priority for social housing?

JG1984

we have had a letter from our council saying we have not been given priority band (a) so were in band b, our council website is shockingly bad and i cant see who would fall into the priority banding, my son is disabled and i also have dla due to mental health problems and there is currently 4 of us in a single bedroom, i have to catch up on sleep in the day and the kids are sleeping badly too, a single bed with two kids is not much fun .

how does priorty housing banding work is it purely homless people who are put in that?

the letter stated we have no medical need to move and that the property and location we are currently at is not detrimental to health. but they have however agreed weeks ago that my son requires his own bedroom due to his frequent waking and distress at night(he has autism) so on the plus we qualify for a 3 bedroom.

thanks
jen

Savvy_Sue

I don't know how the bands work these days, but have you submitted any medical evidence about the need to move? ie a letter from your GP or any consultant involved with any of the family. If you have, do check it's been actioned ...

gizmo111

Generally it is homeless in band a - band b is pretty high and you should be able to start bidding for some properties to suit you and get somewhere pretty quick.

wolfehouse

you get points for medical conditions although i have to say each housing association seems to have it's own ideas about how to do this and what to give.

there is a 'disabled persons housing service' in each area and they may be of help- they can help you put in applications and would ask about your need and will understand the systems around you.

the homeless list is often separate (section 5 referral) and faster, but you can't refuse offers like you can with the regular housing list.

jules372

Hi,

My son is disabled and we managed to get into Band A although we did have lots of medical evidence to help our case. Our housing works on a bidding basis rather than being offered something.

It took approx 18 months from getting into Band A, to finally moving into our house as we had to have lots of adaptations and an extension built for my son to be on the ground floor before we could move in.

We're very happy with our house and it was well worth the wait, but I suppose we were lucky we only had to wait 18 months, it could have been a lot worse.

Jules

tenacioust123

Like others have said Band A, is usually for homeless or people that are having their property demolished. Band B is still pretty high and you should not have to wait too long.

I live in a 2 bed house that is privately rented I have just gone on to the housing list in our area. I can not manage the stairs very well, they have put us into Band 4, after sending in a letter from my GP I'm hoping to be moved to Band 2 as I need a bungalow.

Good Luck

TT

Mojisola

JG1984 wrote: »

the letter stated we have no medical need to move and that the property and location we are currently at is not detrimental to health. but they have however agreed weeks ago that my son requires his own bedroom due to his frequent waking and distress at night(he has autism) so on the plus we qualify for a 3 bedroom.

As they have given you conflicting decisions question them about it but it sounds from other replies as if you are high up on the list.

I hope you can manage to cope in the meantime. Not being able to get enough sleep is very bad for you. Is there any way you could stay at someone else's house occasionally so that you can get a good night's sleep?

JG1984

thanks for the replies all, as someone said it just seemed conflicting that they said we need an extra bedroom due to his disability but that we have no medical need to move. we have actually been offered a property im not sure how the bidding allocations work but we were not the first bid ,as soon as a propertys added (constantly refreshing it) theres seems to be 6 bids straight away.

theres just a few concerns with the house, theres nowhere nearby to park and my son tends to do a runner as soon as he feels the air on his face and also thinking about the transport being able to pick him up for school, the backgardens also unsecure and unsafe for him in its current state and i think it will end up falling on us paying out to get it sorted, not 100% on the house but at the same time dont want to be ungratefull or too picky. been waiting 4 weeks so far just to view it and cant bid on any others in the meantime, they said it needed a rewire then they said it didnt need a rewire but the kitchen needs replacing so they dont seem to know themselves whats going on.

good luck to all who are waiting

Mojisola

It might help if you made a list of what you consider essential features of a new house and the reasons why so that the housing people can see you're not just being picky. Things like having parking outside sound important because of your son's needs. Don't go for a house in a hurry and then have constant problems.

Broken_hearted

Can you not bid for two bedroom bungalows we were offered this option which we declined as we had small children.

mspig

From what i know about priority housing in my area is that you have to take the property that your are offered (or have a damn good reason for not taking it) or they put you to the back of the list again.
Not sure what its like in other council areas, but have you tried applying to housing associations aswell as the council??.