Housing issues

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This discussion was created from comments split from: Extra room.

VOWHDC_ABUSEME

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/975558#Comment_975558

In short the person that wants to move house (me) cannot do this because it is NOT possible to move from a 2 bedroom house with some support in place and into a 1 bedroom with no room for support.

SO IF YOU WERE ALSLEEP AND KEPT WAKING IN THE EARLY HOURS NEEDING SUPPORT and DURING THE DAY HAD OTHER ISSUES RELATING TO YOU HEALTH CONDITION.

And you needed to move house ASAP and you needed the support to continue once you moved.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TRY MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

OR

YOU WOULDN'T BOTHER DOING ANYTHING AND YOU WOULD JUST LET YOUR HEALTH CONTINUE TO DECLINE.

End of two bedrooms are needed for support now and two bedrooms will be needed for support after moving house BUT the council have said NO to bidding on two bedroom properties so health is getting worse and worse because NOT enough support is in place.

Once living in a new property overnight support would continue AND there would be some day time support in place, therefore moving to a one bedroom would be somewhat beneficial, but it important to get the overnight care in place as well.

It is no good moving and then still struggling to cope with health conditions overnight.

The council know more about me than any of their other customers I suspect. And I sadly I suspect they hate me.

We are in daily contact almost. I wake in the night and have meltdowns and if I don't have support availlable to stop me I will GRAB A LAPTOP and type a message WITHOUT FULLY THINKING IT OVER, and sometimes I might upset a few people.

Sometimes it will upset me and my laptop will go across the room(autism speciific insurance is a must if you are autistic and suffer meltdowns that result in expensive items being broken!!)

During the day if I have a meltdown people might get shouted at.

And regardless of the time my head might get a whack and things might get broken.

However these meltdowns, especially when directed at the council, demonstrate to the council that I need a carer overnight to stop me from getting anxious, from going off on one, and to stop me, my property, and my landlords property, from coming to harm.

They have had a lot of information from a lot of experts in their field(autism) and they have a letter from my GP asking them to allow me an extra room for carer to stay in and for me to use as a SENSORY ROOM (because thats what I have now).

My GP said I needed care OFTEN and the pedantic wordsmith council said BUT this isn't the same as regular care.

My NON INTERNET USING NON TECCY friend who wrote this post(and the others) is dealing with a lot of my problems for me and he is getting a bit fed up with the council being obstructive when they probably wouldn't be with other people that had provided them with a ton of medical evidence.

The council and my landlord see the damage to property and person that can occur when I am left alone after waking and feeling anxious and having meltdowns.

Once upon a time (unjustifiably and unknown to me until recently ) the council (social services and housing team)even applied to have me sectioned so at the time they must have thought I'm crazy and in need of help right??

SO WHY THEY ARE DENYING ME THE HELP I NEED NOW IS BEYOND ME.

IF I could just sit in my two bedroom bungalow and do without some care I have now then I would just sit and go without.

AND

IF I thought I could move to a one bedroom flat without having a million meltdowns and coming to harm BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ROOM FOR A CARER….I WOULD MOVE TO A ONE BEDROOM FLAT today.

BUT

I cannot spend the rest of my life just sitting on my own 24/7 without the support I need.

I was what I consider conned into an age restricted bungalow in the middle of nowhere and I would like to move back to where I was born and raised and lived the vast majority of my life.

I was living in a two bedroom house with no age restrictions and I should have stayed there until I could swap it with someone in my home town.

It is impossible to swap an age restrcited property. I've been trying for 3 years without any interest. BUT a two bedroom house would interest all ages and single married and with kids could live in two bedroom house.

I had support stay over at the house and have support stay over at the bungalow. So I don't know why the council aren't allowing me to bid on two bedroom properties so support I've always had can carry on.

The council have said my friend can sleep in my living room and still provide me with support.

He has argued he cannot because it is NOT a social engagement and he has told them he works and we don't share a bedtime so he needs to be able to rest and sleep in a seperate room, but still be nearby to assist me when needs be.

They have argued that staying over a couple of times a weeks to help is not often or regular or consistent. BUT I've read that the nature of a disabilty might mean that the room is empty a lot of the time, but is available when the need for care arises.

Someone might have a series of seizures over a month long period, and then they may stop for 6 months, before coming back for a month. The poor person having these battles with their health might only need a room available for a carer to stay in for 2 months of the year.

But that room needs to be available for them in the first place. I would think that the above would still be considered regular use of the room.

Anyways in law their is no definition of what amounts to regular care. The law simply says for an extra room to be allowed, care needs to be required more than once in a blue moon.

My friend has told the council he wants to APPEAL THE DECSION not to allow me an extra room.

I could have this wrong but apparently the DWP require nothing more than PIP entilement to award extra money for an extra bedroom.

When paying LHA the DWP don't even care if the bedroom or carer exists. The need for a carer is enough to mean they claimant is paid more housing element toward their rent.

“person who requires overnight care” means a person (“P”)–
(a) [gets DLA/AA/PIP at relevant rates] and

(iii) be provided with the use of a bedroom in that dwelling additional to those used by the persons who occupy the dwelling as their home.

IF you don't get quailifying benefit the LA should accept additional information from medical professional-FOR EXAMPLE YOUR GP.

From what I can tell, when working out UC entitlement, the DWP don't ask for anything beyond confirmation of PIP benefit award, and if you have that in place, extra money for housing element paid with your UC.

I claim ESA and have no idea about UC yet so will only find out these things for myself when the harse reality of dealing with the DWP comes my way come migration time or when I've moved to another local authority and had to apply.

When the time comes for DWP to stress me half to death, it would be beneficial NOT to be on my own without the support I need during the night.

I HAVE BEEN AWAKE TYPING THIS FOR HOURS SO TO AVOID GOING ON AND ON UNTIL I GET MIGRAINE , and to AVOID THE LAPTOP FLYING ACROSS THE ROOM…

GOOD NIGHT (yeh right I'll be awake in 4 minutes)

VOWHDC_ABUSEME

IGNORE THIS. I GOT CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY.

"Once living in a new property overnight support would continue AND there would be some day time support in place, therefore moving to a one bedroom would be somewhat beneficial, but it important to get the overnight care in place as well"

I THINK I WAS TRYING TO SAY I MOVING TO A ONE BEDROOM PROPERTY WOULD MEAN I HAVE SOME DAYTIME SUPPORT IN PLACE, WHICH IN A WAY IS GOOD, AND SHOULD MEAN I HAVE MORE DAYTIME HELP THAN I DO RIGHT NOW, BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE THE OVERNIGHT HELP WHICH I HAVE NOW, AND THAT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE FOR HEALTH REASONS.

Ranald

If you have a change if circumstances, such as moving to another property, you will have to make a claim for UC under natural migration, thus losing the transaction protection you would have with managed migration; the latter being you applying, after receiving your migration letter.

VOWHDC_ABUSEME

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/975610#Comment_975610

Thanks for your reply.

I don't care about money. I NEED to move house for health reasons. And to be able to move house I NEED the council to allow me to bid on two bedroom properties so my support worker can stay overnight to assist me with my health condition when required.

The council are NOT allowing me to bid on two bedroom properties and they are ignoring medical evidence that say I would benefit from a second room for carers to stay in overnight, and to use during the day if needs be.

If I stay where I am with limited care in place my heatlh will decline. AND if I move to a one bedroom property my health will decline.

So how do I (or rather my friend who is dealing with this) get the council to see sense and to allow bidding on two bedroom properties so I can A) MOVE INTO A SUITABLE SAFE PROPERTY WHERE I HAVE SOME DAYTIME SUPPORT and B) WHERE MY CURRENT OVERNIGHT SUPPORT CAN CONTINUE.

I think we have given the council more medicial evidence than most claimants do. Most don't have long long austim diagnosis reports, don't have long letters from an autism specialist, or detailed letters from GP, to give the council.

all most claiments have is a PIP AWARD LETTER THAT SAYS WE ALREADY PROVED TO THE DWP WE HAVE HIGH CARE NEEDS.

IN ORDER TO BE ENTITLED TO PIP AT THE HIGHEST RATE WE HAVE ALREADY PROVIDED ENOUGH MEDICAL EVIDENCE TO THE DWP TO SHOW THEM WE HAVE A LOT OF CARE NEEDS.

The council have had my GP talk to them about my care needs more than once and he is getting fed up with them IGNORING HIM.

They witness meltdowns first hand and I am fed up with them ignoring those. And my friend is fed up because he is trying to live his life while running mine.

He is walking my dogs because I have a serious knee injury. He is taking bins out, shopping for me so I don't run out of painkillers and end up taking cold medicine that contained paracetomol but went out of date in 2022.

He is at work trying to make phone calls to council etc. He is trying to type emails. And at night he pops over to help stop me getting distressed due to being housebound and on my own all day.

He does'nt get any support when he needs it. SO I WANT TO MOVE AWAY SO HE CAN RELAX A BIT.

He will still offer overnight support if I am able to move into a two bedroom property, but I will have the room available if I want to use it for PAID SUPPORT WORKERS TO USE.

If I was using paid support they wouldn't be expected to sleep in my living room, so I don't understand why an unpaid carer would be expected to. But the council have said my friend can kip on the sofa if he wants to support me.

If at any point he REMOVES HIS SUPPORT so I DON'T HAVE HIS HELP..I WILL NEED TO HIRE A SUPPORT WORKER. AND they would be needed overnight. But who would apply to sleep on my sofa?? nobody !!!

So yet again I would have to go without support.

The council have probably made my friend want to smash his head in. They have certainly seen me smash myself in the head during a meltdown, and they have heard me scream down the phone at them, and they have got the 3am mid meltdown emails that probably call them all sorts of useless and unkind names.

But I guess we wait for the outcome of the appeal my friend made. And if they still say no extra bedroom for carer to stay in, then I GUESS I SIT ON MY OWN ALL DAY EVERY DAY OR I move to a loud one bedroom flat where I still have meltdowns and still recieve less support than I need to manage my health conditions.

Morgan_Scope

Hi @VOWHDC_ABUSEME,

I’m really sorry to hear about the challenges you’re facing.

Since your friend has already submitted an appeal, it’s important to follow the correct process. You might find it useful to contact Shelter or Citizens Advice for guidance on strengthening your case. If the council refuses your appeal, you may be able to escalate the issue to the Housing Ombudsman.

It sounds like you believe you meet the criteria for a second bedroom, but if the council is not applying these rules properly, you might want to get legal advice from Disability Rights UK.

Since dealing with the council is causing distress, it might help to have an advocate or caseworker speak on your behalf. Organisations like Mencap or POhWER provide free advocacy services for disabled people.

If the council continues to refuse, you could explore:

• Housing associations: some allow direct applications and may be more flexible than the council.
• Supported housing: some schemes provide both independent living and care support.
• A different council area: if you want to move back to your hometown, another local authority might be more understanding.

It sounds like your friend is doing an incredible job supporting you, but you both deserve proper help. I hope this information is useful, and I really hope you get the outcome you need.