Joint Tenancy Nightmare - Help!!

[jaylee15]

Please help - anybody.
In order to cut a long story short, I have A Joint tenancy with my sister, which at he time of moving there was myself, my son and her in a 3 bedroom maisonette, in 1995, since then Ii have married and had a daughter( age 4) now , my son is 14 and my sister has 2 children, both under 3 ( relationship with her partner is not good). We have been trying for about 4yrs to split the tenancy , if we can, without making ourself intentionally homeless, we've been told if one of us leaves we will be making our selves intentionally homeless and they dont have to find us anywhere. We've challenged it and have been asking someone to come round to look at the over crowding, my daughter sleeps with myself and husband , my son and my sisters room are the same size - 8x10 ft! - we have been to the CAB -useless to be honest and my sister has gone to a solicitor and to be honest they dont seem to have handle on things either, we keep being told its at the decresion of the council they have the authority to split the tenancy, but the housing officer is not helpful at all, I keep asking for someone else higher to look at he case to judge independantly but they always refer us to the housing officer , then we hit a brick wall. We fought to get someone to some round to visit to see how we were living, again it was the housing officer that came and measured and we got a reply saying basically we can use the living room as a bedroom! so we are not classed as over crowded! what should we do, can we write direct to the higher management?
Is it wirth getting the ombudsman involved, if so how do we go about stating our case to them
any advice will be greatly recieved

[Ruby61]

Hi Jaylee,

I work in housing management and can tell you that the council do NOT like it when clients get shelter involved. They give excellent free advice regarding housing matters, and as you are obviously overcrowded in your home you should go and see them as soon as possible. The council are right about making yourself intentionally homeless if one of you moves out - they will then have a 'dispersal of responsibility'.

It IS at the discretion of the council to split the tenancy, but i can tell you from experience that your request alone will not get you anywhere (something to do with over 60% of council housed being sold off - not your problem, however). Put your request in writing to the Senior Housing Officer and cc. in your local MP and shelter. Also go in once a week and speak to the Senior Housing Officer face-to-face; build up a relationship with her/him and show that you are serious. If you can't go in person, then speak to them on the phone once a week. It is just ridiculous that they are expecting your situation to be the same 13 years later - it is normal for families to grow and to be offered larger properties. do you have it in writing that they expect you to use the living room as a bedroom? if not, send a letter recorded delivery asking for it and copy in your MP and Shelter in the request.

Go to your GP and tell him about the detrimental effect all this is having on your mental health, and and that you are suffering from stress and depression. Ask him for a letter and give it to Shelter - there should be a branch near you.

It is not appropriate for your daughter to be sharing a room with her parents, but it is even less appropriate or expected for 2 siblings of the opposite sex over 7 years old (i am 99% sure that is the maximum age) to be sharing a room - so put your daughter in with your son, even if just theoretically. Ask your GP if this is appropriate and point out that this is contributing to stress in the household.

And finally, did you also know that as an existing council tenant, you already have 50% more points towards getting a local housing association property?

Good luck!

Shelter England: the housing and homelessness charity

[jaylee15]

Ruby,

thank you very mich for your reply, thats really helpful.
I should also add, my husband has applied for a council property in his own right as he is not named on the tenancy with me and my sister, so we thought that this route may get through quicker but als they say they we need 70 points to generate a home visit but we only have 52!! - fustrating to say the least, unless our situation changes drastically ( ie: I have a baby, or a strong medical reason,) which would give us additional points i fear we will be stuck on 52 points for ever.

[Ruby61]

Jaylee,

get Shelter involved and watch what happens. I actually work for a housing association, but we work alongside the council. The effect Shelter have when they threaten to take them/us to court on behalf of an applicant/existing tenant is amazing!

A serious and irreversible breakdown of the relationship between your family and your sister would contribute greatly towards stress, and make your living conditions much worse. I am sure your GP would help there too. If the council were aware that your health and family life were suffering as a result of overcrowding, they would be wrong to ignore it.

Oh, and BTW - along with asthma. stress and depression are strong medical reasons...

[jaylee15]

Ruby

Many thanks for this information, we will get touch with SHELTER and see what they say. My sister, said she actually contacted Shelter some time ago via phone and they mentioned getting in touch with the MP, but the other info you've given they didnt really give and my sister admits she didnt pursue them after that as she didnt really get anywhere with our local MP, but this time we have more to give them, thanks to your in, so hopefully there might be the tiniest light at the end of a very long tunnel!!