Housing adaptions

[Debs75]

We are planning on moving soon (council to council/HA) and will need akll the adaptions we have had done re-done.
It was a pain getting them done in the first place, the common reason for not doing them was ;'if you move the new tennants might not want them' Well obviously not unless they have a son like ours.

If you don't mind I would like to know what adaptions you have had done and:

1. how easy they were to get approved
2. How close were they to what you wnated/needed
3. Did they actually work

We for instance asked for heavier doors to be put in. The ones we have are the very cheap flush doors, ds has ripped them off hinges and punched/kicked through them several times. Plus they don't hold simple locks so DD couldn't keep ds out of her room.
Their solution was to put an extra hinge on and to put a solid bar 3/4 of the way up to fix a lock on. We declined as if he ripped the door off again we would have a solid bar at head height to walk into.

Any info would be great thanks

On our own house, we had an extension built to make an upstairs room into a bedroom for DS (he shared with us until he was 7-years-old...aaaagggghhhh). They also put in safety glass windows and doors and a wet room bathroom, plus bits and bobs in his room like soundproofing which doesn't work at all.

All in all, it took us 4 years of battling to get this - too complicated to go into - but the result has largely been very positive and has meant we didn't need to go for social housing (which we were refused anyway on the grounds that carrying a disabled child up and down three flights of stairs doesn't constitute need).

The architects took a big cut and weren't that great. We had to get the builders to re-do stuff that didn't work (e.g. a wet floor in the bathroom that drained out into the corridor!) and chase everyone up - we were basically project managers as the OT withdrew as soon as work began. The council harrassed us into signing it off before the problems had been rectified and we had to tough it out and refuse until it was sorted.

We also were expected to move out and pay private rental plus our mortgage for 6 months (impossible) and we again refused and finally got money after a big battle.

Good luck with yours. I think your OT is vital in this

Thanks donkeyderby was beginning to think noone would reply. I'm not beiong nosy its just our council are so obtuse they refuse everything until they absolutely have to give in.
A big struggle is they don't want to pay for it even tho OT told him time and time again it would come out of a different pot not the councils.

we currently have safety glass in all windows, they were great about doing this.
Front door replaced for one without glass, rubbish as we now have a door which looks like we are drug dealers and doesn't fit in with neighbours doors
Plug sockets blanked out in ds's room, again rubbish as he has smashed them countless times. we wanted them plastering over but they can't do that.
Key operated light switches, ds would not let us have lights for a whole winter, fine about this as it is only the switchplate which needs removing
6ft high fence to stop him escaping. we want higher but it is against planning rules

Bumping as noone seems to want to answer

We own our house but got a DFG to get the largest bedroom divided into two so that dd1 could have her own room.

The approval stage took a few months, but a lot of that was down to red tape. An OT came to see us and look at what we wanted doing, then a technical officer (to see if the renovations were feasible) and then a builder to do quotes.

Due to a fantastic builder, the job was really well down and he paid particular attention to good sound-proofing, as dd is often distressed by noise. I was really happy with it. From the original application to completion took just over a year.

We rent but council have done alterations using the Care & Repair grant system, but we had to sign a form saying we would not move and ask for more grants within 5 years.

The council wanted to remove the bath and leave us with only a shower, but our landlord was very good arguing our case to keep the bath (we have other dc's too who need/like a bath).

The rest of it was knocking down a wall and putting a stud wall up, and ramping various bits.

It's ok but the new fittings are a bit cheap'n'cheerful.

Hi, we're just about to have our daughters bathroom re adapted as her condition has worstened.

We're in the south west and same as meltedmarsbars we had to say we wouldn't move for 5 years.

So far its all been fairly straighforward. Have a good relationship with OT who has pushed things through for us, we're also having a hoist fitted in the livingroom in the same week.

All looks like it will be ok but again all a bit cheap n cheerful, but will be so greatful just to have it done i don't mind.

I hope you manage to move ok and get this sorted, we have been very lucky as i know what a battle it could be if we hadn't been (we moved into an already half adapted house).

How long did you wait for the adaptations. I am worried that we will get a move but then will have to wait months for any adaptations. As a few are safety related we can't wait for months for someone to decide if we really need them and then to wait for a fitter to fit them.

im waiting on council housing but there not in a rush as am in abungalow and truth right now am happy here rather than take something thats make do now and when move would need ramps, doors wideing lift or downstairs bathroom garden adapting etc , in last council place took months and months

It's taken almost 18 months to get our bathroom done.

Hello,

Currently into week 3 of our adaptations being done (with another 10 weeks to go).
Our garage is being converted into downstairs bathroom and bedroom with a small front and rear extension to give more room in the new rooms.
We started the ball rolling in January (had to wait till april for council funding cos they'd run out lol).
Building started mid June, so looking at 9 months from start to finish.
Works are exactly what we want (helps that DH was a draughtsman), but we have the council run project management company handling it all.
The builders are fantastic, the council has been very helpful and worked with us and the OT was basically told this is how its going to be so deal with it.(long story about the OT but thats for another thread).
Oh and we can't move for 5 years either.

So it sounds like if you own your own house and have adaptions then you can't move out for a set time.
We are council renting and we weren't told anything like this. They did make sure that any adaptations were easily removed again. we did say to them as well that we wouldn't move but at the time we didn't know we were going to have 2 more babies.

We are hoping now that we can apply for adaptations before we move so that when we get to the new house we will be nearer the top of the list and won't have to wait months. we also understand that this is just a pipedream and they will most likely decline.