Housing issues

Adelina

I am single mum to three, one daughter with hemiplegia, we have been placed in an emergency accomodation for a year and half now, one bedroom flat. The property doesn't have a wet room and an adapted toilet for my daughter and the place is very small for a family of 4. I find it very difficult to bath her and she uses a potty as is safer. The advisor at the local council overwrites the housing plan that the County Council has made for us and they would only give us a flat/ bungalow although there is nothing to restrict us from having a property with stairs as long as there is a hand rail and a wet room.  I've asked for a review at the local council and they've only made a change about the door widening and we are not allowed stairs. 
Is there anyway that I can challenge this advisor's decision as she is not keen to change anything from her decision. There are not many 3 beds flats/ bungalows in our area and a property with stairs would be much easier to find. 

Alex_Alumni

Hello and welcome @Adelina and thank you for reaching out with your query. I'm sorry to hear the outcome of the review isn't what you were hoping for, it must be very frustrating.

If it's helpful, I've looked into whether it's possible to ask for a review of emergency housing offered by a council, and found advice from Shelter's website:

Unsuitable emergency housing

You cannot challenge unsuitable emergency housing in the same way [as other offers of housing].

Raise any concerns about the safety or quality of the accommodation with the council. They should address any safety risks and may offer something more suitable.

You may have to accept lower standards than in longer term housing. Emergency accommodation has to be very unsuitable for a legal challenge to succeed.

It seems from this that reviews around emergency accommodation focus on safety as a priority, but does also mention that you can raise concerns over quality.

To more directly answer your query, if you still aren’t happy with the council’s decision after a review, you can complain.

You can complain about the council if:

• you don’t think they followed the rules of the housing allocation scheme
• you think they discriminated against you - read more about the different types of discrimination in housing
• you think they took too long to make a decision about your application

Check how to complain about the council on GOV.UK.

I hope this is helpful for you, but please let us know if we've missed anything.

Alex

newborn

Itdoes not sound as if you are complaining about aspects of the emergency placement. You are being indirectly discriminated against, for reasons of the disability. lnstead of taking notice of what you have told them, about your daughter being able to manage stairs, they are insisting on their own notions of disability=no stair climbing.

By doing so, they are forcing you to stay indefinitely in the one bedroom emergency shelter, while others can bid for the next available flats.

Can you think of a way to show evidence she really can climb stairs? But, bear in mind if she needs help from you, and cannot do it on her own, they will not be convinced. They want to avoid needing to come back later and put in a stair lift.  They are not being unreasonable, from their point of view, because they have to make a little budget go a long way, and there is an endless stream of extra people all turning up at every council and demanding somewhere to live  

L_Volunteer

Thanks @newborn for providing @Adelina with this support. I thought your response was really informative 

Adelina

Thank you! I appreciate your reply. 

janer1967

Have you requested a care needs assessment where ot will come and assess your families needs and do a report which then can go to the council and they should then adjust your requirements based on the report.

You can self refer on the gov website 

Adelina

I have requested an housing needs report from the County Council but the local  council has overwrote it and they only allowed us a bungalow or a flat. I have proved that my daughter's condition has improved and she doesn't need a wheelchair so they have changed door's dimensions. My daughter never needed a wheelchair and it was not necessary for them to put restrictions on door dinensions. Last week they have confirmed they have a property for us, so I am waiting for them to call me so I can view it. Finally, I spoke to their medical advisor. The advisor was very strict and would not allow us any stairs.

L_Volunteer

@Adelina How have things been for you more recently? I appreciate it has been a little while since you last posted on this thread now.

I want to make sure you have access to the support you need and deserve but I am also aware that things might have changed since.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if we can do anything to help. We are all here for you