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Original poster

Off to the housing association ......

13 replies

burstingbug · 02/08/2006 23:05

....to see if we can get somewhere better to live.
Have a letter from the Doctor & Health visitor about the state of my health - depression, back & joint pain and a letter from our landylady saying our 2 years are up for renting the flat.
Really hoping that they can put us on the list and we'll move out of here soon.
Anyone else had any experience of housing associations? What am I to expect?

OP posts:

Tortington · 02/08/2006 23:46

depending on the area they may tell you to go through the council.

they should be nice, helpful and welcoming - if they are not ask for a copy of their complaints proceedure and the number for the audit cmmision housing corportation and local newspaper - that will soon put rocket up some fuckers arse

wremember squeeky wheel gets the oil - if there is you and somone else both entitled to a property - they will give it the one who is causing them the most grief - just to fuck em off - i know i work for one!

letter from landlady may not suffice she has to abide by certain legal requirements with regards to eviction.

hold out for the area you want. once you are suitabley re-housed you wont ever get to move again!

expatinscotland · 02/08/2006 23:59

overcrowding? can you try this angle?

Original poster

burstingbug · 03/08/2006 09:19

My hv told me to make out like evey day is a bad day for me. which most days are.
my landlady had problems getting rid of a difficult tennent before us and had to go to court, don't think she wants that again.
I'm really concerned that they'll just turn us away and say we're ok where we are or it'll take forever to get somewhere.
It's taken me 7 months to sort out the paper work and get an appointment because i'm scared they'll say no!
As for over crowding, we're in a 2 bedroom 1st floor flat with me, dh, ds and a new baby as from next week, and a dog. I've heard that families with even more children than us end up in 2 bed flats with the parents sleeping in the lounge!!

OP posts:

Bucketsofdinosaurs · 03/08/2006 11:25

Are you able to get a mortgage? If so you might be able to afford a shared ownership house/flat through the housing association. It's another waiting list to go on but the more you're on the quicker you'll find somewhere. Definitely apply to your council aswell for rented accom, same reasons. You can always do an exchange to a housing assoc place later.

waterfalls · 03/08/2006 11:30

You have to lay it on thick, in my experience if they can they will fob you off, we tried enviromental health, gps, Health Visitor, and our local MP, they all provided letters, but none of that helped, in the end we resorted to Domestic Violence to get involved, there was no domestic violence, but luckily mil knew someone who worked in the field, so she layed it on thick and told them she could see domestic violence becoming an issue if we were'nt re housed soon due to stress and depression. We were moved 4 weeks later after trying fr over 2 years.

Original poster

burstingbug · 03/08/2006 11:32

It is the borough council's housing partnership we are applying for.
We looked at getting a mortgage last yr but could only get 76 thousand which had to pay off our debts too, so that would only leave us around 62 thousand for a house.

OP posts:

theflumpsmum · 03/08/2006 11:36

hi bursting...i hope you get on well and will follow this thread with interest.i have been on the housing list with both housing associations and councils in my area for 18 months and havent had any offers.unfortunatley when ex and myself split i moved in with my parents(with dc) and have been on the lists ever since.despite being very overcrowded,myself my dd(6) and ds(2) all share a room,and its causing no end of stress for myself,parents and my brother,they just tell me i have to be patient.
hopefully with you having to move out of your present accomodation you'll have more luck

Original poster

burstingbug · 03/08/2006 11:38

Ok, I'll have to go in with a huge tub of butter and lay it on in slabs then
I am concerned about the cannabis use that goes on and the smell of it that lingers on ds's pushchair down in the hallway. There is no way I can keep carrying it up and downstairs as I suffer from back and joint problems. which is only going to get worse when i have a young toddler, new born baby, shopping, and dog to cope with. Dh works varied shifts and can be out from 0500-1600 for an early shift or from 1300-0000 on a late shift, leaving me with a lot to cope with

OP posts:

nutcracker · 03/08/2006 12:00

Everyone is right, you need to lay it on very thick and make more noise about it than the other people also waiting to be moved.

Off the top of my head you need...

Letters from G.P and HV supporting you and they really need to state that in their opinion your living conditions are effecting you and or your childrens health.

If you ever need to ring the police about yor canabis using neighbours, get a incident number or a log number from them cos you can get points for suffering anti sical behaviour but you must have proof that the police were invovled.

Make it so that they know who you are and what yo want as soon as you ring them. If you sit back and wait for them to re house you then they will never offer you anything. He who shouts loudest wins.

Don't put down any area you know you wouldn't want to accept because thats the area they will offer you.

I don't think you'll qualify for overcrowding even if you have a Dd as they won't need seperate rooms for a while yet.

nutcracker · 03/08/2006 12:02

Oh and good luck.

Original poster

burstingbug · 03/08/2006 12:26

Thanks everyone.
Nutcracker - Dr has only written that I suffer from back pain and depression. HV has said where we are really isn't suitable and that it is affecting my health, and it is, and will deteriorate. She's also said that currently it's affecting the ability to take my 'sociable happy little boy' out and there's nowhere safe for him to play.
I'll tell them all I can, even if I repeat myself, I get so wound up about it all, I'm sure they'll get sick of me whinging!
I have called the police about some of the drug use and they said that they'll monitor it, but thats all the help from them I got! Will pursue this if I have to.
We have put down seveal areas to consider moving to, but I'm dreading that they may be worse than here.
As for overcrowding - I'll think they'll laugh at me if I told them that, although, space is a bit of an issue personally.

OP posts:

nutcracker · 03/08/2006 13:04

I would advise going to have a look around the areas you have asked for if at all possible.

Original poster

burstingbug · 03/08/2006 20:29

Well we went, we were told that it'll be at least a 2 year wait!
However, they have said they can help with housing benifit and will loan us money for a deposit and 1st months rent to get somewhere better. Which is better than nothing, so I think we are going to look for else to live and they'll top up our rent fees.

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