Housing Advice

22Riah

Hi,

I’m 23 years old with no children or partner and have mental health issues depression and anxiety as well as dyslexia and I’m awaiting an assessment for autism and adhd. I’m currently in temporary accommodation. I came to the council on May 22nd 2024 and explained to them why I was now homeless and why I left my family home. Based on what I shared they considered my case to be a domestic violence case and placed me temporary accommodation, I had a vulnerability assessment with my housing officer and based on how the assessment went I’ve been very stressed and worried that the council won’t give me a duty order or priority in housing and will ask me to leave the temporary accommodation. I have a personal housing plan but it’s not suitable for me, my personal housing plan says that I must look for suitable accommodation in the privately rented sector and in shared accommodation which wouldn’t be suitable for me due to my mental health and neurodivergence and I’ve tried to explain this to my housing officer but she doesn’t seem to get it and doesn’t offer me any suitable alternatives. She’s told me to look for a 1-bed room flat within my LHA or in a different city. I’m currently not working due to my condition and so there’s no way that I can afford a 1bed room flat. 

So social housing seems like the only way I’ll be able to live somewhere suitable and affordable but I feel like my housing officer is looking at my case in a domestic violence perspective and trying to identify where the danger is and if this really was a domestic violence situation and how the affects of my parents’ domestic violence makes me vulnerable rather than looking at how my mental health and neurodivergence makes me vulnerable and why shared accommodation wouldn’t be suitable for me. I think if looked at my case from a mental health and neurodivergence point of view she’ll see that I am in fact vulnerable. 

So I’m coming to ask you, to ask for help because I’m not sure what to do and how to get my housing officer to see that I’m vulnerable due to mental health conditions and neurodivergence. I wanna know what my rights are and what to do if hackney council doesn’t give me a full housing duty. This whole housing situation has been stressful and hard from the start and all I have is myself to handle all of this I have no community or support or friends and it’s so hard and stressful, so please any advice and help would be much appreciated. 

Why sharing an accommodation/flat would be unsuitable?

Sharing an accommodation/flat would be unsuitable for me because loud noise make me feel uncomfortable, and I’d feel like I constantly have to mask how I’m feeling, I often don’t want to socialise and would rather remain alone in my room. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable being around people and want to avoid the chance of conversation so I isolate in my room until I know they’re gone. I also don’t like having people in my personal space as it makes me feel uncomfortable and anxious. I try to be neat and tidy but I’m not always able to tidy up and clean up after myself or stick to a cleaning and hygiene routine as cleaning and tidying requires a lot of drive and motivation in order for me to do it and it’s even more difficult to do so when I’m feeling depressed. 

How have I been affected by it in the past? 

When I lived with my family members I would avoid the living room because I didn’t feel comfortable being there because in the past when I’ve been in the living room someone would always say or do something that would hurt my feelings and cause me to go back upstairs to my room. 

I would also avoid the kitchen and being downstairs when other people would be downstairs because I felt uncomfortable and I didn’t wanna mask my feelings and force conversation with people who would take an issue with any little thing I would do. I also would get triggered by my father’s voice so wherever he would be in the house I’d avoid going there. I would go downstairs during hours where I knew he wouldn’t be there and prepare two meals. 

When I lived in student accommodations, I didn’t really socialise with my flat mates because I didn’t feel comfortable to and I often felt anxious when doing so, and it would take me weeks to  work up the courage to talk to them, form a conversation. I rarely ever spoke to anyone there during my stay. I would often only be in the kitchen when I knew no one was there and if they were there I wouldn’t go in unless I had something in the oven, most of the time I would buy McDonald’s, store them in my room and eat them during the day. At my second shared accommodation the kitchen was constantly a mess and there was rotten food on counters and the sink was always full of dirty plates and food, they’d be bags and bags of rubbish across the kitchen and I never brought up how much it bothered me to them, because I was afraid of confrontation, i didn’t want to create tension or problems, so I just took it. So even when I did feel able to go into the kitchen I wouldn’t also be able to use it because of the state of it. 

I find it incredibly hard to voice my feelings towards people when they’re doing something that bothers me because in the past when I have it’s done more damage than good. When I’d voice how I felt about the things my parents or siblings were doing to my parents they would dismiss my complaints or not really do anything about it and sometimes my dad or brother would beat me for speaking up as they didn’t like what I was saying. I was also bullied in school for years for speaking up against a girl I used to be friends with, and it’s because of all this that I hesitate when confronting people.

Morgan_Scope

Hello @22Riah, I'm really sorry to hear about the difficult situation you're facing. I thought I would share some thoughts about your options:

Explain your needs clearly: Write a letter or email to your housing officer outlining your needs. Be specific about how shared accommodation impacts your mental health and neurodivergence, and how this affects your ability to live safely and independently. Include examples like those you've shared here.

Request a review: If your personal housing plan isn't suitable, you can formally request a review. You’re entitled to challenge the suitability of the housing options being suggested.

Seek advocacy support: Consider contacting organisations like Mind, Shelter, or Citizens Advice. They can provide advocacy and may help present your case to the council. Some charities also offer legal aid for housing issues.

Document everything: Keep a record of all communications with your housing officer, including any meetings, emails, or phone calls. This may help if you need to escalate your case.

Social housing application: Ensure your application highlights your vulnerabilities due to mental health and neurodivergence. Focus on how these prevent you from safely living in shared spaces.

Local help: Look into local autism or mental health charities in Hackney that might have experience dealing with the council. They may be able to help advocate on your behalf.

You could consider your rights under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 to have your vulnerabilities properly considered. If you feel the council hasn’t done this, you could escalate your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman or seek legal advice.