My house was repod in Mid 2007. I went to my local authority when I knew I was going to be homeless and they did absolutely nothing but use scaremongering tactics to the point where I was forced to get a private rent.

I am a single parent, 2 dependant children. I was in the rented property for 18 months when I was told that the property was unsafe as the upstairs was collapsing. The landlord would not do anything to help me out exepct release me from the agreement a few months early. I went back to the council and they told me to stay put, under no circumstances should I move out. I explained to them that the property was unsafe to the point where I could not even let my kids have a bath for fear that the floors would cave in. They were not interested. I did move out but was unable to rent because I have bad credit due to repossession.

To cut a long story short, my ex let me move into his rented house last March and made it abudantley clear that it was a temporary thing and he was only doing it so my kids were not homeless.

Now a few months down the line, it really is not working, it is very difficult trying to avoid each other, I have no living space, my bed is in the lounge and my eldest daughter turned up on the doorstep a couple of weeks ago as she had nowhere to go. This was fuel to the fire as my ex hates my daughter (shes 19) and he left me a note last weekend telling me that he has had enough and I have 1 month to move out.

I again went to the council who have given me an appointment with a homeless officer for tommorrow. I know it will be a waste of time, they will just fob me off again as to why they wont rehouse me or scare me again by threatening to put me in a run down area that is full of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Myself and my kids have been living out of a suitcase practically for the last 2 years and I am now on antidepressants, I gave up my job because I couldnt cope and now I have to go through something that I find very degrading and I am worried to death about whats going to happen to us.

Does anyone reading this know what I can do to make the council take notice of me and help me rather than disregard me.

Suzie

Hi sd,

I'm sorry to read of your plight and hope that someone will be able to offer you the advice you seek.

Please keep going , I'm sure you'll pull through.

Hi Suzie, I'm so sorry to hear of your situation, you have had a lot to cope with and it must be very stressful for you. I'm sure you will find the strength to keep going not only for your children but for yourself.

Have you contacted Shelter? Shelter England - The housing and homelessness charity I understand they give some excellent help and advice in situations just like yours.

Please keep posting on here, you will get lots of help and support

Ellx

Thanks Ellen,

Unfortunately, I have been onto shelter several times but all the advice they give is irrelevant when my local authority wont help.

Are they not able to intervene on your behalf? I thought they had some clout with the councils?

No, they just refer me to my local CAB. I have even written to my local MP in the past and even they can do much.

Can you get to see your MP? - he/she should have a regular surgery in the area.

I am not sure Ellen. If all else fails I may have to contact them again but the trouble is you write or phone and leave a message then it takes a couple of weeks or so before they get back to you.

Who is your MP?

my MP now is Angela Smith. I telephoned her office a few weeks ago and let a message and she has never bothered to phone back.

Hi there, here is the link to where you can go and see her at one of her surgeries: Angela Smith MP | Advice Surgeries & Appointments with your MP

The Homeless Officer should investigate your case and then let you know the outcome. If the Council decide they do not have a duty to house you they should let you know this in writing and the reason why. If they decide that they have a duty to house you should be given a banding or a certain amount of points (depends on your circumstances and LA's letting policy) and an explanation of decision/breakdown of points.

The higher the banding/points the more chance you will have of getting a secure Council or Housing Association tenancy. If you are on a high band/points and they cannot house you in permanent accommodation they will have to consider putting you into temporary accommodation. Again you should receive a decision on this and the reasons why.

At the very least the Council should be giving you advice about other housing options including lists of landlords who take people on benefits.

You can ask for a review if you are not happy with the result and complain if you are not happy with the conduct of officers, etc. You can also get a local Councillor involved (either your Ward Councillor or you could try the Lead Member for Housing) - you may have more luck with this than with your MP. You can also complain to the Housing Ombudsman but you would need to go through Council's review or complaint procedure first.

A good idea would be to see if you can get hold of your Council's letting policy as this would give you a better idea of who they are likely to house and what should happen in your circumstances. They may have a copy available on their website or you could request a copy.

i had to get emergency housing a couple of years ago (my landlord at the time threatened to get me beat up if i didnt leave after he found out i was pregnant) i went to the CAB who arranged an emergency meeting with a member of the homeless team at my local council 5 mins later, the council did try to encourage me to go down the private rent route but i told them as i had had bad experiences i didnt want to go down that route again as next time i would have a child involved, they then asked if there was any relative or friends i could stay with, which i couldnt as my brother is autistic it would uproot his routine and life if i was to go home to my mums. they ended up placing me in a hostel for 6 weeks which was not very nice but it was better than getting death threats, i then moved into 2nd temporary accomodatin which was a 1 bed flat, it was a bit small but it was ok. we stayed in the flat while we saved up our points to be able to move somewhere bigger, we moved into a nice big 2 bed house 6 months ago and although it took a total of about 20 months to get a perminant council house we got there in the end. i think you want to go to the council and give you a house straight away, but i think most councils dont work like this, i know its a horrible time but grin and bear it and you will realise its not so bad.