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.

Yep. Housing Associations pay for themselves through rents and they’re not for profit organisations.
I think where people get confused is that some and I mean only some tenants receive benefits. Even people working 40 hours a week are entitled to benefits if they are in private rented accommodation because of the extortionate rents so actually private rentals cost the tax payer far more than any housing association ever could

Oh and mortgages have been subsidised for years by artificially low interest rates which has been a kick in the teeth for savers.

A colleague at work didn’t want to “better homed”

She said the stuff that was put in was poor quality in comparison to what she had.

She also wanted to buy the property, she had succeeded the property from her mother, but wanted/needed the maximum discount in order to buy it.

She has lived there all her life, and had grand designs for the place.

She didn’t let them in - plain and simple - every bit of correspondence she got she said it wasn’t convenient and kept up that line, til the day she submitted her right to buy application, and they didn’t ask again to better home her.

She believed they needed a court warrant if she didn’t let them in.

Subsidised by who? The banks? The state? Renters?
Don't think so, we all benefied from cheap credit.

The government and the Bank of England. The Bank kept interest rates low so that people who had overstretched didn’t lose their houses.

This thread is insane lol 😂

@SENwoes
It might be worth approaching the caravan park owners for your mum's caravan on the off-chance they'd be ok with you camping out there for a week or two, particularly if they're a smaller independent venue they may be OK about it as a one-off. Depends of course on the T&C of their operation. But it would at least be familiar for your kids.

Clicking Reply doesn't tag anyone or quote any comments, it's basically just a shortcut to the comment box. You need to click the 3 dots in the top right of a comment then click Quote.

At the moment you're just talking to yourself and no-one knows who you are responding to.

Yes to the going around in circles!

Very frustrating to see the ridiculously high number of people who feel the need to have their deeply unoriginal say without even bothering to read YOUR comments let alone check if their dense opinion has been spouted fifty million times already.

oh thanks 😂 can't say i ever use this maybe it's for the best anyways

in what way

@Dramasloth

I think they juts wanted to comment again but ran out of shite

Agree. What I’ve pointed out is true. Some people just like others to kick. Low interest rates meant they got cheaper credit? Ha! Credit is just debt x

I think what some folks are missing is that social rent covers all the costs of renting a property, it does pay for itself, but it doesn’t pay for the initial capex investment to build the property, that is at tax payers expense. And that’s why private rent is more expensive, as it often covers the mortgage etc.

Some councils are now charging a bit more to try to help pay for new council houses, but it is still largely at the tax payers expense.

We had a complete refurbishment done, all electrics, plumbing, plastering everywhere, new bathroom, kitchen, floors, and I lived in there throughout which took several months. I did have a few days without full utililties but they rigged up electricity - you should be fine as the kitchen will probably have a separate electricity supply anyway. The work I had done was very dusty but a kitchen doesn't result in nearly as much mess.
You need a microwave and a portable induction hob so that you can cook, you just need to make sure that the water and electricity are on for mealtimes. I'm guessing that the HA can provide the hob and microwave if you don't have them. It would be good if you can also borrow a decent sized air-fryer that bakes so that you can cook most things. The fridge/freezer can be in another room.

Hopefully you can persuade your DC that it is fun, like a picnic every day.

Would you love her disability too?

Yes its very much " Cancel the Cheque " isn't it?

They are not free because she doesn't own the house
And for he umpteenth time if you saw are state of these brand new kitchens you wouldn't be delighted with them.

@SodOffbacktoaibu bloody well said!

Lol, it is exactly like that!

Such a lot of ignorance around social housing. Assumptions that everyone is on benefits. They’re not. They are just not at the mercy of private landlords who are currently taking advantage of the housing shortage and ripping the piss out of tenants. Pick on them for a change. Don’t kick those like OP that are already down. A new kitchen IS a big upheaval. It’s one that can be gotten through but it’s bloody inconvenient especially if it’s forced upon you x

So I got a reply, it’s a definite no on helping us with accommodation but this is what they have planned - looks like it will be the full 2 weeks with no kind of functional kitchen at all.

It is a massive pain, but surely being at home is better as you can set up a microwave/airfryer/kettle area etc?

I don't get how staying in a Travelodge will help as you will have to pay for 3 meals a day for the whole family?

i have an electrical check next Monday which i have to have and have been forced to have Fine. Macintyre book it for next Monday then i get a phone call this morning asking if they could do it this afternoon as they have had a cancellation (its more likely they have another one round here somewhere and want to do it at the same time) I said no as i have an appointment elsewhere this afternoon which i booked four weeks ago. They really do think we are at home all day every day.

As I read it, the asked you. They didn't dictate it or assume anything. You were able to say no.

Same happens if you book a tradesman yourself. They've been times when I've been very glad of someone calling me and offering to come earlier due to a cancellation. I don't think "how dare s/he assume that I'm available?"

I haven’t had time to read through everything, but I went through the same thing as you. They did our kitchen and bathroom at the same time.

could you buy a cheap tent and store some stuff in that? That is what I did. So things like baking trays, lots of cups and plates et cetera. Baking dishes. Everything that wasn’t electrical.

I had to make a space in the living room for a microwave. The fridge went in the hallway.

I bought two paddling pools and filled them up, using the hot tap from the bathroom and the kids put on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts and washed in that. They put one paddling pool on top of the other and I stood there with a very large blanket to wrap them in and they ran in the house.

I washed my hair in the garden, using two buckets!

washing clothes was a problem, I had to use the Laundrette or hand wash. There are £30 mini machines you can buy, but they don’t spin the water out. If somebody can do your washing for you, that would be great.

Food consisted of microwave meals, sandwiches and takeaways. After two weeks, the kids were begging for vegetables.

After about 530, the workmen stopped working. The kids could explore the space that was created. Once they install the kitchen. You do get a sink that you can use.

I don’t know what the agreement is, but the contractors gave us a makeshift sink after they had finished for the day. It was basically a wooden frame with a sink on connected up.