Council are only offering me flats and not houses

TrishH23

Hello. 

I registered with the council back in April 2023. I have a number different health issues and receive hight pip allowance. After input from my GP and psychologist The council have acknowledged that I require a 2 bedroom property as I require daily and regular overnight care and for the last 3 months it has been showing that I was eligible to bid on 2 bedroom houses and 2 bedroom flats. After asking for a review on my banding last week the council have now come back and said I am only eligible to bid on flats. I suffer with severe social anxiety and PTSD which I have a very strong physical reaction to. this causes vomiting and bowl issues and has a serious effect of my appetite. I have now been diagnosed with an eating disorder and malnutrition. Due to my social anxiety and PTSD I could mentally not deal with living in any kind of shared accommodation. I don't go out apart from to attend doctors/hospital appointments so my only chance of ever being outdoor would be in a private yard or garden. Would input from adult social care carry any weight with the council and help me get a house instead of a flat as the council have said houses are allocated to families and not single people.

Thank you in advance 

poppy123456

A flat isn’t shared accommodation. You may have a shared entrance to the building but your home will be entirely yours and not shared with anyone else.

As for the house you can try to ask adult social care for a letter of support. 

TrishH23

I meant shared garden/outdoor area. I wouldn't have any private outdoor area if I was in a flat. 

poppy123456

Some flats have their own private garden. I’m currently on the housing list as priority medical but can only bid in adapted properties, houses or flats and I often see flats with own private garden. 

When you asked for a review on your banding did they change that? 

TrishH23

That would be ideal. But as it stands I haven't seen any of them kind of flats being advertised with my local council. I hope you are successful in getting your own property soon. 🤞🏽

TrishH23

And yes they moved me from band C to Band B they said that the houses are only allocated to families. I have requested an assessment with adult social care and hoping this will help

OverlyAnxious

I have a very similar problem unfortunately, particularly with the physical inability to manage socially.  I cannot reliably manage stairs now due to physical reasons, so a house would not be suitable either.  Technically I am allowed to bid on 'separate' properties with my local authority, but the reality is that almost all of the ones available to me are flats in large blocks, which would be even worse than where I am now.  On the rare occasion that a suitable property does appear (only 2 or 3 each year so far!) I am too far down the priority list.

I have given up any hope of getting a bungalow with a small private garden through the housing association now.  I have also been rejected for many private let properties due to benefits (despite never missing a rent payment and keeping properties in good order!) so no hope of private let either.  And I am now physically and mentally too ill to move, as well as not managing in my current property.  Without that move, I have no way to make health improvements, and therefore the future can only be worse.  Yet still people keep throwing unfounded positive cliches in my direction which is infuriating tbh.

TrishH23

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, I can imagine how much it affects your mood. It's soul destroying being locked away indoors all the time. Have you had your own assessment with adult social care? If not maybe if would be helpful getting them involved 

OverlyAnxious

TrishH23 said:

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, I can imagine how much it affects your mood. It's soul destroying being locked away indoors all the time. Have you had your own assessment with adult social care? If not maybe if would be helpful getting them involved 

I can't manage the social aspect of a care assessment unfortunately.  I haven't been able to manage any person face to face or via telephone for over 2 years now.

If I had a ground floor property with a private garden, that would allow me to try and manage one person at a time outdoors in a controlled environment.

TrishH23

I can understand that. I wouldn't be able to complete an assessment if my carer wasn't with me. It still blows my mind how much anxiety can completely take over your whole body. Is a video call an option. I do my therapy via video calls now. 

OverlyAnxious

TrishH23 said:

I can understand that. I wouldn't be able to complete an assessment if my carer wasn't with me. It still blows my mind how much anxiety can completely take over your whole body. Is a video call an option. I do my therapy via video calls now. 

I'm glad to hear they work for you but sadly I cannot manage any person at all.  Video calls cause the same physical reaction in me as face to face.  Even the person who gets my shopping has to leave it outside, I cannot contact them in any way other than online text messages.

I also have a long term severe phobia of bodily fluids.  So being repeatedly forced through social events that created a lot of uncontrollable bodily fluids has just made things totally impossible physically now.  I can't manage on my own and can't cope with another person to assist.

TrishH23

Sending love your way 

sars89

Im exactly the same when it comes to buildings of multiple occupancy, I have bipolar and pd , I have a teenager living with me and my last council property was a flat I ended up leaving because they placed me above a schizophrenic who broke into my flat and smashed my car with a hammer!

Just at the thought of having to live with people above or below me sends me into a panic.

You say you can't live in a flat and that you needed your own space, unfortunately the council won't see it like that as the prospects of flat living seems ok if you were to have a garden.. so is it a garden you want or would living in a flat trigger your illness?

I would gather as much evidence as you can supporting your claim and hope that someone from the council helps but how you described it I very much doubt they would grant it! Everyone would use the same excuse! I'm physically disabled aswell and thats the only way I would get a house, wheelchairs always need extra room

Jimm_Alumni

Hi @sars89, that sounds like it was a really stressful situation to be in. Is your current accommodation a lot more peaceful now at all?

sars89

Im actually in another property I fled that last one because they allowed him back after a few weeks away in a mental health unit, I'm being made homeless again and fighting the council since May for help. They are trying to say I can only have a flat now because my son is 19.. I'll turn up to view all properties in my wheelchair, see how far I get in it lol

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/922615#Comment_922615

I wouldn't advise you to turn up to view properties in your wheelchair unless you use a wheelchair at home all the time. If you do that then you are giving a false impression and that's not really a good idea.

Luchia

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/922820#Comment_922820

I know the council I’m with if you aren’t a full time wheelchair user and turn up to viewings in a wheelchair they have to start the application process from the very beginning as it’s classed as “undisclosed information” so not only do you have to go through the entire application again you have to have a new assessment and await banding, you also need proof of requiring a wheelchair from a GP or Hospital.

You can get flats that have their own private entrance rather than communal spaces which sounds like it would be ideal for your situation as it wouldn’t be any different to a house, if the council have said your only eligible for flats it’s very unlikely they will budge on this as they will have a set of rules and requirements they must enforce for all applicants.

As Poppy said it would be very unwise to do so.