Can anyone help me ... i need advice on housing ......

[Scoobydooooo]

Yes i am in the crapiest of situation & have spent the whole morning crying whats new hey!

Well we are in private rented & have been for the past 2 years in this house, we have a assured shorthold tenancy which ends on the 1st september 2006 the lanlord had served us with a "section 21" notice for eviction on the 18th september we are on the council housing list & i have been speaking to them on & off now since about april, i only have 25 points & we need 95 they have said.

I get on really well with the landlord & he has been very nice & understanding but he does want to move back into his property & is hoping to on the 18th BUT i have phoned the council again today & they have told me come the 18th i do not have to leave & he will have to take me to court la la la la i do NOT want to go to court, i am extremley down & really struggling with this how situation i dont know where to turn but i honestly have sat here today & thought i can not go through this anymore...

My HV still visits me at home because i have PND & i see my docotr about twice a month i can not take this stress its wearing me down & i feel like running away, it has put trmedous amount of stress on mine & dp's relationship.

I have tried everything i have even written to the MP he was very nice & he did try but the council just fobbed him off.

So what the hell can i do now? i just can't go on like this.....

Everyone likes stability about where they're living when they have two small kids, scooby, so I can see how this must be horrible for you. I would want to run away too! And I know it'd make me an emotional wreck.

You need to be firm with others, not yourself. Get your doctor on the case to help you feel better and get Shelter on the case to sort out your housing. Your dp might not be the best person to help you just now if he's really stressed too.

Try and think of that day in the future when it's all sorted - you can get there.

Come on scooby, don't give up!!!!
You've had a bad time, but you will get there, i promise.
If you have depression, you're going to feel like CRAP, it'll make you feel like you can't be bothered and that getting away from it all will make it better. It won't!!!

You need AD's to help you through this stressful time.
Your partner will be feeling as stressed as you.

You do need to talk to each other and get through this together as it involves both of you.

Have you called the council again?
Keep at them, they won't bother if you don't.

What about CAB or Shelter, call them as you need this sorting fast.

Keep in touch though.

Have you spoken to your HV again?

She may have some advice for you.

Be as strong as you can. You will get through this and it'll be like a bad dream when it's all over.

Well i went to the doctors this morning she said to me she had recieved my letter which i was glad of because that ment i did not have to sit there telling her all that was wrong in front of my ds.

She has told me she is very cross with the council from all angles, 1) because the council said to me i needed to get another letter from her with regards to my mental state etc, she says they know that this is not the policy & that they should not be asking me to do this, she said they have all my medical history & that if they want more information they are suppost to contact her & pay for the service.
2) she is also cross because she says there are 2 very young children involved in all of this & i need to get ds's name down for his schooling & also need him settled in his pre-school, i am unable to do this because we will not know what area we are living in.

She said she knows full well that the council have just had some brand new homes built & that it seems they are just putting extreme pressure on somebody who is down already & doing her best with her kids etc

Outcome is she is going to write to the council explaining everything with regards to the policy etc etc & she said she knows the councils "doctor" because she worked with her for 30 years before she started as a doctor for the council so she is writing to her to explain everything about me & advising i need to speak to theere doctor about everything.

So far i have heard not a word from the council, no reply to my letter to the "housing manager" no reply to my "housing update form" & i have phoned there offices 9 times in the last 2 days & had an answerphone everytime.

So when it comes to mondays post if there is still nothing i will be phoning again & pushing & pushing them.

I also have some ad's again now & she has given me some sleeping pills because i am not sleeping very well at night & am shattered in the day from looking after my 2 babies

havnt read whole thread but just to give you some hope....we were in private rented and noticed v severe cracks in walls and damp.landlord uninterested we contacted the council only for them to condemn it.they said i had no chance of ever gettin council and were not officially homeless,plus couldnt get mortgage cause husband just started own buisness.had two young kids and one wage so bit scared to say least but fought and fought(and fought)and eventally they housed in in a fab house in really nice village which we were then able to bye at a discount price and we have never been more settled.keep chin up and keep fighting,sometimes things happen for a reason and you may even end up happier in the long run.good luck.

el123456 - Thanks for that it's great to hear positive stories

when you say you fought & fought what sort of things did you do?

went to council every other day with as many kids in tow as possible(they agree to anything just to get rid of you)wrote letter after letter appealing my case,took in proof we had no other options available to us,letters from my gp to prove the serious stress i was under,the fight was gettin on the homeless register,after that they housed us fairly quickly.i felt i had a very genuine case and basically refused to be fobbed off.they are so used to blaggers they kind of addopt a"ok,heard it all before attitude"
it was very stressful for all of us but i really had no other choice than to keep fighting.

oh and havin read a bit more i was also suffering from pnd which def makes it harder to keep going.you WILL be ok.i went to see a phsychotherapist instead of ad which worked really well and was a great way to vent some frustration about the whole situation.(had to pay privately though)and cab were brill to for good advice on dealing with the council.

oh scooby I have been thinking of you and wondering how you were doing.
Just reading your most up to date stuff makes me ashamed to be a housing officer ( ex)
I would like to think that even altho I was not able to help everyone that I at least treated them well and that they felt better - not worse!! - after speaking to me.
I know that it has been a slog for you but believe it or not you are in a strong position ie your situation is urgent .
Hang on in there sometimes the worst times are just are as you are about to turn the corner.
Wish I was your housing officer and could sort you out.

Scooby hun so pleased you went to the docs. I really hope her letter helps and you must not give up!! I promise it will get better and things will get sorted. The ad's should kick in within a couple of weeks and hoepfully give you the extra push to keep going.

Thoughts with you xxxxx

Thanks everyone, i feel better for speaking to the doctor & also for getting my tablets which i will stick to now

I still have many moments feeling down & wanting to run away but then relaity kicks in & i think i have to fight to get to where i want to be, i know we will get there in the end.

el123456 - When you went to the offices what sort of things were you saying to them? & were you fighting with everything they said? I know if i went in there & said look this is my situation & this is what needs doing, they would just say yes miss XX but you are not top priority & there are people a lot worse off than you la la la.... they just like fobbing people off thats what bothers me...

I am going to start going into the offices soon with my kids & questioning what the hell they are intending to do because i am sick & tired of all the conflicting advice & wrong advie they are giving me, i thought these people are suppost to help & support you not push you to the bloody edge.

It's like my sister said to me today do they really want to push people so far that they actually do something stupid? it's very true because some people can be very vulnerable & not know how to deal with things like this.

Can you make an appointment with the housing manager??

Probably i now have his name because it is who the MP wrote to & he forwarded me the letter

I have just written to him & am waiting for him to reply but like everything with that place it all takes weeks....

I will be calling again on monday & i will ask to make an appointment with him as i am fed up with them now, no one is talking to me, no one is ansering me & i have an evicition date in 17 days

Go to the office on Mon morning - say that you would like to speak to the housing manager. If they say he is not available at the moment ask if u can wait - if they say no then ask for an appointment If they know that u are not going to go away they will deal with u.

think that hits the nail on the head.if they see how determined you are they will deal with you.when i say i went every other day i really wasnt exaggerating,i tried to take someone with me for moral support.there is a genuine shortage of council houses in many areas now(thanks to idiots like me buying them)and this was part of the problem in my area,it is so hard to prove your need is greater than somebody elses.with a genuine case though(and yours certainly is)you will eventually get the help you need.trying to think back is proving quite emotional as it was such an awful time and i really do feel for you.sit in the office and refuse to move until someone sees you and then demand to know how much worse things have to get before they will help you.dont worry about repeating yourself,or seeming demanding and remember the screaming kids!

Thanks for the advice every little thing does help towards what i should or could be doing.

Another massive blow is that Dp's mum phoned yesterday to say that his Grandad is in a coma & is brain dead,he has been having loads of heart problems & he collapsed, it's now a matter of time for that awful phone call

Feeling very down today & dd is driving up the wall because she is just not sleeping think she can feel my mood.

your bound to feel down with all the stress you are under.the ad should help,i would have taken them but i didnt want to stop b.feeding.my dad had died just before my son was born(hence the pnd)you will get through it.i found it good to get out of the house as much as poss,the four walls always made things seem worse and you need to chat to people as much as you can.have you got many friends that you can have a good moan to?

sorry by way,wasn't suggesting mn not great for support,just meant face to face.hope you are feeling ok today and have had a good weekend,get down that office in the morning and demand the help you are entitled to."go kick some ass"as they say!!!

Hello everyone,

I have been unable to go to the offices today because i have had alot to do, dp's grandad passed away on saturday so have been trying to sort flowers to send & also arrange things as we live over 2oo miles away from them

I did however phone crawley shelter this morning & spoke to a lovely lady who has given me advice & also given me some quotes from the housing law which i need to give to the council.

I also phoned the council again & spoke with someone she said i am on the homeless list & it has a note next to it saying "under investigation" what ever that bloody means.
I explained all my mental helth side of things & also how it's affecting my son & how i can not put his name down for a school because i have no idea where we are going to live.

I asked to make an appointment with the housing manager to which she said i dont really see the point because there is not alot else we can do at this time.

They have an update form i sent in & she said they will be writing to me this week so i will be waiting to hear then all systems go, i am ready for the fight i think they know i am not going to give up because she was reading all the system about all my phone calls & letters & my vistits (2) that i have done to the council.

She did however explain that they will most definatly not put me in b&b because the goverment have set new rules saying that they can only use b&b if it is an absolute emergency & in the case of having small children it is a no go so this was quite reassuring but god knows where we are going to end up.

They are still trying to push me into another rented property but i am totally refusing to do it because in the end i am going to have to go back to the council to house us anyway because we really can not afford rented & dp said if thats the case we will have to live seperate because he can not afford it on his one wage.

Also, rented means you have to come up w/deposit and fees to letting agent. Then if hte landlord decides to sell up, move in or that he no longer wants you as a tenant, in 6 months, you're back to where you started.

But they don't have to know that at the council.

When they try to push you into that, just say you've been trying, but haven't found anyone willing to let to you, or htat you have no money for deposit or fees.

F*ckers. Just trying to fob you off, I'm afraid.

Expat - I know what your saying they have said to me they are also looking, i am not actually lieing there is nothing to let, i told them i can not go thrugh an agent because we have bad credit ( a lie i don't by dp does from 5 yrs ago)they told me to keep looking in the paper & they are looking to & will let me know.
They said they will pay 1 months rent & 1 months deposit but no fees & no more than 1 months deposit i have to find that money.

I am totally point blank refusing i will be using every excuse i can as there is no way i am going through this living hell again, i am near the end now & i will not give in till they help me, i am prepared for the totally grotty hole they will probably put me in but then i thought if i think like that then anything better will be a bonus

It's not an assured tenancy when you let privately, so there's always the chance you can be turfed out.

So use every excuse in the book. I mean, lay it on thick, including saying your psychic and the place in haunted, you don't have the money for deposit, you sprained your ankle and can't manage the stairs, etc.

You have to play hard ball w/these people b/c for the most part they can't be arsed b/c there is such a huge shortage of affordable housing to rent.

I will be using all excuses, they know there is an area restriction because i point blank refuse to move ds to another pre-school because he is now settled & escaped from the last one, also i have said i need to be by my mother because she helps me out alot. I will also say that if they want to put me into rented then my childrens father will not be living with us because we can not afford it, so i will move in it on my own & they can pay my rent.

I will play on the fact we have had to move house 3 times in the past 5 yrs & my kids are unsettled & i am fed up of not having any stability which is actually true.

I fought and fought for my council house too. I sold my house with my ex and because I couldn't rent (dp and I didn't earn enough between us)and loads of debt which all the house proceeds went towards. I had no other choice but to declare us homeless. The council said they were under legal obligation to temporarily rehouse ie b and b me, apparantly thats the law (but then we are in wales so it might be different)they turned round and said that because I agreed to sell (din't have much choice in the matter, shitty ex stopped paying the mortgage) I was intentionally homeless.

Well I wasn't happy at that and was fortunate enough to meet a senior housing officer at homestart which my local organisor arranged. I explained everything and was able to prove our income etc. I had a letter two days later, over riding the homeless officer saying we had been accepted and the council would permanetly rehouse us. I don't think I would have had this decision if it hadn't been for the fact I had homestart behind me and our local homstart do work with the council at times.

After I had this decision I fully expected to wait my turn and go into B and B whilst they found us a house. It still didn't stop me from going into the offices and making myself known to them, I also phoned everyday and hounded them.

In the end we got a 3 bed house not where our first choice was but not far.
we only got it because 3 people in front of us had turned it down and also because we put down a wide area to live in which they saidhelped a great deal because a lot of people are fussy.

oh yes and also before I got the decision, I got support letters written from everyone I could think off. HV, doctor ( Iwas also depressed and on anti d's), my homestart organisor, even the school nurse! This all helped.

I really hope you get somewhere but you have to fight for it. The council don't care less at groundlevel you have to make yourself heard.

Thanks for sharing that sheepgomeep.

I have just recieved an email back because i have been annoying them from all angles & i just want to give up

I read it & all i can see is barrier after barrier....

oh ........