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Disabled housing in Leeds ozzy2013
Ozzy2013
Member Posts: 18 Courageous
Hi, I am a disabled resident of Leeds UK, I have EDS Type 3 (hypermobility), Nerve damage in my back from childhood meningitis, & High functioning autism... I applied for housing in 2005/6 with Leeds City council, my doctor helped me fill out my application with all my health problems & needs including that i am a wheelchair user who at the time could occasionally use crutches, No flats as noises from above make me so anxious i don't sleep or eat properly, & I get highly anxious around people I don't know & require a private garden as I don't go out in public.... Leeds council accepted my application, several months later i found i could no longer stay with the "friends" i was living with as they were using me & taking all my disability money, I ended up on the streets & Leeds council said they had nothing for me...
I ended up in St James hospital from taking a serious overdose of antidepressants as I couldn't handle being on the streets physically or mentally, when I was discharged from hospital the doctors were outraged at how the council were treating me & wrote them a letter telling them they were responsible for my overdose & it was their duty to house me....
I went to the chemist for a new prescription & went to the housing office, they kept me sat in the waiting room for 7 hours before calling me to the desk to tell me they had nothing for me & demand i left as they had other people to deal with... I started popping my new prescription packets into my hand & told them the tablets were going down my throat when i finished if they didn't find me somewhere, security took me into a side room & an hour later they sent me to an industrial estate to meet a landlord for a temporary property, he took me to a shared house in a high violent crime area with my room up a set of stairs, I had people staying with me to carry me up & down the stairs & started getting warnings, the other residents were drug users leaving dirty needles under couch cushions, eating my food, & leaving the main door unlocked which resulted in 30 local drug dealing youths using the property to hide from the police & weigh drugs, they took my phone & i couldn't do anything to stop them... 6am one morning i was woken up by one of the youths kicking in the front door for somewhere to sleep, my carer took me downstairs & we found my mobility scooter with a broken axle under the front door that had been kicked off, i went up the street & found police in a van to come & help me, they arrested the youth & a lovely police woman explained to me that the property & other shared houses in the area had been having the problem for over 9 years & they were shutting down the house as a high crime spot, the police wrote me a letter telling the council i was not responsible for the problems & they had to rehouse me....
Leeds City Council moved me around similar shared unsuitable properties for the next 2 years & put me on the streets a few times in between for having my registered carer stay to help me... then i had a call from them saying they had a ground floor property in Morley Leeds which was a low crime area at the time, they said it was my only choice so I came to view the property, no adaptations or wheelchair access but they said that would be done after an assessment from the O.T. , the place had it's own garden which the council woman showing me the place said would be mine as it was a medical recommendation.....
2008 I signed for the property & was told i could go & get the keys 2 weeks later after repairs.... When i got the keys my friend from the mental health unit & his mum helped me move in, we got to the property to find all the garden fences for this street & the next had been removed leaving a communal garden i can't use, people hiding behind the flats taking drugs & attempting to burgle the flats repeatedly, police chases on foot through the gardens all the time, & then locals told me this is Beeston Leeds & not Morley, the area is a high crime area where disabled people, women, & the elderly are seen as an easy target for violent crime all the time.....
for years i had to struggle on my crutches with my joints grinding & dislocating to be able to use the bathroom, we had the O.T. round with my adult social care worker who told me the property could not be adapted due to the structure & cost. I met my current female partner in 2010 & she moved in with me & my carer in this 1 bedroom flat, I carried on struggling with my crutches to maintain my dignity rather than have people empty urine bottles & bedpans for me, we kept filling out housing applications & they kept getting rejected even though my health needs weren't being met & my home kept being attacked by locals looking for some quick money....
I carried on using stronger & stronger prescription medication to be able to get up on my crutches, many allergic reactions along the way from different substances my doctor was trying to deal with the immense pain, eventually i was prescribed Fentanyl in high doses which left me unable to stand up on my crutches anyway, after dying twice from stopping breathing whilst passed out & my partner bringing me back to life whilst crying her eyes out we decided the medication was putting my life at risk & giving me no life to talk of, when i was conscious i didn't know what was going on around me or where i was, the withdrawals nearly killed me coming off the horrible stuff......
Years of being forced to use my crutches damaged the joints in my hands, wrists & shoulders, & i have been stuck in bed for nearly 5 years now... I have a folding electric wheelchair & my carer made me a wheelchair ramp for the front door, the council came round & demanded to my partner that we have the ramp & the wheelchair that was on my original application removed from the property until we have written permission, we told them to send that request in writing which years later we are still waiting for lol.....
at the end of last year my 90yo nan was sick in hospital & made me promise i would try the council again as i had been buying giant solar panels & preparing to get a used caravan to adapt & live in a private woodland somewhere down south... we filled in the application & it was accepted, the council then sent surveyors round who agreed this property could not be adapted for my needs & was in a serious state of disrepair where they hadn't fixed anything we reported in 10 years including broken windows from attempted break ins..... my doctor & Leeds Special Autism Service contacted the council in writing & they accepted my medical recommendations at the start of this year but didn't apply them to my application.....
February my nan died from pneumonia with contributing factors being EDS, I got angry & scared as i have had pneumonia repeatedly living in this damp mouldy flat & I also have EDS Type 3.... I contacted a housing solicitor & also put a complaint in to Leeds council about being wrongfully housed all this time, A guy from the council called me to say my complaint was being upheld but all they were going to do was apply my medical recommendations & give me priority A+ for bidding on the properties on their website, they would have had to do that anyway according to their rules, & they refused to send me it in writing.....
Our solicitor came round March this year & opened 2 cases against Leeds City Council, 1 for disrepair due to the damage & loss caused to our possessions with the damp & black mould eating & rusting everything... & the second case was for homelessness due to some 1996 act which says as i can't access my bathroom & kitchen technically I'm homeless.... the council sent someone round in May to fill out the homelessness application after my solicitor sent in the paperwork....
The council contacted my solicitor asking if i could reconsider my medical requirements for a private garden & low crime area sent in by my doctor & Leeds Special Autism service....
My solicitor sent a private surveyor round who wrote a report saying this was the worst disrepair & conditions for a disabled person he had seen in 40 years on the job.....
July we complained to the council that we were only getting priority over flats which my doctor, Leeds Special Autism Service, & my solicitor had told them wasn't medically suitable, the council wrote back giving us priority over non age restricted bungalows which don't exist on their housing site, & priority over adapted houses with elevators already installed, we've found 2 adapted houses since then we have bid on, we ended 1st in line, & the council won't respond to us or our solicitor about them....
My solicitor heard nothing regarding the homelessness case & was being ignored, October the council sent me 3 emails, 1 was dated May & contained a homelessness application to prevent homelessness which wasn't what we applied for, & the other 2 were dated July closing the application for homelessness as we aren't at risk of losing this property... October they sent this after time had run out for a review..... My solicitor contacted them to complain & received what he referred to as thinly veiled threats to remove my priority A+ from the council website for months if we wanted an investigation, my solicitor advised me to drop the case.....
The council then tried to offer us £1000 to drop the disrepair case which is a fraction of what we've lost to this property, we declined..... the council 2 weeks ago have agreed to a joint survey between my solicitors surveyors & the councils before they make a new offer & start repairs, we agreed to that which is supposed to happen Thursday 28th November (next week).... from out of nowhere last week the council sent 2 workmen round to start doing repairs before the new survey for our legal case was done trying to sidestep it, we contacted our solicitor & I refused entry to the workmen through my CCTV camera intercom asking them to make a new appointment through the offices of my solicitor as the council have been told in writing many times this year but ignored......
That's where i'm up to now, there's no point in getting in my wheelchair as my hydraulic crane lifter was stolen from by our door years ago after being left for 2 mins while my partner cleaned this tiny flat, i'm in too much pain & suffer from dislocations when people try & lift me in, Plus i can't spend more than 30 mins in this wheelchair before the pain becomes unbearable, & spinning on the spot in the middle of this room is all i can do in my chair here anyway, this flat's too small for the wheelchair i need & i'm afraid any new equipment i get will be stolen or attacked by rust from the damp in the walls.....
I need help & would be grateful for advice &/or action to get us somewhere suitable before this property &/or area kills me... if nothing, knowing this information about what has been done to me is out in the public is a consolation, I would still be able to stand on crutches if it weren't for the properties Leeds City Council has put me in over the past 13-14 years, I've ended up in hospital many times with serious attempts to end my life & end this hell i've had to endure, It's criminal the way Leeds City Council have dealt with my life for so long.
Thank you
ozzy2013
ozzy2013
Replies
Welcome to the community.
I'm just speechless at everything you've had to endure.
I can only hope that just getting all that written down and sharing with us will slightly relieve some of the pressure.
I will tag a few friends who hopefully will be able to help and advise.
@thespiceman
@poppy123456
@Chloe_Scope
@Adrian_Scope
And others like myself can be here to listen and support.
Hope you will be ok, I honestly do.
So sorry you have had to endure all this.
Glad you've managed to come on here and talk about it.
I am one of the team of community champions on the forum. I as my friend said @poppy123456 many of us are in bed.
I am one of the few community champions who do stay up late and look around before go to bed. Usually start here now around early morning in-between my own life and any thing else I need to do.
I am truly sorry missed your post and may again apologise.
I am appalled ,shocked and stunned about what has happened.
As a member of this community never heard so a sad upsetting story. I myself thought my own story around getting homes was a not a pleasant one.
Understand you have a solicitor from reading you have EDS. Autism this should never had happened but has.
Please can I ask have you ever contacted the EDS Association for further support and advice regarding housing.?
https://www.ehlers-danlos.org.
Helpline 0800 9078 518.
Please can I suggest further do have my own Housing Association
Home group. They do have a lot of properties. No need for deposits or anything. I am disabled my self and have mental illness.
Something to consider.
https://www.homegroup.org.uk.
Shelter is another organisation to look at.
https://www.shelter.org.uk.
Helpline 0808 800 4444
https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk.
Helpline 020 7367 4500
Another one for welfare assistance, housing and anything else support.
Please can I add more links. This my mental health charity I used before.
You mentioned being anxious and suffering anxiety. This might be worth talking to them.
https://www.richmondfellowship.org.uk.
I know you mentioned a carer but do offer floating support, outreach workers. Advice on a number of your conditions do take clientele with additional disabilities with those with mental health issues.
Do have their own recovery programmes for addiction, I am sorry to hear that as well. I am my self have an addiction history.
Being addictive to painkillers can be hard to cope with, I am sure they could advise on that.
Also do have their own housing advisors and on housing programmes.
You would need to apply self refer. Understand being in Leeds should be in your area.
Please add one final organisation called RETHINK.
An advocate service for those with mental health issues and need a voice. Those with problems accessing advice, guidance .
https://www.rethink.org.
Understand I have given a lot of links take each one carefully and please ask any of us any questions.
Your not alone.
I am sorry about missing you this early morning. I do as I said try to answer every one part of the role but you posted around early hours .
I am sure our team from SCOPE will contact you sometime today.
I wish I could do more. Please if you wish to keep in touch be happy to be supportive.
Please take care.
@thespiceman
SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
Recipes
@paffuto10
@thespiceman
Thanks for your support, sorry if i'm a bit ratty sometimes but I haven't had anyone but my partner for company for years as she is now my carer, John (the carer i mentioned above) refused to come back to this area after some locals attacked us coming back from the shop while i was on my mobility scooter around 5-6 years ago, they waited for us to go out & attacked my home with my partner there alone, they broke all the windows & shouted threats at her before running away... Then they saw me & John coming back, they ran at me on my mobility scooter, threw an open can of beer in my face, & punched me in the face whilst i was blinded with beer... I put my scooter on high & powered home not noticing John was gone, they had grabbed him & dragged him down an ally threatening to break his legs..... I got home & my partner was in tears & terrified, she had called the police already so i had to call them back & report the kidnap of my carer John & the violent attack on both of us.... The police got here pretty fast for a change & went searching for John, some people walking their dogs approached the police & confirmed my report which they had witnessed.... about an hour later the police returned with John & took a statement from him here, they had found him hiding in a bush as he had broken away from the attackers & hid... The police arrested our attackers & only cautioned them, they were all in their 20's.... John gathered his possessions & left refusing to come back to this area, none of my friends would come here either as they have had similar incidents whilst on their way to my home, my friend Joe ended up in hospital with a shattered cheekbone & eye socket on his way here which traumatised him....
I've been in constant email contact with my solicitor from Minton Morrill this year, Leeds council are ignoring everything he sends to them, every complaint i'm putting in to the council is getting responses that have nothing to do with my complaints, I have contacted the housing ombudsman last week as i got the last stage 2 complaint non response/attack from the council i'm willing to take a couple of months ago & the ombudsman has an 8 week self referral waiting time.... I'm expecting them to try & fob me off as every official has so far, so my housing solicitor has advised me that if i am fobbed off to get a public law solicitor to help as he said he was "extremely concerned about the apparent discrimination" he has witnessed towards us....
Hopefully after the joint solicitor & council survey next week they will at least fix the windows & remove the black mould we have to keep spraying with Cillit Bang black mould killer, this place has no heating & i get very ill during the winters with the windows broken, the damp, & the mould. it'll be a bit more bearable when they sort that until they actually pay attention to the bids we are placing on Leeds council housing website which we end first for in their bidding system but are still ignored... I've not been able to get a proper wash in 5 years with no wheelchair access to the bathroom which contains a bath with a big hole in it where my crutch went through in 2013 & they never repaired so my partner can't even get a bath....
Thank you again for the support & the links, I will investigate the links when i can fight through the anxiety dealing with all this causes, the only thing that has pushed me to get this much done is the promise i made to my nan before she died in February, It has left me feeling quite ill pushing myself to do all this but my nan said i had to endure it for a while to improve our situation.....
It makes me feel a bit better knowing others know what has happened to me & is still happening at the hands of Leeds City Council, the public need to know what these criminals are doing to people's lives, & they're smug about it when i've confronted them politely about it, now i have CCTV cameras everywhere & a wifi bodycam to record next time they "smug" at me so i can put it online & show everyone the way they've been acting toward me all this time....
Sorry for another long message, with my autism i feel it best to explain everything in detail to prevent being misunderstood as i often was when i was younger
@Ozzy2013
Scope community team
It certainly sounds like they're giving you the runaround. I'm sorry to hear how bad things have been for you in recent times. It's difficult to know what to advise as you're already taking all the steps we'd typically suggest.
Have you been in touch with Shelter (0808 800 4444) at all? As they should be able to help you.
It might also be worth calling EASS on 0808 800 0082 or our own helpline on 0808 800 3333 as they might be able to think of something that hasn't already been suggested here.
Scope
Your feedback is really important to the development of the online community, so please remember to complete our online community annual survey.
Scope community team
Scope
Your feedback is really important to the development of the online community, so please remember to complete our online community annual survey.
Please if I can suggest please look at any of the links provided. I am aware that you could find you self a lot of support from the charities listed.
Just to give you an insight in to what some do. Especially the mental health charity. I was asked am I happy in my home if not be able to look at some thing to help me.
Also assistance with any interviews job centre when I was ever signing on or support at benefit assessments, any appointments.
Signposting to additional support for addiction if needed various courses and one day seminars on lots of lifestyle choices and options.
I know your frightened, scared and do not know which way to turn. This a forum I use this myself for voicing views, opinions ask my many friends as a source of guidance and information.
Need to offload tell how I am please think of that. More than happy to read anything you write.
We are here to support you be a friend offer compassion and lots of time listening to you.
This what the community is all about having a support net work. Our community.
Please I hope you contact Adrian we all have your interests at heart.
I do understand many conditions as many members and former friends have a range of disabilities, conditions and illness.
Please keep in touch have a chat any time you want to your not alone your one of us now and we are here and not going away.
Please take care always in my prayers.
@thespiceman
SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
Recipes
This may not work but try phoning your local law centre. Or contact your nearest citizens advice office for assistance. As @Adrian_Scope says, this is not okay at all.
@Adrian_Scope
@thespiceman
Thank you, it makes me feel a little better knowing the world isn't as cold & heartless as me & my partner have had to endure for a long time now. I will get around to emailing scope tonight when i've had a few coffee's, i tend not to sleep until i pass out from exhaustion due to the anxiety & pain I have to deal with so i have to fight the brain fog when i am awake...
I have tried SHELTER before, i spent most of a year calling, getting a machine saying they were busy, hanging up & calling back during hours they're supposed to be open, I haven't had a human on the line yet & i've tried relentlessly, even tried their online service but it keeps saying they are busy... makes me wonder if they even have anyone in the office at all
I tried Advonet for help, they accepted my self referral & told me they had an 8 week waiting list.... 10 weeks later Leeds Special Autism service contacted them to find out where my help was, apparently they had no record of me or the hour & a half phone call i made to them in tears.... I was extremely upset & left Advonet a stinking Google review, a few weeks later after getting many notifications of people viewing my review Advonet contacted me, suddenly they knew who i was & they were full of promises to help, at that point i didn't trust they wouldn't be vindictive about my Google review & make our housing situation worse so i turned them down....
Due to the bad experiences I've had trying to get help it takes alot for me to force myself to keep contacting more services with the constant expectation of it being a waste of my time & draining me of all my energy with the anxiety it causes making contact to begin with... I am going to explore the links you suggested & force myself next week to contact them, I'm hopeful that as actual people have recommended them to me that they may be worth contacting, so i'm going to give myself another push...
Thank you all again for being so kind & helpful
@Ozzy2013
Please if I can think of anything else. Be a pleasure to tell you.
Just wish you well and please do not be a stranger.
I am always on here every day want a chat or talk about anything.
Please do.
The links and information I have given you. Take you time write down what you need to say to any one.
I do this every time on the phone or even Email.
The other thing buy a diary make notes what you need to do.
Or use paper create a folder of information anything to help you.
I buy WHICH magazine cut out important advice, consumer.
Just thought have a look on line. WHICH website.
WHICH magazine has a lot on all sorts of lifestyle, environmental, consumer including housing problems on other issues as well.
Useful advice, guidance and support help those in difficulties.
Pay £10 a month has access to legal advice.
Please keep safe and warm you among friends here.
Please take care.
Always in prayers.
@thespiceman
SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
Recipes
only just noticed your reply after refreshing the page, thank you, I am open to all suggestions that have even a slim chance of making a difference in our situation so i will be exploring all options
That is a lot of harsh stuff going on there.
Sending you and your partner strength, hope and support. x
Thank you for sharing with us @Ozzy2013
Going to bed a little earlier tonight.
Goodnight guys x
Scope community team
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Scope
Your feedback is really important to the development of the online community, so please remember to complete our online community annual survey.
It's been quite overwhelming after nearly 14 years of being housed by Leeds City Council (excluding the initial waiting time at my friends house) & nobody listening to me that whole time until now.... I've had workers with adult social care since living here but they were useless, the first one turned up 2009 after an assessment from the council, i thought he was cool at first as he road a superbike everywhere, then he turned up 1 day while i was sat by my front door trying to force a wire for an intercom through the old spyhole on the door so i didn't have to open it to hostile people, i explained what i was doing & showed him the intercom & the handset for inside... he left & several hours later the police turned up insisting they must come in or they would break my door down as my social worker claimed i was trying to put a forcefield up around the flat... not sure what planet he was on, i put in complaints & a year later they sent me a new worker called Chris, he brought OT's round to see if they could do adaptations & when they couldn't he left me with a bath step & seat i couldn't use....
Then the police arrested me coming out of a local park on my mobility scooter with my carer John as they saw us playing bat & ball, by the time we left the park we had lost the ball over a fence & put the bat away in my scooter bag, the police were parked outside the park watching us play but when we came out they pounced on us & arrested me fr offencive weapons as i didn't have a ball any more which i thought was a joke, I was convicted for having a bat in my mobility scooter bag regardless of the fact we had been seen using it for sports games before the arrest by the police who arrested me, & the head of York Rd probation office personally requested my case as she had family members with the same autism as me.... My probation officer was of the opinion that it wasn't my fault & contacted adult social care about funding for me to attend Leeds Special Autism service in place of my probation as there was no criminal intent in me having the bat in my bag & she wanted to help me... Chris from adult social care phoned me to tell me i wouldn't be getting the funding, i had a complete meltdown shouting at him on the phone telling him he was fired & not to call my number again..... my probation officer called me shortly after to tell me the meltdown had done me a favour & adult social care had changed their minds & granted funding for Leeds Special Autism service....
about another 18 months went by & I was given a new worker with Adult Social Care, she must have been about 20yo & didn't have a clue what she was doing, It took 4-8 months at a time to get any contact with her..... Even when the Jobcentre sent one of their dodgy assessment doctors round who drastically cut our money, it took my social worker a year to help, by that time the woman from welfare rights she brought to my home had to fill out a new application as i was out of review time, the application was accepted straight away as there is no denying the severity of my disabilities.....
after that i completely lost faith in adult social care, i spoke with my worker from Leeds Special Autism service about it & requested help getting a new social worker, adult social care told my worker from the autism service i couldn't have a new social worker without putting complaints in writing about the old one, I have found i am treated badly by services if i start putting in complaints about their workers so i declined......
4 years later (end of last year) my partner/carer Lia contacter Adult social care for help, they told us all they do now is help people with getting dressed & making sure they are eating, i'm sure they were lying to us to deny us help....
I have been getting a short phone call every week for years now since i couldn't attend Leeds Special Autism, they were helping a lot, until this year Leeds City Council found out the autism service were helping me with advice to get us rehoused..... suddenly the council sent a financial assessor round who wouldn't accept any of my care expenses as care expenses even though they have until now, & suddenly Adult Social care wanted me to pay £75 a month for a 10 min call a week from the autism service.... the autism service complained & officially suspended my service so i didn't have to pay the bills the council had sent me, then until a few weeks ago when my worker left the autism service they were helping me for free all this year as it was felt by alot of people the council were trying to cut off any help i had opposing them with what they've done to me....
over the years I have tried phoning nearly every charity supposed to be there to help & gotten nowhere, i tried Facebook pages & nobody was interested.... I'm in shock right now that people have actually listened..... Thank you all 😊
Hello again.
You've really been so brave coming on here and sharing everything.
It's late now and I'm going to sleep but just wanted to say good luck for tomorrow and hope all goes well.
Keep us all updated if you can manage it. x
Anyways, with that all over I passed out until about 17:00 from the stress & anxiety of it all.... I woke up & my partner made me a coffee, we sat with the phone on loudspeaker to my partners dad telling him how it went.... 20:10 still on the phone when 2 men in luminus vests knocked on our door, I asked them who they were through the CCTV intercom & they said they were here from Mears council contractors to do an emergency repair on the floor, 10 past 8 at night without even a phone call after the council have accepted they need an appointment here at least 7 days in advance for me to try & get my anxieties under control, my solicitor said the councils solicitor accepted a week in advance to be very reasonable with how unknown people in my home affects me so badly.....
My partner went to the door & told them they need an appointment to come here & they said they would go back to their office & tell them. I've emailed my solicitor with what's happened & am hoping for a reply in the morning, I'm now Sat feeling all tense & achy all over after finally thinking i could relax after a week adjusting to the idea of the survey that took place at midday today, Then people banging on my door wanting to do work i assume to cover themselves with this legal case we have against them... Now i'm going to be sat here on edge for weeks expecting them to just appear when it suits them 😒
If the council don't move us soon I'm planning on bunkering down here for another couple of years whilst saving for some private woodland & a used caravan, living in a shed would be an upgrade to this place, a couple of years more of this hell & we could save for at least an acre of private forest in the middle of nowhere, Leeds City Council seems to be maffia run & I don't know the secret handshake or something 😒
My fantastic friends @chiarieds and @paffuto10 have been in touch with you and given much needed support, advice and lots of their time.
Listening and offering compassion and empathy.
My care and concern is please can I ask did you ever look at any of the links I provided for you in one of my posts.
Including the following if these might be useful. I just want to help you but it seems you either forgotten or not have contacted any body.
I am sorry what has happened. All I know have been their there is support, help and guidance to find a new home, some where else to live.
I have moved five times ongoing due to my addiction and my disability living next door to people ,..Who do not wish or want you as a neighbour.
Been burglarised, assaulted and used a source of income for those who are land lords private rented homes.
No heating and lots of minor violations of the law been and had heating, system's checked a t my own expenses.
I did not intend to list every thing I have gone through could fill book.
Found my own way and used my common senses by looking a what is available in the area and also on line.
Many landlord then cut your to a bone sometimes never played by there own contracts or rent agreement. Many times several had to take photos before moving in as they would demand payment and lose my deposit due to damage but I had proof.
I had experiences and encounters from landlords who did not want me to have a satellite, no pets, not even a girlfriend had to sneak one in even they were away or be careful due to nosy neighbours of one they were related to.
Any thing I required to be comfortable, or need to for security, safety objected to.
There are those housing associations one I recommended have support networks for those tenants like my self. Whether mental health or other disabilities.
A lot of housing associations do this.
Please consider this. If Leeds City Council is it not working look at options.
Please can I add have had to move out with two suitcases no furniture and those days may I add one other point is the leaving time, evicted dates were six weeks.
Yet I found some where used libraries use newspapers used media on line.
Must share I am concerned with your housing situation as a community member wish I could do more.
https://www.richmondfellowship.org.uk.
https://www.rethink.org.
https://www.homegroup.org.uk.
Did I mention The Richmond fellowship has it own housing association and advisors.
I wish you well please if I can help further please get in touch.
Please take care.
@thespiceman
SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
Recipes
@thespiceman The Temporary properties the council had me in for 2 years before this place were privately owned, the letters coming through the door every week showed the landlords were claiming housing benefit for 3 times the amount of people they had living in the properties, with everything those criminals put me through, like you with burglaries, assaults, even putting me on the streets for having my registered carers stay to help even though they were on my housing application, i could never consider private housing again... I will be exploring the links you have sent, it takes me a while to push myself into new things, & this week's been alot for me to deal with... I will get to it when i've managed to calm down 🙂👍
@chiarieds We have been exploring holiday homes for years, the constant payments & closing periods of the parks put us off... We've found if we purchased some woodland it would be legal to live in a temporary structure permanently if we are "working the woodland" which could just be us planning positions of new trees to be planted, but we'd have no further payments once we own that land, & if the government decided to mess with peoples disability benefits again we could rent forest land on weekends to survivalists who usually pay around £30 a day each for private woodland to practice their fire making & shelter building, & some just to camp out... if they helped me by removing any fallen trees & overgrown bushes they are also classed as working the woodland & are not restricted by camping laws with my consent to be on the land.....
I've spoken to my solicitor today, he wasn't impressed with the council turning up unannounced last night at 20:10, he has emailed the council's solicitors to have them speak to their people as the council aren't following the agreed adjustments made for my disabilities regarding to visiting my home... hopefully the council will be responding Monday, they're obviously not even listening to their own solicitor as she said to our solicitor weeks ago a week in advance for appointments was very reasonable considering how it affects my anxieties which also affect my physical health badly.... I've been keeping a record of everything to do with the council for over a decade including every letter they've sent me, every little thing they try to do now outside what's been agreed with my housing solicitor is coming back to bite them when i hire the public law solicitor to deal with the discrimination Minton Morrill solicitors have witnessed & commented on, that witness is all i needed to get a serious law firm to stand up & pay attention but that's a surprise for the council later 😎👍
Thanks for your help 😊
Asked a housing officer to help me six weeks before the end of my contract at College. Let me down.
Understand what you are saying but why waste time, I am sorry if you feel betrayed and hurt.
I have one thing in my corner my faith my Christianity. Add to that my courage, my strength and it is time to think is this worth it . Time in my own view to look at choices and your own wellbeing.
It is good to stubborn have the attitudes of wanting to stand up for disability and yes I do agree but if this comes with a price a cost to you personally your health or even worse your sanity.
I am a defender and a white knight of our members on the forum just do care and have concern, will fight for any one and supportive.
I have regrets, and get the guilty feelings of just trying to cope and do recognise every ones situations
I am sorry but mystified and quite concerned for your own self as you continue to not be thinking straight and see the real picture which is finding a home that you feel comfortable in.
They do exist and do and can be found.
Understand this no one wished to hold grudges or have this hanging over there heads is there hope then consider the chances, the opportunities. Life is so short. So much to do and have a life full of happiness and joy.
Think of the future are you still going to be in Leeds in twenty thirty years when in the present right now. Housing opportunities and those helping are not being listened to.
I have had a bad life being alcoholic and have so many experiences, mis treatment and abused .
I now see this is the best time. I am middle fifties wasted thirty years plus. Done a lot of things but realise now what counts.
I do understand this is your life but what if some housing association you contact offers the home you want.
Are you going to stay in Leeds? To continue the fight or are finding a home to live in.
Something to think about.
Please take care.
@thespiceman
SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
Recipes
Just wondered how you and your partner are doing and if there is any news?
Hope you're getting some restful sleeps and coping x
Then at the end of last week the council decided to send us a rather threatening offer, It gives us the address of a bungalow in an area we put on the housing application we would never consider (why ask if they're going to ignore it), With a Communal garden..... Then it goes on to threaten downgrading our bidding status if we don't accept the property, Then....THEN it says When we go to view the property we Will be given paperwork, we Must bring it with us & several forms of ID When we are signing for the tenancy....... How very rude, Threatening, & Demanding...... We tried CAB to get through to the local law centre on Thursday, but it had us on hold so long it diverted to the National Advice Line I think they said, They've given us the numbers for the Equality Advisory Support Service, & Our reference number from when we contacted the law centre at the start of the year for advice as our housing solicitor doesn't cover discrimination which he has witnessed & commented on in writing stating the council were acting "less than legal"......... so , calls to make tomorrow then..... I'm sure the council did it intentionally knowing my anxieties would build over the long weekend, helpless to take action until Tuesday with a 4 day timer on the offer...... & they're only doing it as they want us out of this place to avoid a £17,000+ disrepair bill they have already accepted in writing, They want to gut this place & give it a cheap tosh up for the next unsuspecting victim as I've seen them do many times with other flats round here that have damp proof failing, Rising damp, & black mould.... they rip all the plaster off, spray the brickwork with a mould killer, Slap new plasterboard up, & blame the next tenant for any damp problems when it all starts again, trying to invent reasons to evict people many times over the years because we have the nerve to complain, until we finally resort to getting solicitors, then they deny everything......
Sooo.... calls to make, I've emailed our local MP with all the details, & A few ministers as I'm unsure who would deal with this.... & The council to politely tell them how unsuitable the property on offer, & the way the offer was threateningly made to us was.... I've informed them we won't be accepting the property, & if they want to avoid the disrepair case downgrading our bidding status is the wrong way to go about it as we'll be here longer, They will have to spend all that money making the place truly livable, but It still can't be adapted for a wheelchair user within any budget they would be willing to shell out as they have stated, & the area we are in is unacceptable, so they will have to rehouse us in the end anyway after spending all of that money.... It would only make sense for the council to support one of our bids on a property even their computer system puts us first for, we will not be bullied into another 5-10years imprisoned within another property.... to me the garden is the most important requirement on our application, to sit in the sun again, grow some fruit & leafy veg in raised planters, somewhere I can have a shed to have my expensive electric wheelchairs repaired, It is essential equipment I can't just send away for repair, plus I've had repeated mobility companies create dangerous faults in my equipment when I get it back from them so they can claim on insurance... If it weren't for my disabilities I could strip that wheelchair down to it's smallest components & rebuild it, so I'll be supervising whomever is touching the new £10,000 powerchair I will be buying when we move to enable me to spend longer in the chair & do more for myself..... But yeah, Not sure how the council think they can discriminate like this, The requirement has been noted by every doctor (2 now), & every professional service i've been in contact with as essential for me to have safe & secure access to the outside world....
Eventually I will contact the right person to help, It may take me longer than most people pushing through my anxieties, but I never give up 😉👍
Hope everyone's staying well in these worrying times, With my autistic anxieties we prepared for lockdown long before the virus left China...... I feel very sad for the world, but slightly relieved I don't look like a nutcase in my full face respirator if I need anyone in from the outside world.... A few days before the lockdown Leeds council sent our solicitor an email claiming we were being unreasonable requesting we reschedule a meeting as we had put ourselves on lockdown due to me being highly susceptible to respiratory infections..... Unreasonable? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Stay safe everyone 🙏
How are things today? I imagine it's hard to get anything done at the moment with the lockdown. Stay safe.
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We've made ourselves clear to the council now I believe, Ether give us suitable housing in a civilised area that meets all of our needs soon, or we'll wait & they'll still have to give us that after paying out on a disrepair court case they have accepted liability for costing them £17,000 plus fees & compensation for our lost/damaged possessions destroyed by the disrepair of this property.... we still want our possessions replaced either way, but they still stand to save alot of money just rehousing us somewhere acceptable asap, they are just trying their luck offering us the crapper attached to a bad area but posing as an area 3.3 miles away over open farm fields, not sure who they think they're fooling lol
The black mould here is giving me the same breathing problems as always, but at least we've remained isolated away from this deadly virus, We tried warning people at the start of the year but nobody ever listens to me about these things until after, Then they swiftly forget the next time I warn them of something & they ignore me, Nobody listens to the crazy autistic guy lol..... Just wish they had though, alot of lives could have been saved...... Hoping my final politely worded Email to Boris made a difference as we went on lockdown the next day, We can fix a broken economy but we can't bring the dead back, Prioritise the people!
Hope everyone's staying safe & sane, I know too well how maddening it is to be stuck inside constantly.... Just wish those who are able would go to the shops instead of ordering online... Finding it impossible to get any deliveries atm & I can't get out to a shop like the majority out there..... Tough times for everyone i guess 😒
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