To put in a complaint about this housing officer?

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On the housing register. Owed a complete homelessness relief duty and have an urgent need to move because of violence within the home and high medical needs for both me and children. Just been put forward for a property the other side of the county to be closer to family who can provide support for all of this.

Every time I have been nominated for a property the rules change, for example, this time round was proving residency for where my family members live. A few weeks ago they accepted bank statements, now they are saying they do not. I have provided every bit of evidence they need but it seems like the goal posts move dramatically every few weeks whenever a property comes up, so I questioned this on my portal and expressed my frustration at the rules seemingly changing whenever I get offered a property. (In my past experience of them, they are just an extremely challenging and rude team of people anyway).

This morning I got quite a confrontational phone call from one of the workers saying they didn’t appreciate turning up to work and seeing my message first thing this morning (I literally just questioned why bank statements were accepted a few weeks ago but not now). They then went onto say that I am ‘leapfrogging’ people who live in the area and have been waiting for years and so on. Well I doubt many of those people have experienced trauma and violence in their home and have high medical needs which is why they are still waiting and not on a higher band…

She was rude, confrontational and insensitive - almost making it seem like I should be thankful that I have taken a house that other people in the area should be entitled to instead… without taking into consideration all the shit circumstances we have which is why we have to leave our lives behind and move to a different part of the county…

I’m so tempted to put in a complaint… but is it worth it?!

@Naunet

No but it works both ways! The OP has said she expressed her frustration, judging by how the agent reacted I can imagine exactly how she 'expressed her frustration'! Her being a domestic abuse victim and having disabled children is irrelevant, she doesn't get to speak to people like shit which I am guessing she did. The agent should not have reacted but she's only human, I have snapped at times at tenants when faced with a bad attitude

Bullshit. The agent is being PAID to perform a role professionally, the tenants are not. They should act like a professional or move jobs, because they aren’t cut out for it.

You could pay me a million pound salary and I still wouldn't take abuse. It's worrying thar people out there think that this is acceptable.

No I was not abusive in my email - I just said something along the lines of - I only have bank statements, which were accepted a few weeks ago, so I do not understand why the rules have changed again so suddenly and now they aren’t being accepted, especially because I don’t have any other documents.

I have turned down a couple of properties before because they were misadvertised (wrote one thing in the advert which turned out to be untrue when actually visiting the property) and they weren’t appropriate or safe for my children’s disability and they wouldn’t give me permission to adapt it

Yes I am thankful of course because I know people do wait years for housing, but it’s not like it’s my own choice to move, it’s a case of having to move because of shitty circumstances outside of my control - which I don’t need throwing in my face from a so called ‘professional’ worker

She really phoned you and said she didn't appreciate turning up to work and seeing your message when all you asked was why had it changed to bank statements being no loner acceptable?

Really? Is that all you said?

I'm sorry for your situation but reading between the lines, you do sound pretty entitled and frustrated (I understand the latter) but is this coming through in your tone?

Why should she have to take any arsiness? She hasn't invented the rules. Housing is in short supply and there will be other people in similar situations to yours.

You sound pretty confrontational yourself if you told her that the reason others were still waiting was because your situation was worse than theirs? How do you know this? Sometimes, bands don't always equate to the situations women find themselves in.

And what is so fucking wrong with appreciating that you will be re-housed near your family? Do people now think it belittles them to say thank you for a service and home that they are being given.

people jump on implying that if the Op should be appreciative then she is being treated as if she were not human. Ridiculous.

I hope you get sorted but bear in mind that people are trying to help you and that a little appreciation of the fact that you and your children are being moved cross country to a new home near your family is something to be valued.

So what, if you have to provide paperwork and it's frustrating. You have to do that in many situations and so do you.

@ForTheLoveOfSleep

almost making it seem like I should be thankful that I have taken a house that other people in the area should be entitled to instead

So she didn't actually say this? Are you not thankful? I understand that aboslutely awful circumstances are at play here but still I think you sound a tiny bit entitled. You are extremely lucky to get a LA house.

The housing officer sounds very frustrated and she handled the situation babdly. However, how many emails/phone calls do you think she gets a day from people angry and frustrated about why they don't have a house yet? Why they are in a low band? Why are they not priority? They have been bidding for years but still nothing?

The HO is only human and she has a difficult job.

All of this.

@EndaDay yes that is all I said, and no I didn’t have a tone. Even professionals involved with the family have picked up on what the council are doing and how many new ‘hoops’ they are creating every time a property comes up - and have written letters of
their own frustration about the situation too.

I didn’t actually say anything about other people’s banding’s in the conversation - that’s my own private thoughts on here.

I do appreciate being ‘allowed’ to move closer to my family - as anyone else would want to be too.

She didn't create your situation either, did she?

How has she thrown domestic violence in your face? Are you looking for insults and have found them? Are you taking out your situation on her?

Hopefully, you will find something suitable and to your liking soon but don't kick off at people who didn't create your situation and who are trying to get you out of it.

@EndaDay and it’s not about having to provide documents it’s the fact that they were the only documents I had and they were fine a few weeks ago and now they aren’t which could mean me not being allowed to move.

@EndaDay I'd be fucking raging if a HO told my mate she should be grateful for a home. I'd be furious if any professional told me to be grateful for anything. Would you be happy to be told that when you have no alternative? No means of comeback?

It's about control. I'm guessing if this were a male HO the attitudes here would be different.

Someone who has a position of power telling someone to essentially shut up and be grateful for the scraps they'll be thrown in due course when the goalposts are changing all the time (exactly the same as my experience of accessing LA housing) is appalling.

@EndaDay well no it’s not her trying to get me out of it - she openly said it wasn’t fair for people like to skip the queue above other people living in the area - so more like being forced to help rather than wanting to, because if it was solely down to her, I’m sure the house would be going to someone else who she felt was ‘deserving’

Frustrating but it's still not her fault is it. She just happens to be the poor sap telling you about the rule change.

@EndaDay hopefully this never happens to you, or you might actually end up growing some compassion for others. Take care

@Silverhairedcat

You'd be "fucking raging" if someone told you to be grateful.

Why would someone have to tell you to be grateful. Do you think being grateful is belittling and that you are just entitled without having to give one one word of thanks?

Appalling.

If I'm reading this correctly, you've been dealing with this department for some time and have turned down a number of potential properties but are chasing and chasing for them to magic something suitable out of thin air.

I appreciate that you have certain requirements but you're on one hand saying you have to move NOW but then turning down everything you're being offered.

I've worked in the sector and believe me, it's horrible. You're supposed to be all milly molly mandy 24/7 whilst you've got people screaming at you because you can't give them what they think they deserve, only what is actually available. Best will in the world, it strips you of any charm you did have going into the role.

@ForTheLoveOfSleep

almost making it seem like I should be thankful that I have taken a house that other people in the area should be entitled to instead

So she didn't actually say this? Are you not thankful? I understand that aboslutely awful circumstances are at play here but still I think you sound a tiny bit entitled. You are extremely lucky to get a LA house.

The housing officer sounds very frustrated and she handled the situation babdly. However, how many emails/phone calls do you think she gets a day from people angry and frustrated about why they don't have a house yet? Why they are in a low band? Why are they not priority? They have been bidding for years but still nothing?

The HO is only human and she has a difficult job.

This!

I think you sound a tiny bit entitled. You are extremely lucky to get a LA house.

i'm sure OP is deeply thankful that DV has lead to her getting a house near her family. Deeply deeply thankful.

housing officers are in short demand and there is a reason for that, I worked alongside them in a previous role and wouldn't want their job for all the money in china.

They may have had the rules change or whoever was dealing with it was new - but bank statements are regularly not used as proof of address, you can change your address on your bank statements easily and thats why they regularly can't be used.

trying to find housing for people in their own district is difficult and they will have a number of cases similar to yours, and be juggling with many people on their back. Unfortunately your case isn't unique and its very sad and disturbing you're having to go through this, but there are more.

give them a break and vote for a party that will build more social housing

OP, yes I'd write a letter of complaint to the senior housing officer. I would also contact the local Councillor for the area you are moving to, or ask a family member to, and enlist their help in sorting out the application - local elections are coming up next month so they'll be motivated to be helpful.

Do you have a support worker at all? I don't know what the situation is now post-covid but a friend leaving domestic abuse a few years ago had a support worker from the local domestic abuse service who was there to advise on things like housing and benefits. If you do then ask him/her to contact the council where you're moving to and see if an agreement can be reached on what paperwork is needed.

I worked in a job that provided a service to housing associations and councils and we used to have to deal with the tenants directly. The attitudes we were faced with were atrocious, I much preferred dealing with the paying public. This was a service that would cost a normal customer between £300-£600 but the tenants used to get it free because the HA or council were covering the cost. How is it that those customers that were paying were friendly and polite yet those getting it for free weren't?!

The tenants will have also been paying for it via their rent payments as rents cover the costs of running/managing the property.

You'd be "fucking raging" if someone told you to be grateful. Why would someone have to tell you to be grateful. Do you think being grateful is belittling and that you are just entitled without having to give one one word of thanks?

No one should have to put up with shitty behaviour lest they appear ungrateful, being someone's verbal whipping post is not the price you have to pay for services. OP (and other people in need) are just as deserving of dignity and respect as those administering the services.

whenever I get offered a property.

how many properties have you been offered and have you turned any of them down?

OP has said she turned some down as they were not suitable for her children's disability needs and they were not able to be adapted/permission for adaptations was refused.

@romdowa

I'd get a house first and then lodge a complaint. Complaining first might go against you and make them even more difficult

Yes I agree, house first!

The tenants will have also been paying for it via their rent payments as rents cover the costs of running/managing the property.

It's incredibly naive to think this. You really believe their reduced rent covers all the costs? Dream on.

I used to work with homeless/at risk of homelessness clients. Some of them were absolutely appalling in the way they treated council staff, who were mostly trying their damnedest to help them.

They do a shitty job, constantly dealing with people who are in desperate circumstances, with an ever-shrinking pool of homes, staff being cut year after year because of spending cuts, more and more complex bureaucracy and so on. The pressures on them are relentless.

It's not the officer's fault that the rules have changed, she won't be the one that's changed them, and you were directing your ire at the wrong person.

@Septimius

“Well I doubt many of those people have experienced trauma and violence in their home and have high medical needs”

You’re so wrong about this.

Absolutely.

It took 17 years here because, like the OP, I wasn't technically homeless. But everybody was nice to me, even when I was asking them to withdraw an offer for an unsuitable property so it wasn't counted as an offer and to please bear in mind that I must have step free access as stated in the Occupational Therapist report - perhaps my contacts came across less 'venting'?

Sometimes it's hard to understand just how much effort people are putting in behind the scenes to try and help. To then feel they're being bollocked for asking for things they have to ask - and if the rules have changed, they've changed, or it's a different HA with different requirements, there's nothing they can do about it - well, it's going to be hard and the temptation to call somebody and try to explain 'I am doing all I can, don't have a go at me about stuff I have absolutely no control over' must be very strong.

As you are yet to be offered a suitable property, OP, I'd suggest gritting your teeth and emailing back to say something along the lines of

'Having reflected on our conversation today, I think I need to apologise for the tone of my email.

I am finding this situation very difficult as we feel constantly under threat of further violence.

I was upset to find out that the evidence I had already provided for the previous property was not acceptable for this latest one. I realise that these requirements are not something you have control over and it was unfair of me to take my fear and frustration out on you and I want to say I am sorry.

I really do appreciate the efforts you are making to find me a home where we can be safe and my children's medical needs can be met and if there is any additional documentation you require, please do let me know'.

Essentially, even if you don't believe it, telling somebody 'That was unfair of me, I'm sorry' is better than hackles up and snapping at them.