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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

In expecting the council to provide a house that i can actually move into??? (long, sorry)

82 replies

Deemented · 03/01/2009 08:17

Some background first - my hubbs died last August, and now my children and i have to move home. We were living in an adapted bungalow as my hubbs was disabled, and now the council need this bungalow back. Which is fair enough, before we moved here i did sign a waiver saying that should anything happen to hubbs then i would be willing to be rehoused.

So, on December 19th, the housing officer calls round here and tells me that a house has become available for me, and that they need me to move in within a fortnight - my tenancy is due to start on the 5th Jan. Despite the fact that it was Christmas week, and despite the fact that it was our first christmas without hubbs i took it on the chin and got cracking.

I was given a £50 decorating voucher as neither of the childrens rooms have been stripped ect, and the wallpaper was hanging off, so enlisted the help of some friends and we started to strip the walls. Behind the wallpaper, the walls are in a terrible state - holes big enough that i can fit my hand in, and holes with random pieces of wire sticking out of them ect. An inspector came out and had a look and said that yes, they need work carrying out on them and that the plasterers were about 4 months behind. I explained that i was due to be in the house quite soon, and he told me... oh well.. just stick some old newspaper in the walls and some polyfilla over it

I then spoke to my housing officer who asked me to take both children in the same bedroom as me for a few months until the work has been done - i told her that that wasn't happening. My son has health problems which sometimes mean he has very disturbed nights and whilst i can manage that, he tends to disturb the baby if they are in the same room, hence me having a 3 bed house in the first place.

SO back to the house - there is no electric or gas there currently - the previous tenant left debts on both meters, and am waiting for the utilities to send me out cards so that i can get them back on. Then the council need to come and do an inspection of both gas and elec, before i can move in.

Which brings me back to the state of the house. The council have boarded up the fresh air vent that comes in from outside - now i'm not a whizz at things like this, but i do believe that that might be dangerous and could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, especially as there is a gas fire in the front room which has a boiler behind it? There's also a three inch hole in the ceiling where they have resited the lights and not bothered to fill, hence being able to see directly into the electrics.

Then there's the bathroom - they haven't connected the bath properly, so when i happened to turn the tap on, water flooded all over the floor.

And yet they still expect me to be moved in by monday - or they will start charging me double rent.

AIBU in the fact that i want a home that i can actually move into - at the very least i won't move in until the heatings been on a while - i'm not taking my baby into a freezing home when i have the keys to a lovely warm bungalow.

What do you think - AIBU?

OP posts:

LoveMyGirls · 03/01/2009 08:23

OMG that is awful, can you go to your local papers with this? They can't possibly expect you to just put up with being treated like this!

bigTillyMint · 03/01/2009 08:23

Why do councils think they can treat people like this?

YANBU to stay put until they get it sorted to at least a reasonable level.

sunnydelight · 03/01/2009 08:26

Of course YANBU. It sounds like you have been through a really tough time and the Council is being incredibly insensitive. You really need someone to fight your corner for you - is there a CAB nearby? They will know the legal stuff around housing and might be able to negotiate on your behalf . Hope things get sorted for you .

choosyfloosy · 03/01/2009 08:47

Bloody hell.

Thought I'd posted on this but it seems to have disappeared. No time for CAB IMO. You need to attack this on several fronts.

Make a list of the minimum requirements you have, in order to move into the house- something like:

bath connected properly
Reassurance that ventilation is safe from Environmental Health officer.
Holes around lighting made safe.

I would say, ring your local councillor NOW and ask for help urgently. Ring the chief exec of the council. ring your MP. Do not give up the keys to your bungalow. If you haven't got any joy by Monday, go straight to the press.

MollyCherry · 03/01/2009 08:59

I'm with choosy - this is bloody horrific. Have you got photos of the probs or can you get some? Will strengthen your case when you contact other organisations to back you up, as they'll be able to see immediately how bad it is, and especially if you do need to go to the local rag to get them moving.
Best of luck - hope you get it sorted soo and without too much hassle.

choosyfloosy · 03/01/2009 11:42

hope somebody's answering the phone deemented.

Notalone · 03/01/2009 11:48

. So sorry you are having to go through this, you sound like you have enought to deal with without all this too. Would second what everyone else has said, take photos of everything, and contact your lcoal councillor then the press if necessary. We had to contact our local councillor due to drains in a car park behind our house flooding so much that our house was at risk of being flooded too. She was amazing and she had the contacts for us to sort it out quickly before our house flooded.

The press love stories like this and the poor advertising will be enough to get the council moving. Another story for you is of a friend of mine who had been on the waiting list for a council house for 10 years with medical priority, and she knew of others without medical priority who had been on the list for less and were getting houses. She had no joy with the council themselves, but her mum had had enough so she went to the local press on behalf of her daughter and sure enough a week after the story was published she was allocated a house in a good area.

Good luck and keep posting on here. What area are you in BTW - maybe someone here lives near you who can also help? I am in Yorkshire BTW

BoffinMum · 03/01/2009 11:57

This is definitely one for the local councillor and the local press. In the meantime consider phoning a local housing association and seeing if they can house you temporarily while the council get their act together.

BoffinMum · 03/01/2009 11:58

PS It's shame we can't get DIYSOS to help though!!

Tortington · 03/01/2009 12:00

have you sind a tenancy agreement for the other house?

Tortington · 03/01/2009 12:00

signed

Tortington · 03/01/2009 12:01

please for the love of god take photographs of everything.

then i beg you to follow the official complaints proceedure.

people only move their arses when a manager is kicking it

but absolutley do threaten them with papers - show them photographic evidence and tell them you are going to papers and sendinga copy to the council.

IllegallyBrunette · 03/01/2009 12:02

I definatly would not move into the house in that state as once you have moved in it will be harder for you to get the things done. See at the moment you are taking up a bungalow that they have probably already offered to someone so you are in a good position to get them to moves their arses and do this stuff.

My house was in a similar state when I moved in as the previous tennents were evicted. The HA did as little as possible to put it right. I even had to chase them for window lock keys as all of the windows were locked. They said it wasn't up to them to provide keys or change the locks.
I told them that in the event of a fire, if myself and my children couldn't get out then I would make sure someone sued them on my behalf.

They changed all of the locks a few days later.

Tortington · 03/01/2009 12:02

if you give me your LA i will try and find some info

emskaboo · 03/01/2009 12:18

Have you ended your current tenancy, i.e. handed anything to your housing officer in writing? If not they can't make you leave your current property.

Have you signed the new tenancy on the new property? If not it isn't your responsibility and you don't have to move in.

What was the nature of the waiver you signed? It may not be legally binding.

I would very strongly suggest you call Shelter on 0808 8004444, they are housing specialists and will be able to provide advice over the telephone. (I used to work for a housing law specialists and I really think you need to get some advice asap.) All advice about your MP is good, get onto them, and lots of luck.

GypsyMoth · 03/01/2009 12:31

you must have signed the new tenancy agreement then? as you already have had access to the keys?

aidansyummymummy · 03/01/2009 12:36

shelter, papers and MP.......this is a disgrace.

something you have to kick up a huge fuss for things to be done and believe me your problems deserve one hell of a kick off.

Also keep a diary of events as as the days go by things can become hazy especially with so much stress

Good Luck

spookycharlotte121 · 03/01/2009 12:41

Gosh thats awful I agree with the other about contacting your mp and local paper etc. Its simply not accemptable especially when you have a young baby and a child with sn.
When I moved in to my place it was a hovel.... but i was that depserate for somewhere to live that I took it. The council gave me £350 for decorating which was pityful IMO as there was no flooring down in any of the rooms and each room needed to be wallpapered and had a lot of prep work to do before hand. I have been living here nearly a year now and the living room kitchen and the kids rooms are finished but the rest of the place is a dump.

Sorry to hear that they are being so disgusting towards you. Hope things work out for you.

SpookyMadMummy · 03/01/2009 12:44

Afaik if you call the utility companies they should come out and connect you and give you emergency credit until you get the cards through the post.

ABudafulSightWereHappyTonight · 03/01/2009 12:45

It sounds utterly disgusting. Lots of good advice on here though. Am so sorry you are having to go through this so soon after losing your husband.

GypsyMoth · 03/01/2009 12:53

get the inspector out again! he's the key to getting the work actually done. try and get him on side and point out the health/safety issues

hifi · 03/01/2009 15:15

as if you havent got enough to cope with. good luck.

Northernlurker · 03/01/2009 16:57

What kind of a unfeeling council tells a widow she has to move the week before Christmas anyway? Let alone tries to move young children into somewhere which sounds like it needs a total revamp. If you get no where with the contacts mentioned below - please go to your local paper - it can't make things worse can it. Hope things improve for you soon.

expatinscotland · 03/01/2009 17:03

i would under NO circumstances sign a new tenancy agreement on that place.

WalkingInAWonderStuffingLand · 03/01/2009 17:05

YANBU Hope you get it sorted soon x

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