Desperately need advice, house renovation and disability

rowanpoppy

Hi everyone! This post will definitely be a bit ramble-y, there are a lot of different things that contribute to my situation and I’m feel so stuck in a rut right now.

So first of all, me and my partner bought our first home and we thought it would be a couple of major jobs then a lick of paint kind of job. So we paid for the roof, got a boiler and insulation via a grant, but now we’re completely broke because there were so many surprise issues and have been living in a house that needs a lot more doing while my disability has gotten a lot worse and I spend most days in bed now. 

So we started our renovations but as my condition has worsened my partner now has to care for me and work nearly full time so there is just no time for them to work on the house and I can no longer do it and we can’t afford to pay other people to do it.

Right now we have naked, crumbling walls, we ripped the carpet up early on and now there is only underlay downstairs and the bathroom which is downstairs is just old crumbling *whatever goes under tiles to stick them down* because we had to pull them up cause there was a leak that we had to find and dry out. I don’t know where to look for help because i’ve combed google for hours, do I just sell up and give up on homeownership? Because there’s no chance we can afford anywhere else that’s accessible enough for me. If my house was at least mostly renovated i could apply for a disabled facilities grant to make it okay enough for me, but we don’t even have floors! I don’t know what to do and I don’t know where I can ask for help or if there even is any help available because we intended to do basic renovations ourselves but now we can’t. 

I just don’t know what to do

newborn

You will get expert advice here, but just going by the experience of others, it would seem you might look for advice on benefits and care needs and carer needs assessments. If you could improve your financial situation, and financial security,  it would make a lot of difference.
(Plus, even from bed, you could possibly find some online work from home  to do, part time at least?)

Again this is only from what others have said, but there seems also to be options about the council having a department aimed specifically at helping people avoid becoming homeless.  It makes no financial sense for them to end up with trying to house you, (and, as you know, U.K. housing stock has virtually nothing to offer for disabled people)

I think you can ring Scope. They will possibly tell you about ringing Shelter or/and Citizens Advice,  and going to your M.P. and ward councillors.  There might be local organisations with volunteers? It sounds as if a lot of what you need is really just extra pairs of hands to give your partner a bit of a boost. 

Speaking of which, I would really stress to you that the most important person around here is your partner, so get in touch with a carer organisation. With all the strains of being ill, it can sometimes happen that the 'patient' themselves neglects the needs and emotions and life- quality of the 'nurse'. 

But even if that doesn't happen, it is certain that any official will desperately try to save their budget by deciding "this person needs no assistance, because they have a partner".

It is typical for a caring partner to try to do everything and not get a break, which is too much to ask and really counter-productive.  Your relationship would come to harm. Their health and well being would be at risk.  There are situations where the carer cracks up, and cannot go to work, then the whole ship goes down.  

Hannah_Alumni

Hello @rowanpoppy

Welcome to the community!

I'm so sorry to hear your health has been getting worse and you've run into so many issues with renovations. Newborn is right that we would encourage you to look at a needs assessment for your health and reach out to Citizen's Advice for housing advice. I'd also look at Turn2Us to see if you would be eligible for any grants Please keep us updated!