Lets get Nutty a house .......The battle has started but i'm not sure how to handle it ??

[Nutcracker]

Right as most of you know, there is currently a 4 bed house empty on the estate i live on. I cannot say how much it would mean to me and my family if we were to get the house. Unfortunatly it looks as though we won't get it, as we only have 3 kids and the house has an extra box room ( yeah i know, bags of room).
I am quite angry about the fact that none of my other circumstances seem to be being taken into account (medical poiunts, terrible neighbours e.t.c).
I know a lot about the ins and outs of what has gone on with this house and know that the official eviction is on wednesday (although the house has been empty for weeks). From wednesday the house will officially belong to Sanctuary again (although they will deny it again).
I need to let them know that i am not going to give up on this without a fight and put all of my points across without dropping the estates manager in it (he's told me lots of stuff he shouldn't). I know that there has been lies told, deadlines changed and generally alot of crap told to me about this house to put me off.
I have a very good position on the list and if the house was 3 bed i am pretty sure i would have got it without a fight.
The estates manager has requested that the H/A put a sympathetic tennant in the house so thsat they don't end up with the probs they had before. He has said that we are perfect for the house in terms of that we are very good tennants e.t.c

Am just not sure where to start really, and i'm getting stressed about it. I know my chances are very slim but i can't sit back and do nothing.

But if its a 4 bed house, and theres you and the three kids, then wouldnt you be right for that? Can you go and see the H/A or get your estates manager to recommend you to them? Or if you wrote to them explaining your side to it all? Dont think Im being of much help lol

ill keep my fingers crossed for you!!

What about going to see your Councillor? They are actually quite effective on local issues. Your council website should list them or just phone. Otherwise, maybe some sort of support and advocacy. Unfortunately I don't know much about that in terms of Housing problems, maybe someone else does.

TB - I have 3 kids but two are girls with only a two year age gap so they can share.

Davros - I have been to see a counciller and have also since seen the letter she wrote to the H/A. All she put was the stuff we mentioned about drugs in the block and nothing about us being overcrowded.

I feel that they should take into account the fact that i already live on the estate and have family on here too.
I also feel angry that i have bent over backwards to help gather evidence to help them evict my neighbour, but when i want some help from them all i get is sorry can't help you.

The people who lived in the house before have completely trashed it and the H/A reckon it will take 2/3 months to put right. If we had it we would only improve on what they do to it and help to give the street it's good reputation back.
Am not being big headed but we are good tennants, we always pay our rent, our kids aren't allowed to run riot around the estate and we have never had any complaints made against us.

The estates manager has told me he thinks we won't get it which makes me abit suspicious that they may already have someone lined up for it.

I am a bag of nerves today. I just wish they could tell me if i can have it or not and be done with it. I'm so sick of them lying and misleading me on purpose.

How does this ound as a conversation ???

Me : I'm just ringing to check wether you have added the followinh details to my file ??

H/A : Yes we have

Me : O.k, whilst i'm on can i ask you when 25 blah blah blah will be let ??

H/A : Well it's complicated and still not empty

Me : Really, how come the official eviction took place 5 minutes ago then, i've just watched it ??

H/A : Well it's not down as empty, and anyway you will be notified if you are going to be offered it.

Me: Well i know it is empty and i'm not going to stop ringing and asking until someone starts telling the truth.

H/A : If you are going to be offered it we will ring you. You are only down for 3 beds anyway.

Me : Well what a surprise, last week i was down for 3/4.

anyway thats where i get stuck, how do i argue in favour of me getting it ??

Hi Nutty - was just thinking about you and the "situation" today. I am C**p on the phone and if it appropriate I think I'd write it all down in a letter:

We are currently tennets on the XXX estate and have been on the waiting list for an exchange for 2 years.
We have xx points made up of the following
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
I have been told that we will be considered for a 3/4 bedroom house.
In addition to the points awarded I feel that we should be considered for xxxx because:

1. We have been tennents on the estate for x years and we have family here too.
2. Our children are happily settled in school in the area 3.We have always paid our rent on time and looked after our property.
3. We have help the HA out recently in collected information about our neighbours to help in their evicition.

dont' know if this helps Nutty? - I suppose you need to phone because of time constraints. Could you jot down the points in note form to refer to?
Also is the person you speak to a decision maker or a secretary - IYSWIM??

Hi Sonnet. Thing is i have said all of those things to them before and all they say is that there is that there isn't an section for that.

I had to bully thm in to giving me 10 points for the damp in the flat becuase they reckoned there wasn't a catacory for it.

I know i stand little chance of getting it and thought i was prepared for it but now i know i am going to be sooo dissapointed when they say no.
If we don't get it we face another 4 year wait at least.

Nutty - can't you rent privately and get housing benefit?

But Nutty have you put it all in writing. Hand deliver a letter to the HA office tonight with copies to your local councillor, mp, housing officer and anyone at all who could bring influence to bear and ask questions should it not happen for you this time. Remember people can deny verbal conversations alone to save their skins but were you to speak to them and say you will confirm it in writing it would be harder to do so.

message withdrawn

think the problem with renting privately and claiming hb is that you could be evicted at any time with only a months notice. this is what i do and it makes you not want to spend much money on your house whereas a council or ha house is basically yours-your not gonna get evicted unless you dont behave!

know how you feel tho nutty, is so frustrating, i have probably got at least 4 yr wait for a house in an ok area and up tp 8 yrs for an area id actually want to live in

Nutty,

I agree about sonnet's suggestion for a letter, but can you deliver it in person to the decision-maker?

I mean to go in and see him/her, and sit down and be very pleasant, but assertive (not aggressive) about why you think you should get this house. Stress that you were down for a 3 OR 4 bedroom house (take something in writing if you have it). Ask When the decision will be made, ask why the desicion may go against you (to try and put a reasonable argument to counter it), and what happens if it does. Explain that you are just very concerned about your children, and really want to resolve this ASAP. Try VERY hard to keep your cool, and be reasonable in your responses. Remember to thank the person for their time at the end.

I can't guarantee it would work, but it's what I'd do. and I have a reputation for 'getting where water can't'

I asked them to add dp's daughter to our file as she stays over at weekends. They have but also said that it won't make a difference.
We have also asked to speak to someone face to face and they refused.
When ds finally figures out how to climb out of his cot, i am planning on inviting them round to show me exactly where i should put his bed. At this rate he will have to have a hammock.

If they give the house to someone with 4 kids then i can't really do much complaining, although i will put it in writing about how i have been mislead and had my details changed several times.
If it goes to someone with 3 kids i will definatly be taking it as far as it will go.
There is a lady in a 2 bed house on this estate who has 3 kids. She has two boys with a 6 yr age gap and one dd aged 6. She reckons she will get it as she needs seperate bedrooms for the two boys cos of the age gap. The rule on age gaps for the same sex is supposed to be, seperate bedrooms for an age gap of 8 years or more.
She also doesn't have any probs with neighbours, and obviously does have more room than me at the mom and a garden. If she gets it i will be soooo angry.

I am trying to think the worst so that it won't hurt but in reality i know i'll be crushed

Oh one more thing, what do you think of this....

An empty 3 bed house on local council estate. I ring up and am told that it has been adapted for disabled person/s and has a stair lift e.t.c. They tell me that it will go to someone that needs those facilities, even if they don't need 3 beds.
A friend then tells me that a young couple have been seen looking at it. I decide to go and have a sneaky look and i'm very surprised to find that there is a step up to the front door and steps down from the back door. Neither had hand rails to help get up and down. Surely if this house has been adapted for someone who has difficulty climbing stairs/steps then there would be rails ??

Sorry menat to say that they have refused to tellme who makes the desicion.

nutty i'm sorry your struggle to find somewhere is going on so long - thinking of you X

Aaah thanks SM

Nutty, I have an adapted house with a step on the front door and a step down to the garden. I have no rails outside but have extra rails in the house on the stairs. I don't need many adaptions outside as the kids can manage with it all, but have to have the extra things inside, maybe it was adapted for children, like ours.

Hmm never thought of that meiow, but from what i've been told (by the next door neighbours) it was an elderly woman that lived there, and had the stair lift put in.

I just get the feeling i'm being lied to again and that is what annoys me most.

When the 4 bed became empty i asked them straight out if i would get it. They said well you will be considered and we have made sure that the powers that be know all about you. But at the same time they have lied to me about several things.
I am basically an honest person and have been honest in all of the details i have given to them.
The woman who is dealing with my anti social neighbours, told me two weeks ago that the house in question definatly wasn't empty. I have since found out that it was and she knew all about it.

The whole thing would be easier to handle if they were honest. Plus i'm quite upset that they got the details wrong and told me it was 3 bed. I was nearly doing cartwheels around the living room and cried buckets cos i knew i'd get it if it was 3 bed. Then they tell me it's 4 bed after all.
I just don't think i've been treated fairly.

Also my MIL has a stair lift, but is housebound so hardly goes out, so has no adaptions outside either. I know that if we ever moved from here, it would be given to a family with a disabled member as it has been extented and has a walk in shower room (flat floor for wheelchairs etc) I can't see them lying to you about a disabled house, though

Hmmm well it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they were lying, they have before now.
At the end of the day i don't trust them to do the right thing and give the house to someone who is next on the list.
There are so many people around here who have got houses that they shouldn't of got, but of course it's always denied.

I can't believe they still haven't housed you yet though, I had to fight to get this house, with a disabled child and one on the way (long story, might tell you sometime ), and then a few months later my cousin who was a single parent with one kid got given a three bedroom house, exactly the same style as this house, just round the corner, makes me mad!!!

I'm really not sure how they get away with it all the time but without proof what can i do.

and my SIL was given a three bedroom flat, a few weeks after she got married and she had NO kids at the time....... (and it was a lovely flat) aparently it was a mistake or so other SIL was told when she went to the council and complained as she was living in a 2 bed 1st floor flat, with no Cental Heating, Double glazing, an oopen flat with two kids......

open fire, sorry!!