Help ownership shared and dog toileting pen

lindsayc1

The housing associations which owns the lease of the shared ownership flat is refusing to let me put up a small metal fence on the adjoining car parking space to use as a dog toilet pen for me to have a registered assistant dog they ironically stated if I was a tenant not owner the space is on my title deeds then they would have granted a space for the dog to toilet 

I am happy to pay costs and remove when eventually I leave the property but long term 

Geoark

Hi @lindsayc1

It might be worth going back and pointing out you are a tenant. In legal terms as you are not the freeholder you have a long term assured tenancy, also known as a lease.

Also I would challenge the decision on grounds of it being unreasonable, as they have already stated that if you were a tenant they would have granted space. I would suggest doing this as a stage 1 complaint. This would make it much quicker to take this to ombudsman sooner as you need to go through the complaints procedures before they would normally investigate. If this is a route you would consider.

lindsayc1

The housing association and even shelter cymru said because its a leaseholder they cannot assist myself and the housing association refuse to accept any responsibility or a tenant status am getting so desperate and upset as badly need the assistance dog 

Geoark

Hi @lindsayc1

Okay, there are a couple of websites I can suggest where you can get some information and perhaps support.

The first is https://www.lease-assn.org/leasehold-information-sheets/disability-adaptations.php they also provide a number of other information sheets.

The second is https://www.lease-advice.org/ This one is a lot more complex to use, but does have a tab for Wales covering the main differences between Wales and England. 

Both I believe do provide ways of contacting them.

Unfortunately this is not going to be a quick resolution, and may not go in your favour at the end.

The next stage, if you have not started it already, is to use the housing associations own complaints process. This is is usually 2 stages, in the first stage it is not unusual for the complaints team to go back to the original team for a response. In the second stage it will go through senior managers for review. 

If neither of these work, then request if it can go to mediation, this is covered briefly in the first link. If this also fails then you have the right to go to the first tier tribunal (FTT) for a ruling. Refusing mediation would be frowned upon by the FTT, this may have a different name in Wales. In both stages of the complaint I would definitely include that your preferred outcome would be for permission to be granted or for the matter to go to mediation. 

In the end you may have to consider how far to go with this, ie taking it to FTT. You may want to look into this and particularly any costs you might incur. I would definitely look for a housing specialist solicitor, and one that would provide an initial consultation for free to see if it is worth taking further for you.

Another website you might find useful, though not aimed specifically at leaseholders is https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/