Ongoing saga re Mum, housing & social care / Too many procedures!/ Extremely worried

All about caring
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We went to see the bungalow yesterday just through the window and she likes the look of it.

We have been informed by the council that it needs some repairs, but we don’t know if they will take a couple of weeks, or a month. There is still time.

However, the council has informed us that we are allowed to Withdraw from the property. It will still be allocated should she not be successful with anything else. We have been advised to withdraw as she wouldn’t be allocated another property if she came first for it. By withdrawing it she will be able to.

We are also waiting for the homeless application to be put through, we are on week 5 now and nothing. We were told there was a seven week wait. Once it goes through we were told she would more than likely be put on Band A, as she would have two priority needs Homelessness and Medical needs.

I don’t want to sound entitled but we weren’t informed that the house needed work when we bid on it. They said they are aware the section 21 ends next month. I am aware that there is an extension to this.

I’ve seen a property come up on the bidding today, and I know the council can offer direct lets. I’ve bid on it but she is currently second and its only been live a few hours. A extremely similar property came available a couple of doors away last week, and mum came 4th. And again there was a third property here two weeks ago it was removed for a direct let case so I know it can be done.

As I have said before, the council should take homeless applications on a case by case basis. Someone with a priority should be put in a different category as per their needs. At the end of the day mum is only being considered for Sheltered Accommodation/ flats with lift access and ground level. The general public cannot apply for these propreties.

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If mum likes the bungalow, why not just end the dithering and take it, now? Then the stress is gone, the landlord won’t mind waiting a few extra days if it saves the legal costs of eviction, and you and mum have time to sort out before moving.

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The trouble is they don’t know how long it will take at present. It could be over the time she has left.

I’m just trying to speak to the council about the direct let policy as a place is on the adapted housing list, however she has not being contacted about it. The allocations policy suggests it’s first served to someone on this list, but it hasn’t

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Just talk to the landlord now about a short extension. Then ask Shelter about the eviction process. I’m fairly certain that they have to start formal eviction after the notice period ends.

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Yeah, we’re aware that there is a legal procedure we have to follow. It’s just an absolute nightmare.

We know there’s a property waiting to have repairs and we’re allowed to continue to bid. There’s only one in the desired area this week (others are the other side of the city). She is coming up second for this property. Bidding closes on Monday.

There are two possibilities 1; the person who is first might not be eligible putting mum into first place.

Or 2: The person in first will be offered the property, and therefore they won’t be on the bidding system anymore. Should similar properties come available mum has more chance of coming first.

As an addition I’ve noticed a pattern in how sheltered accomodation is treat. Less people seem to want it. Mum came second for one last week.

So she’s really high up.

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I’ve tried to get an advocate a lot of them won’t help because they said I am family, the others said their caseloads are full.

Stuff is happening and is just a matter of time now. We don’t know if she would end up in the bungalow or another property yet.

Mum has also found another assisted living facility she likes. She found out about it through a friend and I showed her some videos of the apartments- she liked it. I already applied weeks ago and mums friend said there are apartments available so we will contact them on Monday.

It’s on a main road with a regular bus service. (Mum is getting a bus pass next week).

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Got a call earlier this week from a case worker after I submitted an email to a councillor.

The case worker said that they wanted to just do a final check with the landlord. Once this comes back and it’s all fine mum will be placed on Band A. (Top band)

I’ve tried to contact them ever since and yet no one ever answers their phone. I’ve called about 10 times in three days. I’m currently waiting and have been for 45 minutes.

I don’t know any information if mum has been moved to band A or anything. It’s a joke, at my work place we answer the phone in 30 seconds.

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Coolcar,

I hear your frustration. Very difficult having to make phone calls at work and not knowing what is going on.

However, today is Wednesday. Earlier in the week was Monday or Tuesday. The case worker will have other clients in addition to your Mum. Their case load is likely huge (not you or your Mum’s fault, I know). The case worker maybe waiting on written confirmation from the Landlord - or may have had issues contacting him/hearing back from him etc

Not saying a delay is right. Not defending them. Just saying this is the reality.

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I learned to use a switchboard when I worked in hospital admin in Australia, our goal was within 6 rings. For a while I was Special Visits Organiser at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. My switchboard skills were useful there too. Again answer within 6 rings. Yesterday I had to ring Hampshire’s CART unit. Client Resolution. Waited 30 minutes for the call to be answered. The person was foreign, poorly trained, and spoke badly. As the result of my lingering cough and cold I’m slightly deaf. I asked him to speak slowly and clearly, to no avail. In total, my question “where am I on the waiting list for my carers review?” Was unanswered after an hour! Today a duty social worker rang me to say I wasn’t going to have one as “You are not a carer any more!”. Formal complaint now sent!

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It’s just a joke it really is. Like I say the phones are answered straight away at the company I work for. The phones are non stop all day of people paying bills, people wanting adverts, people about stories. All get answered straight away. We’re a small company with six staff members not including freelancers who don’t do office work. I’m one of three full time staff members, even then one of the full timers works from home and can’t answer phones.

On Monday, the guy told me that he was going to contact the landlord to ask why he issued the no section 21 notice. Let’s be honest here it’s the most stupidest question anyone could ask. Section 21s are malicious, and just downright wrong. They are referred to no fault section 21s for a reason and they are used as a means to discriminate.

It’s a question we’ve asked ourselves since the day of the handing of the notice. In our understanding there are three possible reasons. When the council did the pre tenancy checks the other week, they said the landlord reference came back good.

  1. The landlord is selling the property.

  2. The rent has become disproportionately cheap for the area. One bed Flats only streets away are coming up as 1/3 more expensive than the former family home. They look like they could easily get double for it.

  3. Mums disabilities. She had an inspection not so long ago and a couple of minor issues were highlighted, but alot of this could be put down to mums disabilities/ general wear and tear and damage of things in stupid locations. (I.e tiles being used on a sticky outs bit of wall covering straight to the bottom.

There were cobwebs on high ceilings, well mum can’t use a step ladder unfortunately. I’m too small and absolutely hate step ladders. My tall sister is partially sighted. The woman doing the inspection said the house was very clean and in order,

However if they have given her a section 21 because of the lack of ability to keep the house in complete order due to disabilities then it should be considered discrimination and not lack of upkeep. She’s trying to move into a bungalow/level accommodation for a reason. Maybe things would have been different if extra care hadn’t messed us about for the last 15 months.

Anyway, bidding has just opened again. A few properties in the area, but I know from the figures that unless she gets Band A then she will not be top 3 for these. It still says she is Band B. The housing case worker said that if everything comes back in order she would be given a Band B homelessness. Two band B awards (she has medical band b already) would result in a Band A. They just need to hurry up and award it.

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UPDATE: ****I have spoken to Scope who said that it sounds like the section 21 is malicious based on disability, and its fairly common for landlords to do this as to disabled people as they see them as more of a risk. The woman said that they did it to her because she has a disabled child. She said it turns out that they just wanted to sell her property.

Last week I got an email of someone whose title is from the Investment Sales Team at the letting agents. The woman was very nice and said she wanted someone to come and do some measurements. The question is why would they want to do the measurements now when they believe they are getting their property back next month?

I’ve been thinking over the past few days that the sales title had me very suspicious. After the phone call below this morning I knew something was wrong.

Yes mum had an inspection a couple of months ago, it came back that there were three main things reported. 1) Two loose tiles causing minor structural damage to abit of wall which sticks out for absolutely no reason. 2) minor mould in the bathroom- fairly common. 3) Guttering crowded with leaves) 4)Rust and weather related damage to the back gate (The wood is soaked). The first three things were fixed within two weeks. The gate is ongoing, but I now have no intension of chasing it up.
Otherwise the woman doing the report said that the house was in good order if not abit of wear and tear to the walls as the paint is not as fresh as it was. However, there are no holes, nor any rips to the wall paper.

Following the repairs, the landlord asked for a second inspection to check the repairs were done. I thought the second inspection was abit odd, I googled it and it mentioned it could have been to the home being sold. I knew at this point my OCD was messing with me.

Anyway, the person dealing with the case worker has told them a mistruth which jeopardises mums housing position. A lovely property has come up in a nice area. Funnily enough my late dad was a carer for his mum a very long time ago (way before I was born), and they lived in one of these properties. She died before I was born. I said to mum ‘What iff’ *****

I have called the case worker, however they still want to carry on checking the report of disrepair. I have called the letting agents, and it just seems like people hide. The person dealing with it is off sick. I got put in touch with someone else who said they wont do anything without mums permission. I called mum and asked her to call them, she did and she was told that person has gone on lunch now. Literally in a couple of mins. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t have lunch, just saying how impossible it is to speak to someone.

The case worker is also saying that if the landlord is choosing to sell the property then it might be that she can stay and therefore not homeless. I don’t think it matters now. Mum needs to move for her disabilities anyway.

Dont see why they dont just award the Band A and have done with it next week. She’s at the top of the list anyway.

The landlord is an absolute joke.

I got a call from the case worker this morning, and the landlord has said she was given a section 21 due to disrepair of the property. I have seen the report and a few tiles came of the wall and there was damp in the bathroom- a bathroom they have left for ages. Everything else could be put down to mum being disabled. Its just blatant disability discrimination. The case worker said they are waiting for a report from the Landlord and they have been waiting for a couple of days.

I have called the letting agents and I have told them what they have done is discrimination and intend to make a complaint. However the person told me that the person who is dealing with it is away from the office.

The case worker said they cannot do anything until the report is submitted that way they can assess the damage and see if mum can be awarded Band B homelessness otherwise she will be classed as making herself homeless. I hate landlords.

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At least there is something positive @Coolcar98 coming from this. You could sue the landlord for discrimination but also for rasistium for being a female but also disabled.

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Yeah definitely, they have effectively told the case worker a lie jeopardising the situation. Now I don’t know where I stand because there is conflicting advice, the case worker needs a report to identify that there is no damage, but the staff at the letting agents keep running away. But then there comes the risk of the case worker saying she can stay in the property.

To me as things stand the notice is still effective and therefore she will be made homeless. There is no significant evidence to show that this will not be the case. She has either damaged it or they want to sell it -which is it?

The reliable contact from the letting agent said

**Hi, ***, the current landlord is looking to market the property for sale on our investment portal so the buyer will be an investor looking to purchase with a tenant already in situ if he goes ahead with the sale. Its common practice so don’t worry.

It is the ‘Its common practice, so don’t worry.’ that gets me. Does she not know there is a section 21? Are teams not communicating. But then again, why would a landlord evict a property on the grounds of ‘disrepair’ if he isn’t going to own it in a couple of months. I’ve checked companies house and the people who own the house own lots of properties so its hardly an inexperienced person.

Its so illogical do to that to a tenant of 15 years with a good rent record. If they want to sell it for whatever reason I would understand more- we are in a cost of living crisis after all. But to accuse them of disrepair is just plain wrong. Over the years my parents have paid nearly £75,000 of rent on the property. Zoopla says the property was bought in 2006 for £60,000. We moved in in 2009, so we have bought the house and then some. (Before anyone asks, I apparently live in one of the cheapest place in the UK to buy a house-ironically still cant afford my own on a full time wage).

They’ve just thrown the baby out with the bathwater. How do they know the next tenant will keep it in good order and pay rent on time.

Should she be allowed to stay there is no point, it creates the potential for a rent increase pushing her out anyway, plus she’s in need of an adapted property too.

Like I said the best thing they can do now is just award the Band A now, and come monday there is probably a 95% chance she will be off the list. Once again bloody red tape, I will be complaining about this.

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I had a property that I let out back in 2007. It was my father’s house, that I had had to buy when my mother divorced him, as he needed to meet the divorce settlement and when he went into Sheltered Housing it was empty. I had to take out a partial mortgage to buy the house. The mortgage rates rose and then we had the crash of 2008. So basically I was subsidizing my tenants to live in the house. Yes I had to go for an eviction but I did give them more than the legal notice necessary. So please Coolcar understand that the landlord may NEED to sell as their costs may be rising. You say that the property was let at a rent way below commercial value? I am so sorry your mother is going through this. I felt dreadful by the way but thankfully my tenants were able to get another property through their social worker. I only rented out that one property…and had not actually chosen to be a landlord.

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I understand, like I sat these people on company house own are an actual limited company with a fair few properties. However, I aren’t bothered if they are selling it. Its their right. However, I do think protections should be in place by the Government. However, its not acceptable to say something to the council and leave no trail leaving a disabled person to pick up the pieces and then disappear. They’ve caused a stale mate and then peed off.

My issue is that one of the people at the letting agents has told the case worker that its due to disrepair. But then the sales person is saying not to worry that this normal and its likely she will stay- which is it? They both work for the same company in the same office. All we know is that she has a section 21 which ends next month. One person is saying “Don’t worry, its normal, things will be okay?” and the other is saying that 'My mum has destroyed the property."

The person who said it was due to disrepair has now gone AWOL and is unreachable. The case worker has tried to contact her with follow ups to no avail. I’ve spoken to other workers at the letting agents, including just now- they are saying they have received no paperwork from the case worker, but the case worker is saying he spoke to this one person who is now uncontactable at present.

They have said they would look into it and find some information and contact me back. I was put in touch with another person who was looking into it. I told the case worker that this woman had gone away, and I was speaking to someone called x, and it might be best to contact them. The case worker who is a stereotypical beuractic man with no personality in his voice said he would wait till next week as he didn’t want to pester them. ITS YOUR JOB TO FIND OUT, YOU ARE A HOUSING OFFICER. WHY AM I DOING YOUR JOB FOR YOU. I didnt say this but I really wanted to.

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Just another update. Finally got an answer from the letting agents. They said the section 21 was served due to the landlord wanting the house back as he intends to upgrade it and then sell it. Whilst I’m peed off it’s an answer.

They said they don’t know where the idea about disrepair came from. This is why they haven’t sent it.

The case worker didn’t seem to have a reaction to this. I gave them an email. And I asked the letting agents to contact him.

So effectively she can go on band A now but isn’t yet. Honestly it’s like they make things difficult.

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You are heading in the right direction. Like me, impatient/stressed when people are dragging their feet. I like to be treated as I would treat someone else. Repeatedly disappointed when it doesn’t happen!

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I wouldn’t say impatient, generally I’m quite understanding of things taking time. However when it comes to official stuff I just hate all the doddering. Why take 2 days to do something when it could take five minutes. It shouldn’t take a week to find out a simple bit of information.

The case worker seemed like he has the personality of a brick, just another bureaucrat going through the motions without a shed of emotion.

When I said to him well why would a landlord serve a section 21 based on disrepair if they intend to sell to another landlord who would want another tenant in situ. He told me it was perfectly normal- I beg to differ. I knew something was up all along, it was the second inspection that got me. It makes no sense. Even the letting agents said there wasn’t really an issue, and I said to them to contact the case worker with this info. They also did a landlord reference check the other week and it came back good.

As I said in the previous post, they picked up four things during the inspection. Two were environmental factor’s caused by the weather and are perfectly normal. Like sodden wooded gate and blocked guttering. 1 problem was caused by a side effect of damp caused by the guttering not clearing properly, and the fourth was two tiles coming lose. Two tiles!!! 3 of those things have now been fixed. No holes in walls. No doors of hinges. No broken windows, nothing. The property could probably do with an upgrade to bring it up to modern tastes, but this does not mean disrepair.

No one knows why the disrepair thing was said, and when I told the case worker he just said “interesting like he didn’t believe me.” Honestly!!!

The case worker also learned that the landlord intends to sell the property but it wasn’t clear that he intends to sell it eventually and not immediately. He wants to upgrade it first. So she cannot stay. He seems to think she can stay.

WHY AM I DOING THE JOB OF THIS GUY!!!

He told me he didn’t want to pester the letting agents, but that’s his job. I think pestering is in order when information is unclear.

Like I say they should just award the Band A and then everyone is happy. She’s coming up top 3 in everything we bid for anyway. It’s not like she’s skipping a queue. Awarding the band A would take her from second to first, but then the person who came second will probs get a property in the next month too.

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Called the letting agents this morning, and once again the person dealing with it is away but the case worker is refusing to speak to anyone else. Other people at the letting agents have said that they would give him all the info he needs.

The case workers excuse “he doesn’t want to pester them.”

We have established the information. the letting agents are playing ball but to.
I thought the aim of the team was to prevent homelessness

I don’t get the wait for the inevitable meanwhile suitable properties are just going every week its so disheartening.

Its just another week with no place for mum to go to. :sob: :sob: :sob: :sob:

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@Coolcar98, so sorry to hear that you are being mucked about. A lot of people do this and sometimes it what known as the battle of sexes, it is sad people are still doing this which is wrong. What you got to do is stand on your own two feet and tell the case worker off in such a way that he doesn’t drop the case. Threaten hims until he sorts out this section 21 mess then he can have the joy of your mum company.