To think we should get help being rehomed

[orkneyisthebest]

Please hear me out.

We currently have a 2 bed flat in Edinburgh which is a housing association let. We are a family of 5. My dd10 has her own bedroom due to stress of sharing with her brother who has asd and can be violent. My ds7 and ds3 shares a bedroom. Due to ds 7 violence i currently sleep on their bedroom floor to protect ds3. We are considered overcrowded but not enough for priority. Dh works nights so he sleeps on sofa/ dd bed during the day.
I cant work due to being ds7 carer so money for a private let is out of the question. A move out of Edinburgh would help but due to ds7 school and other support it's pretty much out of the question.

I'm not looking for a bedroom for dh and myself but would like a 3 bed so i dont have to sleep on the floor anymore:(

ds3 wasn't planned at all and i couldn't face a termination

Another option is to make a bedroom a living room and spilt the living room in two but need permission which we have asked for.

permission denied 😶

Oh that's tough, could you try buying some sort of floor to ceiling furniture to unofficially divide it into areas. Not the same I know but could give a bit more privacy. And or have a large heavy curtain to pull across the room?

Another option is to make a bedroom a living room and spilt the living room in two but need permission which we have asked for.

You can buy modular room dividers that are like walls, you can even put a door in them.

Have a look here to see what I mean :

https://www.diy.com/ranges/building-ranges/alaraa*

Complaints procedure of Housing Association
followed by:

Housing Ombudsman

And/or both.

I would like to find a longterm solution tbh. We really do stay in a lovely part of Edinburgh with great schools and lovely neighbours the fact no one wants to swap is strange tbh.

I'd need to look it up thanks

The problem is hundreds of families are in a similar position.

I would go sofa bed in the lounge

Please read this advice on the Shelter Scotland website and then consider contacting their helpline for specific, ongoing advice.

scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/overcrowding

scotland.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/homelessness/legal_definition_of_homelessness/overcrowded_and_a_danger_to_health

In brief, if your home is ‘unreasonable to continue to occupy’ owing to overcrowding, then you are classed as ‘homeless’ in law.

This is important because being homeless in law means that your local authority must allow you to join their housing register- those who are homeless are prioritised as they have what is called a ‘reasonable preference’:

scotland.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/accessing_accommodation/allocation_of_housing/allocation_policies

In your case, the key issue for me (I work in housing law) is that various professionals are advising that your daughter requires her own room specifically on health grounds. This makes your situation more complicated than whether there is technically enough space for all of you based on the room measurements/ ages/ sex of family members outlined in the first link.

If you can’t get through to Shelter, here is a list of all solicitors’ offices in Edinburgh with a legal aid contract for housing and homelessness matters:

www.slab.org.uk/new-to-legal-aid/find-a-solicitor/?category_parent=civil&solicitor-finder-child-list=housing-homelessness&search_address_new=Edinburgh+&results_type=both&display_results=1&submitted=Find+Solicitors

You could of course contact your local authority directly, but they are absolutely not your friend and may well push you away unreasonably. Getting ongoing legal advice and advocacy from those who actually understand the legal position and can scrutinise the local authority’s decision making us by far your best bet.

Good luck.

I would put daughter 10 with son 3 in one bedroom, in bunks (youngest at the bottom). The son 7 would go in the other room. I'd get a pull out sofa bed for the living room, for myself.

Then you haven't read all of OP's posts.

Dd10 needs a bedroom to herself more then i need to sleep on a bed. She has complex issues which i won't go into detail but every professional agrees she needs her own space.

Where in Edinburgh are you? Have you been on this site? Offering a 4 bed to swap for 2 bed as long as near Leith?

Keyword here is failure to safeguard, you have children with complex health needs and violence. Tell that housing association you'll be reporting them for their inaction and compromising everyone's health and safety.

I think turning your living room into a bedroom is the way forward.
It sounds like both your DD and your older DS need their own room.
So scrap the idea of having a living room and get a proper bed for your and your partner, and then a toddler bed or whatever for younger DS.
It is not the councils responsibility to provide people with accommodation if they keep having children.

On that site. No where near leith unfortunately

of course you should get help ,its a really hard situation for you all to be in but there will be many other people who have equivalent reasons for needing help. is it an absolute no to move area even if it means changing your 7 year olds school? Your 10 year old will be heading for secondary school and you have at least 15 years of schooling to get through for your youngest so a move in the next couple of years to an area that offers you more space in the long term will benefit everyone....teenage years for those with additional needs can bring further challenges as the hormones kick in (which my family member is having to deal with, they have also had a bedroom share issue come up with an over-physical sibling and it's really tough on the child experiencing that violence), and it will be really sad if your daughter and youngest have their education compromised.

Edinburgh is so expensive. There are much cheaper places nearby, and there are good schools everywhere

Ds is in specialist schooling. Moving outside Edinburgh would mean he loses his space. We also have family support.