Housing Associations Responsibility.

TonyBee

My first post.
My daughter has been asking her local housing association about safety for her two young ASD children, asking if they would be able to erect a fence in order to protect her children from hurting them self on her next door neighbours fence and shrubs  which are in disrepair.
In this case it would be impossible to ask her neighbour to fix his fence as it is very clear that he is of an age and suffers from early Dementia, he could not perform such an act. The housing association have no interest in helping with his side either.

My daughters housing association finally placed two 6ft privacy panels, although on the other side of the boundary line seen in place with concrete posts (please check attached images), The workmen left my daughter with a mess of broken concrete and old fencing in what we consider in a dangerous position.(again please see attached images). with in the hour, they old fence had fallen to the ground, just missing one of her daughters. On making contact with and visit from the area manager, he explained it was acceptable and left it at that.

I understand that there is only so much an housing association will do, according to there policy, but this is just not a correct way of dealing with a tenant.

There is no doubt that in time a whole length of fencing will need to go in place for the children's safety, as they have no concept of danger. 

My question is;
 Who can we turn to help, should it be the local council? In this case Breckland Council. 
Is there any grants available to help with costs of having a  complete fence erected ?
Should we be writing to our local MP ?

Thank you for your time in reading the above.

Alex_Alumni

Hi @TonyBee and thanks for posting, in the first instance I would reach out to your local council and ask them about any support within your local community. There could be charity support or other grants that they might know more about. 

It might be a long shot, but if your daughter has a local 'time bank' she could enquire there for help with clearing the garden. For more information on time banking, head over to timebanking.org. 

I'm sorry I can't be of more help right now, another organisation it might be worth enquiring with is Shelter, as they have advice on council and housing association repairs.

TonyBee

Alex_Scope said:

Hi @TonyBee and thanks for posting, in the first instance I would reach out to your local council and ask them about any support within your local community. There could be charity support or other grants that they might know more about. 

It might be a long shot, but if your daughter has a local 'time bank' she could enquire there for help with clearing the garden. For more information on time banking, head over to timebanking.org. 

I'm sorry I can't be of more help right now, another organisation it might be worth enquiring with is Shelter, as they have advice on council and housing association repairs.

Thank you kindly for your reply Alex, I do feel our local council will be first port of call, although i will check in on your other suggestions. It is quite clear there is a lack of help from the Housing Association who are not showing any empathy what so ever and are contributing to my daughters Anxiety etc, which can be quite damaging some times. 

rebel11

Council's responsibility 100%, simply because it's a Health & Safety issue, 'passing the parcel' isn't an option. The Council should have a some one who is responsible for 'Health & Safety'. 
 

TonyBee

rebel11 said:

Council's responsibility 100%, simply because it's a Health & Safety issue, 'passing the parcel' isn't an option. The Council should have a some one who is responsible for 'Health & Safety'. 
 

Thanks Rebel. Its good to have some feed back. I feel i am right in doing so but with so many on the housing association members saying they cannot do anything makes me question myself. Yes good point on the Health and Safety.