Council house/compensation

[Mummy289]

Hello,
Please don’t judge 🤣, live in a council house but both work and pay our rent…

We have 4 children, 3 with autism/ld/adhd.

Our concrete living room floor has perished. We have not had all the tests yet, but it’s either going to mean a concrete floor laid or the floor being re screened.
We are going to need to be out the house for a week, the council also want us to move all our furniture up stairs (hubby has a bad back and on reg meds and I’m not very strong 🤣). It’s a massive sofa too.
They won’t pay for storage.
They did suggest we stay, although we can’t get in our kitchen as we go through the lounge and my kids with asd would struggle to understand this.
The kitchen is tiny and I have a 2 year old who I can’t leave up stairs while I cook and walk around the front.
Is it to much to expect them to pay some sort of money for us to find some where to stay? I’m assuming for us would need to be a caravan site with WiFi (hubby works from home). Kids can’t cope in a hotel and need room. Esp as it’s a whole week. Would be close to there Sen school, as they can’t have time off.
Am I being unreasonable to not pay my self? It’s going to be winter when it’s done so it’s not a free holiday. But the kids are so fussy with food I would still need to cook, and do pack lunches etc.

Ask them to follow their decampment policy

Yes I do actually. Decamp upstairs for the duration of the works

Fair enough there might not be a legal obligation, but it's not unreasonable for OP to ask. At the very least she should be able to pay reduced rent for that week. The council are treating her pretty shittily IMHO given the circumstances.

@Cockerel77 I’m not asking for temp accommodation that’s why I was worried I was asking to much. It would need to a caravan.
have no neighbours that can help. It’s the room as our living room is a lounge dinner so all the furniture upstairs is going to take the rooms up.

however I do now feel I was asking to much. We should be able to cope in the one room as other people here would do it.

@Cattery and @ToBeOrNotToBee thanks never heard of it before having a read now.

It's just one week.

Stack the furniture so that one room worth of furniture doesn't take up two bedrooms.

Children are at school, so get them a school lunch.

Breakfasts can be v. simple and not need cooking (bread & jam or cereal or porridge pot or croissant or yoghurt or a banana etc).

One parent looks after children, whilst other parent uses kitchen to cook dinners.The odd takeaway or meal out might lift the spirits too.

Washing up done in the kitchen while kids at school.

It's a pain, but honestly manageable for just one week.

The council aren't going to pay for a holiday caravan for you because they are fixing one floor surface for a few days.

@Mummy289

Speak to your childrens special school to see if they can help.

I don't know their ages, but they may be able to arrange some respite or help contacting some agencies or charities that can advise or help.

They might be able to write a letter letting the council know it is not a suitable environment for the children to be in.

Moving the furniture, can you put a request on your local Facebook or community pages requesting some help moving the furniture, depending on where you live or if you feel happy asking.

Look at your house insurance to see if any of the expenses would be covered or if your flooring, decoration, or sofa are covered.

I'd ask whether there is anyway they could build a temporary covering over the concrete flooring. Like a raised decking just above the floor. If not over the entire room, then enough to allow a walkway to get to/from the kitchen to make it a bit easier.

There is a housing shortage, so l doubt the council will rehouse you for a week. Your home isn't uninhabitable while they do the repairs that maybe the reason alternative accommodation hasn't been offered...
Could you not make food in advance and freeze it, then just reheat in a microwave.Regardless of your children's conditions, l very much doubt the council with pay you to live elsewhere for one wk.
If you move out of your own accord you will still be expected to pay the rent on your home, because it is your decision to move out....Really hope you can get things sorted that you are happy with, good luck

Thanks @stopringingme @mrsm43s sadly the rooms are not very big so
it will take up 2. Are you very knowledgeable on autism/adhd/ld?I was worried it would be seen as a holiday it wouldn’t as everyone would be working and at school and it’s going to be winter . My kids sadly can’t just eat takeaway… really restricted diets, autism, sensory issues 🤦🏼‍♀️.

I think we will just pay. Thanks for all your advice.

@hcee19 I was never asking for a temp house. My kids couldn’t cope with any where different 🤦🏼‍♀️. I know that’s not possible.

its only about £100 for the week, however all together the costs to us will be over £1000 🤦🏼‍♀️. But hey ho. It’s a council house shouldn’t of put nice carpet down the first time 🤣

If you buy two big tarpaulins (£20 ish) and place one in the back garden, and pile all your furniture on then put the other tarp on top. Bring up the lower tarp to meet the upper, and roll them together (roll down not up so that rain doesn't get in) and use gaffer tape to secure, if you do this carefully so as to allow no water ingress your furniture will be safe and dry and you'll have more room upstairs.

Have a microwave, airfryer and single hotplate on a table in one bedroom.

You can wash up in the bath if you can't get to the kitchen.

Work in social housing, could you ask for your council to fund the storage of some of your furniture? So that you don’t need to take up two rooms and then have more space for the family? We’ve certainly done this for tenants. Do you have a housing officer?

@SleepGoalsJumped we have 7ft glass cabinets and some lovely furniture. Our sofe was expensive too. Thing is we have saved and worked really hard to afford all this. Will for them to break for £100 we will just pay. Glad I asked as it would have been to much to ask and sounds if you rent it’s kinda your problem too. We are very rural and gets really windy.
I know I sound like I’m making issues out of food but I’m not they would just starve 🤣. I can’t just give them school dinners.
My concern is meeting the kids needs. I will just happily pay the rest and replace what is needed.

You're wasting your time asking on here OP. You're a council tenant, so therefore get it all free and therefore should suck up having to go outside in November weather to cook meals for disabled kids with restricted diets 🙄not to mention cram all your furniture upstairs so you all have to stay in one room. You should be GRATEFUL yanno.

This place man.

There's no way you're going to be able to do it like that. Your kids won't cope for one. You can't cook for disabled kids in one room when they have different needs. It would have to be the takeaways they'll eat for the duration at the very least.

Why is it always November for the most disruptive works? Boggles my head.

I'm sure no one would judge you for renting, whether it's social housing or on the open market—it’s all the same. In fact, nearly all Western countries rent. The stigma around renting seems to be unique to the culture in this country.

Moving on. I used to work in the housing department, and typically, they’ll place you in temporary accommodation for the time being. Be sure to explain to them what a challenging day looks like for you and your family, including the reasons why they need to accommodate all of you based on the facts you've shared. Wishing you the best of luck!

@Rshard that's what I would suggest too- bang your lounge stuff in storeage and use a microwave and air fryer upstairs and get a few more takeaways

If they were renting privately I’m not sure the landlord would have to pay for staying elsewhere either. The issue doesn’t seem due to negligence, and the work is essential and for a week only.
Honestly OP I think you need to suck it up for a week. As PP suggested, you could cook meals downstairs while your DH looks after the children / eat out / eat picnic style etc.

For a week max, I would work round it by keeping meals dead simple, sandwiches, cereal, keep a toaster upstairs so you can do toast and spreads...

I don't think it's reasonable to expect accommodation to be provided elsewhere when it's one room that's affected. I know furniture will be piled up in other rooms etc but tbh it's the same for any family having work done in their house, and often for a lot longer than a week.

Just keep it simple; even try to make a game of it, camping out and eating meals upstairs and the week will be over before you know it

As someone else suggested- batch cook and freeze now, catering for their specific dietary needs- then reheat during the week.

The HA I work for will decant to serviced apartments sometimes, so they have a kitchen etc within them. Maybe a temp decant in to something like that, given your children's needs.

@Mummy289 I think this repair could be a bigger issue than some people think. A drain has been installed but this floor has disintegrated. Does anyone know if the damp has been cured? Has the drain worked? There’s no way this house should have a floor so damp there are slugs. It’s not suitable to be lived in until this is properly resolved. Slugs came from where? There must be a major failure somewhere due to water not draining away. Is there a defective drain under the floor?

This happened to my sister- structural repairs needed to be completed urgently.
Their housing officer organised for them to be placed in temporary accommodation for 6 weeks. All their removals and storage costs were covered and redecorating completed. Her youngest child's room was horribly damp so they also reimbursed them for the cosy of replacing his mattress and a few other things. Blinds I seem to remember.

can the large furniture not be put in back garden with a gazebo and tarp over it?

Don’t agree to storing furniture in the garden! I would never do this and why should a council tenant? Who wants damp furniture?! . They should help remove and store the lounge furniture. I think the damp is caused by faulty building and I’d want compensation for ruined carpet too! The French drain installation is the issue here. Has it worked? Is there still water causing damp under the house floor?