Hello,
We are a family of five living in a one bedroom first floor, council flat. We have three children (two of which have a diagnosis of ASD), all children are under the age of ten. It has been very difficult for us as we cannot afford to rent in the private sector, DP no longer works as he was made redundant and is still continuously seeking employment which is proving really difficult. I don’t work as I am the full time carer to my children.
The neighbours below us are a lovely elderly couple of whom are disabled and the DH is dying due to poorly health. We are constantly apologising to them because of the amount of noise the children are always making, honestly it’s just so heartbreaking, we really don’t know what to do with our situation, we are clearly overcrowded and this is having a huge impact on our whole family unit, due to lack of space, sleep deprivation as one our DC has other underlying health issues which keeps us up most of the night, amongst so many other issues which is just very overwhelming for the children.
The Housing department have basically said that there is nothing that they can do for us and have gone as far as making this one bedroom property our now “permanent accommodation” as we were previously under the “temporary accommodation” status up until last month. We have been living in this property for the past six years. The condition of the property is also not good and after having approached the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), it’s evident to see just how serious and very real the housing crisis is almost everywhere. I just can’t help but think that there must be some help out there somewhere.
I would be very appreciative of any recommendations for any services, organisations or good Solicitor Firms specialising in Housing Law.
Thank you for taking the time to read.