Council house banding

[sickofturkey]

Looking for some opinions / advice from
Anyone who has been in a similar situation.

My council operate a choice based letting system to advertise properties and have a banding system for priority . When I registered I completed the form honestly and I even telephoned them to ensure I had selected the correct options to reflect my situation.

In order to verify the banding I was allocated (band a) I sent in proof to confirm my health problems. I e mailed a week later and asked if the proof I had provided was sufficient to verify my banding and I was told yes .

This was before lockdown and now that the council have started to advertise properties again I am coming up in the top 3 . I spoke with a manager there this week who checked my application and they said that my condition did not warrant such a High banding and that the proof was not adequate .

Aibu to expect them to stand by the email they sent to me a few months ago confirming that the proof I provided was adequate ?

Sorry that sounded a bit arsey. I mean that on AIBU you rarely get the advice you need as it ends up as a deserving and undeserving of SH thread.

I’m not sure everyone jumping down the throats of a mentally ill person will be kind or necessary.

OP I would walk away from this thread and seek advice from
CAB. I have no experience of council housing but wish you well.

In my experience, in no way would you be considered to be in Band A. I'm sorry that you're suffering from mental health issues but there are people in far greater need so the manager was correct.

Can you not look at doing a house swap then?

@TheGreatWave
Thank you .
In my local area social housing is not high in demand. It is common for 2 bed maisonettes to get just 10 bids and they sometimes resort to advertising via gumtree etc.

The allocation policy states that medical need and disability is band a. This is the section they told me to apply when I explained my situation so as far as I am concerned I have given honest info and done what I was told to do !

@TheGreatWave as the OP has said she was forced to move 10 miles away when she was homeless, I'm going to assume that there are some issues with availability in that particular area.

@sickofturkey and if the family are applying to live where you want to live for the same reasons? Honestly, you'd be better off working towards improving your mental health, as you have no idea how long it'll take for you to be rehoused.

You are adequately housed and in reasonable distance from support. You wouldn't make band c.in our council area.

OP I will have just cross posted a PM for you with your last post.

@TitianaTitsling
I have ... I have advertised everywhere possible for a swop but nothing. ... I'm not even looking for additional bedroom just like for like different area

I'm sorry to hear what your going through OP but it does sound like a mistake. I was on the housing list band C for 2 years before getting our property and my partner had severe depression and we were overcrowded (6 adults - 1 disabled, and one baby in 3 bedrooms). If they change your band just keep telling yourself that it will happen, may take longer than if you were band A, but every day is a day closer to moving

If the council made a mistake and didn't correct it when they realised they would be leaving themselves open to serious repercussions which could even include council officers going to jail.

They have to put it right.

@gobbynorthernbird
I am indeed working towards improving your mental health .
I am paying privately for 2 sessions a month with a psychotherapist

@sickofturkey I'm glad to hear it. I do hope you get the area you want, but I also think you're going to have to be realistic about timescales.
I've been there, and I know it's shit, and takes ages. But you, hopefully, will start to feel better even if you're not exactly where you want to be.

@sickofturkey

Looking for some opinions / advice from Anyone who has been in a similar situation.

My council operate a choice based letting system to advertise properties and have a banding system for priority . When I registered I completed the form honestly and I even telephoned them to ensure I had selected the correct options to reflect my situation.

In order to verify the banding I was allocated (band a) I sent in proof to confirm my health problems. I e mailed a week later and asked if the proof I had provided was sufficient to verify my banding and I was told yes .

This was before lockdown and now that the council have started to advertise properties again I am coming up in the top 3 . I spoke with a manager there this week who checked my application and they said that my condition did not warrant such a High banding and that the proof was not adequate .

Aibu to expect them to stand by the email they sent to me a few months ago confirming that the proof I provided was adequate ?

Yes you'd be unreasonable to expect them to uphold a mistake as it would be done at the cost of someone who was not mistakenly granted priority banding.

Well it depends how bad your mental health is as a result of your current housing. If it is making you suicidal I would expect that to be considered appropriate to be in the top band, as it is potentially life-threatening.

If it is less severe though, then it was probably a mistake (though without knowing which council it is, and checking the allocations policy, it's impossible to say).

I get that they have probably made a mistake , however I feel they should stand by their initial decision and learn from the mistake !

As previously advised if they do drop your banding then you can ask fir a review. Doesn't really matter what you think should happen, there is a process that you can go through if you disagree