Hi, my name is sozijane52! Feel let down by social services on housing issue, anything I can do?

sozijane52

hi I live in a 3 bedroom council house,1 bedroom for me 1 for my daughter at 25 and 1 for my niece who I have a sgo order on,January 2023 social services placed my 5 grandchildren with me I eventually got custody of all 5 of them in July the same year,I gave up my bedroom for the 5 of them which they all share now ranging from 15 to 7 years old I’ve slept on the sofa for the last 2 years,my youngest grandson at 7 is on the waiting list to be assessed for adhd,nighttime’s are extremely difficult for him and everyone in the house and it can take hours to settle him,I’ve been told to go on choose n move and apply for a 5 bedroom house which we all know come round once in a lifetime if at all,things are extremely difficult and I feel totally let down by Kirklees social services as nobody has even attempted to help,is there anything I can do and do I have any rights to fight .

Rosie_Scope

Hi @sozijane52, welcome to the community. Sorry you're feeling so let down by social services, that seems totally understandable considering your situation. It must be a really difficult time for all of you.

Have you had any help from any local housing advisers? That might be a good port of call to find out what your rights are here. Advicelocal have a searchable database to find local advisers.

You could also try contacting your local MP or local councillors to see if they can help support your case for better housing.

Find your local councillors - GOV.UK

Contact your MP - UK Parliament

If you are caring for your grandchildren under a kinship agreement, there's a charity that provides support and advice that you might find helpful:

Kinship: Home | The Kinship care charity | England and Wales

Hope things start getting easier for you all soon.

Kimi87

I'm sorry for the difficulties you have been trying to cope with.

I'm not sure what more they can do with regards to your housing situation though?

They can't allocate you a home because they don't have the authority to bypass the social housing bidding system. You can certainly ask them to speak to that department on your behalf though.

And if a vacant property big enough doesn't currently exist, then there is really nothing social services can do about that. They can't find and give you something that doesn't exist.

You have to consider as well there might be other large families bidding who have been waiting longer than you have, or been assessed as having greater need.