Homeless,please help

stellagypsy

I work in Housing and we deal a lot with CHAS (Catholic Housing) who are very good in situations like OP's friend has found herself in. They are inthe phone book, well worth a call if you have one locally.

Also - don't know where the lady lives but can she access Council Housing stock herself? We have an internet based lettings system here and anyone can apply for any property online. If anyone wants the link to see how it works, please PM me - it is the Government's choice based lettings initiative, more and more LA's are changing to this method of letting their properties.

Hope all goes well for her,

Stella xx

trafalgar_2

Thank you stella I shall pass that information on to them.............




UPDATE..................forgive any repeating


they are at present in B&B accomodation until 26th May

a review of the councils decision is taking place and they should here the result of this soon


the health visitor for the youngest child has contacted social services on their behalf to see what can be done ,however social sevices have said all they can do is ,if the parents are told to leave the B&B (26th may)if the council turn down the review...........................they will take the 3 children into care


so it seems to hinge on the review at the moment



they have tried getting private accomodation,however there is none available at a rent the council/housing benefit will pay..........bit of a catch 22 I think


will update more once the review is done

chugalug

Thanks for that, always good to hear progress!

trafalgar_2

update............................



the review was conducted but they have not changed the outcome ,they are still declared as making themselves homeless


shelter have been contacted but don't hold out much hope ,however will help them go to court if they wish


PATH have found them a house and the pre-tennancy forms have been approved,(the HB will pay the full amount )

all they had to do was get a deposit and 1 months rent in advance,on benefits so have no spare cash................................................then PATH said they will pay half (£650 ) and they have to find £650


stuck again,however CAB advised that they apply for some grant (sorry forgot the name) for the half they have to raise


they are now waiting for that to be approved/denied


they have been given until 26th may to vacate the B&B they are in just now................they have applied for an extention but the 'jomeless' people say it's unlikely they will get it after the review was turned down



will update when I hear any more

mandi

trafalgar wrote:

update............................



the review was conducted but they have not changed the outcome ,they are still declared as making themselves homeless


shelter have been contacted but don't hold out much hope ,however will help them go to court if they wish


PATH have found them a house and the pre-tennancy forms have been approved,(the HB will pay the full amount )

all they had to do was get a deposit and 1 months rent in advance,on benefits so have no spare cash................................................then PATH said they will pay half (£650 ) and they have to find £650


stuck again,however CAB advised that they apply for some grant (sorry forgot the name) for the half they have to raise


they are now waiting for that to be approved/denied


they have been given until 26th may to vacate the B&B they are in just now................they have applied for an extention but the 'jomeless' people say it's unlikely they will get it after the review was turned down



will update when I hear any more

They can apply for a crisis loan directly from Dss, this will allow them to borrow the £650, and pay back a small amounteach week directly from their benifits.. Hope this helps

trafalgar_2

that may be what they've done Mandi,I'll try to find out

phil140701

have you got a bond board near you as we have and if you are on benefits they will find the whole deposit(t&c apply tho) ask your local council

trafalgar_2

I'm not sure if Plymouth have one but I'll pass on the info ,thank you

mandi

trafalgar wrote:

that may be what they've done Mandi,I'll try to find out

Im sure they will get it Trafalgar..& and if they push, sooner rather than later..
Youve probably checked everwhere anyway, but I found this,,
http://homelessuk.org/details.asp?id=LP10 Seems to be a good site..

Wig

You can challenge any descision by a council in court, sounds like shelter is willing to help to do this. AFAIK if you got a solicitors letter detailing your intention to have judicial review, the council will have to keep the status quo re: B&B and furniture storage.

But someone will have to pay the solicitor and the court fees and costs if the case is lost.

They should have been using the last 4 weeks to set this up, it's a bit late now.

just my 2p