyway - it was finally sorted. Except it wasn't - I got home to an arsey letter dated that very day saying my banding had been lowered due to rent arrears. The day I had already paid it, told them I was going to and then again that I had.

But yes - 'I could have paid it with the money for the holiday'. - That REALLY wopukld have solved the situation wouldn't it?

See this attitude is what I've faced for over a year - someone sees a little nugget like 'holiday', decides homeless me is not worthy or entitled to that, so they twist my words, cherry pick bits that fit with their rhetoric so that they can go for the 'this is all your doing' approach. I have not come across one council worker who has not agreed and gone along with the same narrative you have, and that is why they are treating people like me and getting away with it.

I never said I did not have the money for the rent. I have been honest and said I have a small amount of savings now too, but I have also said how and why that does not resolve this situation. `I have also said I do not want or expect social housing for life, or a fucking mansion. Just somewhere I can afford, maybe without mice, damp and a broken dangerous boiler, and with enough room so that I don't have to share with one teenage son, and maybe where my other (large) teenage son has the luxury of an actual BED rather than a tiny bed bug ridden sofa.

Do you honestly think I would stay living like this and being treated like we are if I had a way to resolve it? It's fucking madness, yet the vast majority of people seem to think that a) this is all my fault and b) I want a 'free house. Why?

Hopefully that is still legible despite the typos etc

OP, ignore shalomjackie. I hope she reads back her post and is suitably ashamed of that post.
Some people are total arseholes on threads like these.

Most temporary accommodation allows people to live there by licence (nof AST) so things like 24 hour notice for visits and quiet enjoyment don't apply.

If the council accepted your homelessness application and have provided temporary accommodation then they are duty bound to pay for storage of your belongings too. Go through the council’s complaints process. They are very good at ‘forgetting’ to tell people this.

Some people are total arseholes on threads like these.

Oh don't worry Thierryhenryneedisaymore - I know. And I expect many more are reading, judging but don't actually have the bollocks to air their views on here. It's people like that that have made me too scared and ashamed to post for advice in the past, many times.

But you know what? I'm ready for the fuckers now. They can prove their ignorance to me and others if they want. They can try and show how it' all my fault' if they want, that I'm not allowed a holiday to attend my own DS's wedding that was planned way before any of this happened. They can show me a viable solution if they want. Except they can't because it isn't my fault and there is no solution because trust me, I've looked over and over for one and come to a dead end each time.

But if anyone does have the obvious solution to this that I have missed over the last year and more, please do enlighten me!

@SiliconHeaven
The council have to provide storage but they can charge for it.

Why didn't you pay your rent?

Oh ffs - can you not RTFT? It's only 2 pages and it's all in there.

I'm not going to give you a quick lazy answer so you can decide whether or not it gives you the opportunity to continue to be goody without looking daft. Whether the answer is worthy enough for you ifs