Housing for families with special needs

[jenk1]

We live in a 3 bedroomed terrace house which we own/mortgage.

DD has been diagnosed with development delay/hypotonia etc.

Our bathroom is on the 2nd floor-2 stories up and is going to be difficult with regards to dd as we have to carry her upstairs.

A friend of my mum told me that even though we own our house we should still be able to qualify for a council house as our children have special needs (Ds has autism).

We dont know if this is correct or not and we were wondering if anyone else has been in the same situation and could advise.

Thanks very much

My stepson has CP and received a grant to get all the work done where he lives.
This included widening doorways, extension built on, en suite shower plus all the hoists etc.

Thanks for that info littledonkeyrach its really helpful, did he go through social services?

We live in our own home, and recently we were able to get some adaptions paid for by the social work department. They have put in a stair lift for us, which my daughter loves, as the bathroom and her bedroom are upstairs. However, as we are home owners they will only part fund a ramp into the building, as they believe that it adds value to the property!!! If we were in a council house, they would put it in for free...........its a crazy system and one that differs from area to area.

Having a special needs child cuts no ice with our council. When we were about to lose our business (therefore income) and the accomodation that went with it we were told the only help we could expect would be bed and breakfast. With a severely autistic child who at that time was on a GFCF diet!

i am sure i read something somewhere about disabled facilities grants no longer being means tested, we were told we could have a grant but what they wanted to do was useless so we ended up funding it ourselves.

anyone can go on a waiting list for council or housing association housing. whether you have enough points to the be allocated housing is another matter. Aske the housing providers who you apply to for copies of their 'allocation policy'. THis will tell you what sort of things they give points for and how many. Most hosuing providers give points for being in housing that is inappropiate for your needs. You also usually accumulate points just by 'waiting' on this list.

Thegrants are still means tested, their is a big campaign through mencap i think, where people are encouraged to write to their mp and complain. The grants are not means tested in ireland and everyone gets the adaptions they need. My son is 2.5yrs, and is quadriplegic,so will never walk or talk, he cant even lift a hand or hold his head up, he has monitering equipment through the night to measure his sats cos he stops breathing, he is fed through the night (has gastro tube as cant eat or drink), and he has up to 100ish fits per day, and is reg blind, and we are not entitled to any funding for an extension cos apparently we earn too much money. It really p*** me off when i see families getting everything given to them, me and my husband both work full time so that we dont have to claim benefits and we are penalised for it by not being given any help. I think we would be better off, giving up work and living off the state and then we could have everything Harry needs.
Also we cant just have a stair lift cos harry cant sit in and we need a hoist track to run along the ceiling from bathroom to bedroom. He is in our room at the moment so that we can moniter his seizures and attend his machines through the night, but an extention would allow my mum to stay over night some nights to give us a break.

sorry about the rant its just a subject i feel really strongly about at the moment.

Dizzy34 - I believe that as of this December grants are no longer means tested. Mencap and other orgs were campaigning and I think it paid off. I will check the Contact a Family website but I am sure I read it on there. Ask your ss department again.

dizzy-thats awful that you cant get what your son needs

i hope HITC is right and you will be able to get something soon

we are going through the process of applying for a grant to adapt our bungalow for ds2

it is means tested atm, i don't know about what happens with new applications though. There is also a limit as to how much money they will spend, usually about 20-25k, which sounds a lot, but our tiny bathroom is going to cost about 6k to change about on it's own, then we need doors widened and rehung and ramps put in, plus we are trying to get an extra room built for him . It is taking forever to get sorted

I have been told that we will not get any help with adaptation, nor be allowed on a housing list!!!!!!
I own my own 3 story victorian terrace, bathroom on the 1st floor and DD, ds's bedrooms on the 2nd floor.
They have said that we can change a living room into a bedroom for dylan but i dont see how as all open plan living and where the hell on earth are we meant to live and dine as a family???
There other option was that we give dylan our room and we have his room upstairs which is totally of no use, you couldn't swing a cat up their let alone a double bed.
Oh, and we have been told that cant have a stairlift as stair case is too narrow, of which it is, so really in a no win situation!!!!!!!!
He can walk with support, but there is no way that he can manage the stairs, my back is getting worse as carrying him all the time up and down 3 flights of stairs and he is a big boy for almost 3!!!!!!!!
They have said that i cant appeal and even if i did, the grants have been taken for the next 3 years with by other people!!!!!!!!
Butty.xxx

of course you can appeal, it sounds like they are trying to fob you off

write to them and ask them to reassess it, you may have to rephrase your needs so it sounds suitable to them, but if it gets you what you need, then do it.

If it is any consolation, the first time we were assessed the woman was hopeless and totally unsympathetic, and turned us down on the basis of one quick visit, but we have a new case worker on it now, and she is much more on the ball

also iirc children get priority with grants

Sorry, didn't see your reply.

Yes, think it was something to do with council.
His mum is single parent, she works though, so not sure about benefits.

They live in a bugalow anyway, so guess that makes it easier for renovations.

To get council house you need to build up points, I believe. If you sell your house, I don't know that this would get you those points. And you'd have to go ona list anyway, which are usually long.

Probably best to look into a grant. I know that my stepson's mother had to pay a nominal amounbt, then the rest was funded. But, if he came to live with us, or into residential care, then there is some kind of clause about the amount funded.

sorry lou, what does iirc mean, dont know of the term!!!!!
I will be reapplying, although i was waiting till dylan gets to 3 so that they can see the extent of his problems now, rather than 6 months ago when they said "is it really a permanent disability that he has??"
I was pretty dumb founded by their comments, but just left it at that as obviously stupid people doing the wrong job!!!!!!!
Butty.xxx

iirc = if i recall correctly

We have been waiting for 4 years for our council to do the adaptations
we live in a council house and after much umming and ahhinng from OT and council they decided to fund extension as there was not enough room upstairs fot hoists etc nor lift.
That was over 2 yrs ago.
ds grant for £25,000 came through around same time
We were assured it would be done by april so we bought cctv camera and monitor, seperate alarm, decor for bedroom and bathroom etc etc.

WE ARE STILL WAITING
after going to see MP earlier this year
they offered us a delapidated house with a stair lift
WE SAID NO
even though we said we were prepared to move in more suitable accomodation, they offered us a shitehole

Council have now said that to do extension we would have to pay an £9000 out of our own pockets to fund this as it has gone over budget
MY ARSE
they are fobbing us off
I have put in official complaint in Oct and still heard nothing.
I am going to Ombudsman next week.
My ds is nearly 9 and he has severe gdd
I have been unable to lift him for nearly 12 months as he is a dead weight ( lack of muscle tone) and he can not walk at all.
Dh works nights so gets him ready when he comes home in morning and puts him to bed in evening.

Like butty I get angry when I see other people get everything, but because WE cope
we are entitled to nothing.