To ask to be temporarily rehoused whilst new kitchen installed?

[SENwoes]

I will preface this by saying I KNOW I’m very lucky to have a HA house, and I KNOW I’m very lucky to be getting a brand new kitchen for free.

So as above, I have work commencing on 22nd January to rip out the old kitchen and replace it. I don’t have a choice in this, according to the documents, I am unable to say no it’s fine, I’ll keep the old one. I’ve been told the works will take 2 weeks, as it also involves taking up the tiled floor and replacing it with lino.

It’s just dawning on me what a nightmare this will be. I have to completely empty the kitchen obviously, but there’s not really anywhere to put the stuff, it’s a very small house (just living room leading to kitchen/diner downstairs). The big appliances will go outside in the back yard apparently, but everything else will have to be boxed up and kept somewhere. I’ll have no cooking or washing up facilities, and no way of washing or drying clothes.

That’s all pretty standard I know, but my main concern is that I have a disability (CFS) and also both DC are diagnosed with ASD and currently in the house all the time as neither in education. We will essentially be trapped in our bedrooms for 2 weeks as we won’t be able to move in the front room as realistically that’s the only place everything from the kitchen can go. I need to rest…a lot, and the works will be noisy, which will also affect both DC as they struggle badly with loud noises and not being in a calm environment. They’ll also struggle with a team of workmen being in their space for 2 weeks, They both have completely different food aversions and neither of their limited range of foods is conducive to being able to batch cook and set the microwave up somewhere. Realistically it will mean a lot of eating out, but that’s not really affordable for 2 weeks.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and WIBU to ask the HA if there’s anything that could be done to move us while the works are going on? The only family member I could stay with is my DM but she’s a long way away and having works done on her own house which means she doesn’t have a functioning bathroom, so that’s not ideal really.

There's certainly no harm in asking. But you might still be better off in your own home than a Travelodge or similar. Saves you being cooped up together with no personal space, and I expect no cooking facilities, so you'd likely be forced to pay for takeaways

At home I would use headphones during the day for any noise and keep dinners simple but varied - toasties (sandwiches or tortilla wraps - use something like this for £15: https://amzn.eu/d/7ngkt4j) with different fillings, jacket potatoes with different fillings, soups with nice bread and cuts of meat/cheese. I expect the teenagers won't struggle too much with being holed up in their bedrooms 😉

You say your mother has a caravan on a site that opens in six weeks.

surely the housing association are fully aware of all the issues in your household.

im sure the builders working in an empty house, put all the possessions in the bedrooms and take all your valuables with you, will be a win win situation for everyone!

@ScroogeMcDuckling

You say your mother has a caravan on a site that opens in six weeks.

She also says the work starts on 22nd January, which is one week away. What's the relevance of the caravan here?

I haven’t read the comments but expect it to take longer than 2 weeks. I was told 2 weeks but it took 4 weeks. We had no way of cooking so we lived on take aways and microwave meals which cost a lot and made us feel so unhealthy. All of our kitchenappliances were kept in our small lounge for the duration. We were told ‘tough’. The man fitting the kitchen took constant breaks but his manager didn’t believe me. So basically keep this in mind it may not be a bodge job but they employ cowboys so it won’t be amazing. My kitchen is wonky because they done such a bad job. They damaged some of my personal items too and promised to replace but never did. I hope you have a better experience than me, but go in with assuming the worse and hope for the best. If you can afford to rent somewhere, stay with family or get an air B&b then do it.

The housing association have a lot of houses, surely it can be rescheduled, and they go and do another one….

Because there are long lists of people waiting for refurbishments to be done so asking for OPs work to be rescheduled for 6 weeks time when she can use the caravan sounds like a very reasonable solution. Meanwhile somebody else gets their work done earlier than planned. Win win.

It's not free FFS, how are there still so many dense people here?

It's not free FFS, how are there still so many dense people here?

OP describes it as free.

I really feel for you OP - we had no kitchen for about 4 weeks and it was a bit of a nightmare. I hope you ca get it sorted.

You’re getting a free brand new kitchen but still want the tax payer to fund a hotel while it’s being done?! 😂Everyone else just has to manage

My house is tiny and it took over the whole house. It would have been fine if I'd been at work as I work 12 hour shifts. So could have eaten and had cups of tea at work. But my MS decided to flare up so I was off sick. I ended up living out of my car boot, and staying with family and in hotels.

Again do you understand that tenants don't pay for kitchens because hey don't actually own the house ?
I'm sorry that this is to difficult of a concept for you to grasp?
And how would tax payers be funding a hotel?

It’s difficult but doable. We had our kitchen completely ripped out and replaced (while I was pregnant so I was sick, knackered and conscious of needing to eat well) and it wasn’t ideal! But it was temporary. We had to wash up in our bathroom, in the bath, for about six weeks and had one countertop on which to prep any type of anything. We moved the slow cooker into the lounge and also borrowed an electric steamer and did the same with that.

It absolutely is a pain in the ass but it can be done - especially as it’s only temporary.

By all means ask if they can put you up somewhere but even if it was a Travel Lodge or similar you’d still be confined to bedrooms with no cooking facilities and needing to eat out a lot… so not a lot different to being at home. The tone of your post is very much looking at the negatives and it seems like you’ve already decided that it’s going to be impossible and that’s it… but try to just approach it for what it is - a pain but something that will be over soon enough.

If live in a cardboard box if I was getting a brand new kitchen at no cost to myself though!

My friends just had her new kichen done in her council house and she stayed at home. Her and her husband one grownup child, and plus 3 children one with additional needs and 6 cats. It was fine the builders were fast and clean and tidy. They finished 3 days before Christmas.

OP I have been without a kitchen and half the downstairs of my house for nearly 6 weeks now. It can be done but takes preparation. We haven't eaten out at all as have got by more than adequately with microwave, rice cooker & air fryer.

I can guarantee you wouldn't if you saw the state of the brand new kitchen
Its not the fully fitted dream ,posters seem to think
Its the cheapest ,cupboards, lino,sink and work top the falls to bits after s few Years .

Exactly! It’s the HA maintaining their properties. THEIR properties. Not the tenant’s property. Why shouldn’t their tenants have nice homes to live in and with a kitchen that isn’t falling to bits and god forbid actually looks quite nice aesthetically? Their HA landlord can afford it so why not?! Not OP’s problem or any other HA tenant’s problem if a cats bum face homeowner can’t afford to upgrade their own kitchen.

I honestly think some homeowners would only be happy if a HA tenant was living in an absolute dump because it’s what they deserve.

It sounds a bit of a nightmare when you put all the circumstances together and your anxiety is totally understandable.
It will be stressful, especially the not being in control of your own space while it is happening.
Lots of useful suggestions on here, especially the paper plates! A lot probably comes down to organisation in advance. Get the stuff out the kitchen, box what you won’t need and stack it in the living area. Set up the best you can with kettle/toaster/microwave etc. Get help wherever you can, bf, teens etc. Get out the house for breaks, go to coffee shops, library etc, teens to friends.
Good luck.

Sorry there's no cardboard box currently available for you as they've been reserved for the council and housing association tenants. And those pesky disabled people.

We'll let you know with 24 hours notice when theres one free 👍

I had mine done last year, and tbh they made it as pain free as they could. The water will only be off a short while and they will set up a tap for you to use in the interim before new stuff done. There is only certain periods when you cant go in that room, because the floor is curing, for example.
Both my kids are ASD and they coped. It was a pain but it was OK. Fridge moved to lounge to store food, insta pot and airfryer, plus toaster and kettle. only a couple of days of washing up in a bucket.
And now I have a lovely new kitchen

Thing is if the op does get a travel lodge does she get extra money for food? Because otherwise eating becomes costly unless she bring her air fryer and microwave with her, and to be honest that’s worse than having it in the living room of her home.

Spend a very small amount of money on container storage and put your boxes in there. It won’t be much money.

keep a microwave, toaster and slow cooker in your living room to cook.
use paper plates if you need to.
ask the builders if they can plumb your washing machine in a garage or use a laundrette once or twice.

I had no kitchen for 4 months and had a container put on our drive the first time but used offsite storage a second time.
and try not to worry!

Again do you understand we do pay for the kitchens through rent increases (a 3% increase was added to mine above the annual increase). I'm sorry that is to difficult a concept for you to grasp.

But how much is 3 percent, on 500 quid that’s 15 quid a month, it would take longer than the kitchen life expectancy to pay for it..

I'm really sorry about all the 'what do you think home owners do posts'. As a homeowner myself I was lucky enough to bugger off to Tenerife for a week whilst kitchen was getting done, Being disabled puts a very different spin on things, as does having a very small house, without taking into account 2 children with their own medical issues. Please do contact the HA, there might be somethings they could suggest.