Can H/A refuse to let me have a house

Tanya26

I currently live in a 3 bedroom bungalow with a shower room. I have spina-biffida, scoliosis and degenerative disc disease. I have a OT report that says I can have a house with straight stairs to accommodate a stair lift and I can manage a bath. My son has Profound learning disabilities and complex medical issues his OT as requested a bath to be put in due to his sensory issues (he will not tolerate the shower as much as we have tried) and they have refused. They have also said that if by chance another 3 bed bungalow did become available it would probably not have a bath as they changed them years ago to wet/shower rooms. Can they refuse to let me go back into a house because I have a disability 

feir

They can't refuse that no, especially as you have been told that a home with straight stairs (and a stairlift) would be suitable.

When and where you will be able to be rehomed will depend on what they have available and what band you are placed into when applying and this is what is likely to hinder the process.

You could look into house swaps as well as apply for a new home because i'm sure there will be disabled people in a house looking for a bungalow as it would be more suitable for them and they'd be happy to swap with you, You might get really lucky and even find someone who had their home fitted with a stairlift looking to swap.

wilko

This is a difficult one as you are all ready housed  and wishing to move to another social housing property from a bungalow to a house requiring a stair lift to be fitted. In an ideal world  awash with money this would be ok but as councils have to cut budgets like for like swaps are more likely than what you are asking for. Doing a house swap could be a good option as long as it to a place you want to move to.

Tanya26

My H/A is not on a banding system they have about 15 people at a time on a waiting list for each area and reopen it when they have rehoused so many it is a case of checking the website constantly I am thinking of trying to find an exchange but didn’t won’t to get anyone’s hopes up in case they say no if it’s a house 

feir

15 people sounds promising, when i applied there was well over 3,000 people on my LL waiting list and all the others had shut down theirs completely. I guess you'll have to check with the HA and ask them and if they say yes it's ok then ask them to send it by letter in case of problems later.

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Tanya26 and welcome to the community! I hope you get the answers you are looking for and please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need anything!