evicted - help for neighbour

[Guest]

I am enquiring here on behalf of my neighbour who is unwell and unable to use a computer. She is 58 yrs old and one of her daughters has been evicted by the council, she has a 7 yr old daughter of her own. Having the knowledge of how private renting is for many people, temporary and moving time and again, and really not wanting her daughter and granddaughter to go into the homeless facility, has let her daughter and granddaughter move in with her, but the property is only one bedroom flat. My neighbour has vacated her bedroom to let the child have it and she and her adult daughter are using the lounge as a lounge by day and sleep in there at night.

 

She is wondering if she can herself as the tenant apply for a larger property for all of them? and what the chances of acceptance are? The adult daughter is unwell herself with depression/anxiety/isolation issues that go back to her childhood and has been referred for psychiatric assessment which she is expecting to hear about any day now as she was given a 6 week average wait and its now been 8.

 

The circumstances of the eviction are in my opinion related to the adult daughters health and the fact that the council were not fully aware of it, she was unable to handle the whole thing and felt she couldn't lay the problems onto my neighbour who is ill herself. I wish she had even told me as I would have come here for her way before this, but she feared I would tell and disrupt her mothers health further. Which has now happened anyway as the whole thing is now out in the open. I think she just totally misjudged how much support her mother had around her and how we could all have maybe helped.

 

The adult daughter isn't well enough to live alone at this time and both her and my neighbour feel living together as a family would be best now its come to this situation.

It seems the adult daughter has been treated by the GP for the past year for depression which has worsened and as the other issues became known to GP the referral was made.

 

Any advice I can pass on or look into for them please?

[reallymadwoman]

Maybe speaking to the housing department would be the first step? Or perhaps Shelter could give some advice?

[Guest]

I think your right RMW ...I will suggest that. Thanks.

[**Margaret**]

:Ruby_Tuesday:

 

Agree with Shelter for general advice. And yes, your local authority should be able to advise on specific criteria for rehousing in their area. A few points for mental health issues and over occupancy come to mind. In our area, supportive evidence from a mental health practitioner carries more weight than a general practitioner's opinion.

 

And talking about over/under occupancy, there must be lots of tenants searching for the elusive smaller homes to avoid bedroom tax. Has your neighbour considered asking, either through an advert in the local paper/shop or via the local authority, for a straight swop?

 

Best wishes, Margaret.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Hi Margaret.....well since my last post here, my neighbour has applied for housing transfer, the council were unable to answer the question on the phone, they said she had to apply and be considered for a housing transfer, so we were able to find the form online and my daughter helped her to fill it in and copy and send the documents they wanted. So she is now waiting for their reply as to whether she can be considered. She is worried that due to her daughter having been evicted that this will go against them, that they may say it was her own fault, and that my neighbour has over occupied her own home by taking them in. We shall see. The daughter is still waiting for a psychological assessment, but the GP is writing again to try and hurry it along.

 

My daughter has also helped the neighbour get registered on a homeswap website, but there is literally not one advert wanting to downsize. We were shocked as we too as you have said, thought there would be people wanting to swap and downsize. All the 3 bed houses on there are wanting swaps the same size home just another area etc.

[Guest]

well the council have refused to consider my neighbour for a housing transfer, the reason given was that as the daughter was evicted (reasons for this and her personal circumstances ignored) then it will be 3 yrs before that can change. the council suggested that as my neighbour who now has a one bedroom flat which they all are now living in( and the daughter is paying a contribution to the rent ) that the neighbour is entitled to a property with one more bedroom (?) and she can seek a 2 bedroom home via a house/home swap. Am just a bit baffled that they allow the daughter and grandchild to move in, and pay rent, but then refuse a transfer to a larger property saying she cant be a tenant, when it would be the neighbour who is the tenant as the case is now. I assume its due to the eviction that they wont provide the extra bedrooms for daughter and grandchild, they have told her to contact the homeless prevention team. I don't think my neighbour quite knows which way to turn.

[reallymadwoman]

Has she spoken to Shelter?

[Guest]

I think that has to the next step RMW or they just stay as they are for now at least.

[reallymadwoman]

Shelter are the experts on housing, would strongly recommend she speaks to them.

[Guest]

My neighbour is registered on a home swap/mutual exchange site, as she is allowed to have upto 2 bedrooms in her own right apparently, so she is hoping that a swap will come up, from what I have seen on that site it doesn't look likely for the area we are in as most seem out of the area or wanting to upgrade space themselves. The grandchild is in school very close by and no further uprooting is wanted really. I get the feeling they are going to stay put unless a swap comes up. They are about 7 months from when the eviction happened, so I get the feeling they are just counting down the months until the 3yr ban is lifted and will reapply to the council. I have suggested Shelter but i get the feeling they all feel a bit downtrodden and had enough. Maybe their spirits will rise in time.

[caro]

What were the grounds for eviction?

[Guest]

To be honest Caro she just wasn't coping well, got herself into a mess with rent, her jsa was sanctioned and things went from bad to worse when she signed off jsa as she felt unwell and wasn't coping with the pressure of that, the job she was promised fell through, and whilst I know if she had gone to CAB (although in our town its almost impossible to get an appointment for ages) she wasn't up to it, healthwise, I think she was on the verge of cracking up, from what I can gather she put all she had into just being a mum to her daughter and feeding her, she didn't attend court for the hearing and lost the home. Her total loss of confidence and feeling scared of it all was her worst enemy. She did try to speak to the council throughout but they never accepted her financial state, they didn't believe that she was living on the little that she actually was. She didn't try for ESA as she felt she should be getting herself out of the mess, she didn't think she would get it anyway as all the anxiety and depression was due to her financial situation which she felt was her own fault, she was hoping another job was going to materialise and she would be able to pay the rent plus extra each time off the arrears but that didn't happen. Now she is on ESA and awaiting psychiatric assessment, she was referred 10 weeks ago and still awaiting appointment.

 

It is classed as her own fault she was evicted and i guess many will see it that way. The strain of keeping all that to herself rather than worry her mum, who has health problems, and now ending up living with her, shows now. She felt she had no one to turn to and it was her fault. Hindsight is a great thing of course.

 

Through it all she has stayed a good mum though, the bond between her and daughter is second to none, and the daughter is happily oblivious to all of this pretty much. She knows mum isn't well but that's about it. Thankfully she always spent a fair bit of time with the grandmother where they now live so its slipped into place without too much explanation. She spends weekends with her dad and enjoys school.

 

Sorry to ramble on here......i think they will stay as they are until a swap comes up, or the 3yr ban due to the eviction, when the grandmother (my neighbour) can apply for a 3 bed property for them. Don't get me wrong the daughter is counting her blessings that she has her mum to go to, and for now she has ESA to help, and hopefully she will get her assessment and some counselling to get her back on track. She wants to work she just needs some help getting there.

[caro]

I guess the delay is down to arrears. Unless they are paid it's usually not possible to get social housing again.

[Guest]

I agree that's definitely got to be part of it Caro, but just the mention of eviction seems to bring the 3yr ban. My neighbour had hoped that as it was her who is the tenant and not her daughter, that she would be able to get a 3 bed property rather than them all squeezed into her 1 bed flat. The council allow the daughter to stay there and pay the £14 per week rent contribution as she is on ESA, but they wont move the family to a 3 bed due to the eviction, but offer rooms in a homeless place and I have heard money for a deposit for a private rental. In this area private rents are ridiculous. With people moving again and again, my neighbour doesn't want all this upheaval for the grandchild or the unwell daughter. I think it will just be sorted in its time.

 

Thanks for all who gave advice.

[jtayl]

I do believe the daughter must be classed as a lodger, if she was asked to leave where she is now, then the council would have to offer alternative acommodation, even if it is only temporary or a B&B. Then it's up to her to chase them for a suitable place.

 

I'm not unsympathetic to her condition but she must make decisions for herself and the child rather than be apathetic about moving on.

[Guest]

I think its more a case of being where she is now and having the support she needs due to her now diagnosed bipolar disorder (which is what was suspected but due to cut backs and the lack of services, it has taken a while to get the diagnosis) and the fact that moving into then out again of temp accommodation and numerous B & B's, which happens in this area, is not good for the child to be uprooted so much and possibly would affect schooling, a permanent place is more suitable.

 

As an update they will be staying as a family and are to be re-housed.

[Lillibelle]

I really hope this gets sorted out,,for all 3 of them..Granny protecting her daughter,daughter protecting her child,,so nice to hear.

 

Depression/Bi Polar,,any 'brain' malfunction is an absolute b*****d to deal with and reality becomes too bloody hard to cope with.

 

I wish them all the luck in the world,,and hope they get a decent home so they can all live together in peace and security.

[Guest]

Thankyou Lillibelle your kind words will be passed on to them.

[Lillibelle]

I've been there,,done that..had no home of my own and barely a pot to pee in..but as soon as I was blessed enough to get my little house (council house...nag the arse off them..I did)...everything didn't seem quite so bad. We had a roof over our heads,we were warm and dry..I scraped along on the bones of me bum for years..and it does seem like it will never end,,but it does.

Tell your friend to never ever ever fall into the loan shark/pdl company trap,,but with a friend like you keeping a watchful eye I'm sure it will all get sorted.

[christopherlaw]

Not being horrible but people seem to have alot faith in shelter, i know it has a catchy name lol. when i was homeless i phoned an 0845 number to get through to them and they just fobbed me of after taking up £10 of my phone credit. The temporary accommodation the council offer costs the tax payer £700 a month upwards to £1800- maybe more, this is just what I have come across. Forget what the mother did falling behind in rent, imagine subjecting a child to that. Sick, sick system. Temp accommodation are half way house full of people with problems, the last environment you would put a kid in. If she can get a deposit and a months rent together she can find something on the private sector hopefully. Its not easy for unemployed to get a private lease, in fact near impossible, but many landlords are sympathetic to families especially single mothers. Once your in a private let the council will have to payout your entitlement. Im 99% sure of this but double check eviction cases anyway. I was down as intentionally homeless cause i refused a permanent council flat and they cut off all duties to help me, but then managed to get a private let

Edited February 17, 2015 by christopherlaw
expanding on initial post, typo correction

[Guest]

Thankyou Christopher.....and yes i agree with what you have said.