Disability and getting housed (council)

Saffronsmum

Hi, i am a mum of 2 girls with Autism, they are both claiming DLA (one at higher and one at med rate). At the moment we rent a 2 bed house which we struggle to pay for, my husband only works part time and i had to give up work to look after my daughters. At the moment my youngest daughter is sleeping downstairs, both my daughters have sleep issues and wake several times in the night, for this reason they can not share a room (as they wake each other). My youngest has more severe autism and we are struggling with her sleeping in the sitting room, she would really benifit from a Special needs bed which would be too big to fit upstairs or downstairs in our small house. We really need a 3 bed house to make our lives a lot easier.

Would we be entitled to a 3 bed house with the council?
Would it be easier to rent privatly and claim housing beniffit? (at the moment we don't claim this).

Where do we stand?

Antispam

I think it depends on your circumstances and council policy

It is very difficult getting a council house these days despite the media attention

Best bet is to get some advice locally and get your GP on your side, this doesn't guarantee a house, as there are various hoops to job through ie disability, are you local etc etc and only then if there are enough council houses. Some councils may offer you some where but if you refuse due to area they may not offer you again

akabee

The area I live in has Homechoice, if it operates where you live I would sign up.

http://www.homechoiceplus.org.uk

'The scheme gives applicants a single access point, as you only need to be registered once and this will then allow you to 'Bid' on any of the vacancies advertised across any of the participating Local Authority Areas.
Home Choice Plus - Working in partnership to offer a choice from a range of housing options, for people in housing need.'

Zara33

It can happen i personally know of two families like yourself who have same sex children got bigger council/LA houses due to their kids having Autism.

CharlA

I have 3 children but only one with special needs but luckily the council are rehousing me, we have a homechoice scheme here, i had a viewing yesterday on a 3 bed parlour type and should move in by mid july once the adaptations and works have been carried out, try putting your name on the housing list then apply for medical points this should boost your position on the queue you could also include reports of any professionals you see that would back your move, make sure you apply for medical points for both in the area i live you can get up to 50 medical points per person in the property i got 40 so on that basis you could get up to 100 points for your girls and the average is 120 to be rehoused here so you would be well over the average on points once they assess you just give a try the worst they can do is not rehouse you but in my opinion you shouldnt really have a problem just a few months wait hope this helps

Saffronsmum

CharlA wrote: »

I have 3 children but only one with special needs but luckily the council are rehousing me, we have a homechoice scheme here, i had a viewing yesterday on a 3 bed parlour type and should move in by mid july once the adaptations and works have been carried out, try putting your name on the housing list then apply for medical points this should boost your position on the queue you could also include reports of any professionals you see that would back your move, make sure you apply for medical points for both in the area i live you can get up to 50 medical points per person in the property i got 40 so on that basis you could get up to 100 points for your girls and the average is 120 to be rehoused here so you would be well over the average on points once they assess you just give a try the worst they can do is not rehouse you but in my opinion you shouldnt really have a problem just a few months wait hope this helps

Thank you, this gives me some hope.

We have been on the housing list (for one housing association) for 2.5 years but not on the main council list, last week we resieved a letter saying that the housing association are no longer letting out houses and they will hand out details over to the council, they also said we will not loose our place on the list and it will be taken down that we have been on the list for 2.5 years. All i need to do know is notify them of changes (both daughters having ASD), only one of my daughters have been diognossed and my 2nd daughter should be diognossed in the next few weeks.
Should i wait until we get her diognosses before phoning the council? or will the fact that she is claiming higher rate DLA help?

cymrubaby

Saffronsmum wrote: »

Thank you, this gives me some hope.

We have been on the housing list (for one housing association) for 2.5 years but not on the main council list, last week we resieved a letter saying that the housing association are no longer letting out houses and they will hand out details over to the council, they also said we will not loose our place on the list and it will be taken down that we have been on the list for 2.5 years. All i need to do know is notify them of changes (both daughters having ASD), only one of my daughters have been diognossed and my 2nd daughter should be diognossed in the next few weeks.
Should i wait until we get her diognosses before phoning the council? or will the fact that she is claiming higher rate DLA help?

If I were you I'd submit a fresh application to your local council and also apply for the medical points plus try to get letters from your Health Visitor, GP and any other healthcare professional involved with your daughters. You can submit an application before you have the letters - though you will need to provide them at a later date (usually within 4 weeks of your first application). Make sure your HV or GP outlines the fact that your daughters need separate rooms. Sometimes, landlords will give a notice to quit if their tenants are considered overcrowded and the length of notice can depend on your landlord's discretion. If your landlord seems a reasonable person then perhaps you could mention to him your difficulties and see where that can get you.

I should mention though, that if you do get a notice to quit for overcrowding reasons you will get lots of points as you'd then be considered as threatened with homelessness and then you'll be offered suitable properties in whatever area has them. So, you could end up in an area that you may not like. The 'rougher' estates tend to have the shortest waiting lists and so you could end up being offered a property there. I think you can only turn down two properties (for very good reasons) before the council will say that they can no longer help you as you're not willing to help yourself.

So before you consider involving your landlord make sure you submit a normal application on medical grounds and wait to see how many points you're given. You could end up with around 100 points for your daughters' medical needs and also with extra for overcrowding and maybe social needs if you're considering areas nearer to family/schools etc.

Good luck with it and I hope you hear something soon.

Savvy_Sue

I'd also say that you have nothing to lose by applying for Housing Benefit now, as you say you are struggling to pay for your current property. If you're entitled to the help, get it.

Putting your details into entitled to will show whether it's worth claiming but it may be worth a phone call to the council even if it says you're not.

Being in arrears on your current property won't help with getting a new one.

Saffronsmum

The council are sending me a disabled living form (not sure what its called) to fill in so i can explain my daughters needs, i presume they will want letters from my GP and my daughters peadiatrition but at its a start.

emos4607

Hi Saffronsmum

Most organisations would look to re-house you into a 3 bed anyway as legally once they reach a certain age (12 i think) they can no longer share a room despite being of the same sex. Also if there is an age gap of more than 6 years between them this would also preclude them from continuing to share.

You will need letters of support/ explanation from the professionals involved in the care of your daughters and provide these to the council. It might also be worth double checking with your local housing team what the set-up is for your area in terms of registering for housing. Most areas now have "choice based lettings" where all local housing poviders use a single waiting list for you to register on, the properties are advertised and you bid on whichever properties you are interested in that suit your needs.

If your area hasn't gone over to choice based lettings you may also be able to register directly on the waiting lists of any local housing associations too.

Good Luck!

Savvy_Sue

emos4607 wrote: »

Hi Saffronsmum

Most organisations would look to re-house you into a 3 bed anyway as legally once they reach a certain age (12 i think) they can no longer share a room despite being of the same sex. Also if there is an age gap of more than 6 years between them this would also preclude them from continuing to share.

AFAIK there is no legislation which affects the sharing of bedrooms, regardless of sex, age etc.

There are definitions of overcrowding, which is where the ideas about the undesirability of boys and girls sharing a bedroom once they are over a certain age, or children of the same sex but widely different ages sharing a bedroom.

A social landlord (council or Housing Association) will not move a family into a property which would immediately be overcrowded, by these definitions, but there is no requirement for a council to re-house a family which IS overcrowded.

Overcrowding does give extra 'points', and so can medical conditions.

Wondering how the OP is getting on?