home adaptations

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SashaM
SashaM Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
in Housing and independent living

hi, everyone.

i’m hoping to get some advice by my recent experience with the council following moving homes.

i just got a response after i submitted an application to have a dishwasher installed in my new kitchen.

i included letters from my doctor, but even though i was told by a council employee that i need an OT recommendation as well, the OT themselves said they cannot make such a recommendation.

the complication in my situation is that my new home is a new built property and under developer’s warranty for the first year, which was the grounds on my application got refused.

it doesn’t did well with me, considering i need to make changes on medical grounds while bigger flats have already space made for a dishwasher.

can someone advise what would be the best route to take to get the outcome i need, please?

so far i’ve only dealt with a housing officer who i had a feeling would do much to help my case and i don’t feel he even attempted to fight my corner.

i really need this done to take some pressure off of me to be able to function on a daily basis, so if someone can help in any way i will very appreciate it.

Comments

  • SashaM
    SashaM Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/923298#Comment_923298

    hi! yes. i need the council’s permission as well as the builder’s permission to fit a dishwasher since i would need to take out one of the kitchen cupboards and me doing that would have an affect of the warranty- void it.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    This sounds perfectly normal to me, even when it's not a new build property. I rent from social housing and part of my tenancy agreement for 1 year is that I can't make any changes (apart from decorating) in the first 12 months of my tenancy.

    My 12 months are up on 18th December. Until then I have the same issue as you and I can't fit a dishwasher in my kitchen because to do that I would need to remove a cupboard. I have physical disabilities and a dishwasher would make my life so much easier but my LL said no.

  • SashaM
    SashaM Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/923423#Comment_923423

    why did they say no to you, did they give a reason?

    a council cannot refuse without a reasonable explanation..

    i was told that in my case there would be no problem if it wasn’t new built still under warranty.

    the funniest part is that i just had a person tell me they can’t install things OT recommended in my bathroom for this exact same reason.

    it’s like the council doesn’t know what they're doing.

  • SashaM
    SashaM Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/923704#Comment_923704

    as it turns out - no.

    i just had someone from the council themselves come down to install things the OT recommended but said he can’t bc warranty.

    you couldn’t make this up..

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/923698#Comment_923698

    Due to it being an introductory tenancy agreement for the first year. After this it becomes secure. All adaptions were in place before I moved in apart from my stairlift but that was installed within the first month.

  • Jimm_Alumni
    Jimm_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,713 Championing

    The only thing that comes to mind personally @SashaM is that the council are concerned about the risk that you void the warranty and then something turns up that is wrong with the house. It can often take a long time for faults with houses to be discovered. If the warranty is voided and then an issue is discovered it would likely be incredibly costly. That's the only thing I can think of from the point of view of the council, whether it's valid or not to refuse your request is another matter I suppose.

    Frankly I think it's silly that such a warranty is only a year long given builder faults can take quite some time to become apparent, and that simply replacing a kitchen cupboard with a dishwasher would void it.

    Is it possible that there is space for a freestanding dishwasher, or even a surface-top dishwasher? Have those options been brought up at all. The surface-top versions are much smaller, so less good for lots of dishes, but can simply sit on a surface, table, or the floor.

  • SashaM
    SashaM Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/924476#Comment_924476

    hi, Jim.

    thank you for your comment.

    you are right on every point you made and i agree on some as well.

    it is very silly that replacing a cupboard with a dishwasher voids the whole warranty, but as you said, issues take a long time to surface sometimes, so considering the builder installed all the connections for a dishwasher apart from leaving space and putting a cupboard in, it would be better to allow a tenant to install a dishwasher in case these connections are faulty. instead they will have to repair if anything goes wrong when i eventually were to put it in after a year..

    but this is no surprise from my council - it turns out they themselves can’t make adaptations in my bathroom because of the same reason - adaptations they have so far told me they would do within 5days of moving in date.

    i cannot get my head around that and what an embarrassment..

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