Intentionally homeless, advice needed!! (might be long!)

claire123c

SouthCoast wrote: »

Other posts indicate that it is the City of Brighton and Hove where the housing situation is desperate.

Thanks for this. I wrote a massive reply and it disappeared!

Lisa- Your first call should be with the housing office for an appointment- explain you want to talk through your housing options
Contact Details

1. Housing Advice Centre, Brighton
   <LI class=contactfield style="LIST-STYLE-IMAGE: url(/images/mail.gif)">Bartholomew House Bartholomew Square Brighton East Sussex BN1 1JP
   • 01273 293111
2. Housing Advice Centre, Hove
   • Hove Town Hall
     Norton Road
     Hove
     East Sussex
     BN3 3BQ
   • 01273 293156 / 01273 293157

and whether they have any financial assistance (homeless prevention fund) for people in similar situations. If you have had your intentional decision in writing, submit a letter of appeal within 21 days. Show the letter to Shelter if you can- decisions are generally given when you are threatened with homelessness in 28 days, but there are ways the council can get round this and give you your decision 'early'.
Then try Shelter, before CAB (just my honest opinion- CAB really is hit and miss!)

Intentionality refers to 'a deliberate act or omission' that has led to you becoming threatened with homelessness. In your case, you spent your LHA knowing it was rent money and to be given to your landlady. However if you had illness or major finiancial difficulties you may have grounds for appeal, this page may be of help:

If you google 'Shelter, intentionally homeless' the first page that comes up will be useful.

If B&Hove have high demand for council stock, then they will probably have the means to assist more with private accom, and trying to keep people in their own tenancies as they have to avoid people becoming homeless- they don't have the properties to offer if this happens!
They or Shelter could speak to your landlady and try to negotiate- can you offer a payment plan to pay off the arrears to her (however small)?

Make sure you get all your paperwork together and be prepared to talk to housing about your financial situation- it might seem embarassing but the more they know the more they can look at your situation fairly- show bank statements, your letter to LHA and any debts etc you have.

Also, keep a copy of anything you send in to the council- things get lost!

Good luck and feel free to ask anything else
Claire x

lisa.m_3

Thanks again Claire, I rang shelter this morning, she told me to go to Brighton housing trust.
But firstly I got an appointment with my GP totally broke down (oops!) she told me she will help with court and is prepared to give a medical report on my depression to help-and of course she reminded me I am not the only one that's going through this.

Straight after that I went to Brighton housing trust, lucky for me they were having a drop in, thought I did have to wait around an hour for an appointment.

The people there were so helpful and very understanding, we spoke for about 40 mins then she said I can get a free half our with a solicitor, she called her in and we spoke together, the solicitor is going to do alot for me:T apparently my section 21 is wrong and will not be accepted apparently because instead of writing I must vacate the property on 7th dec is said 7th aug ? I didn't even notice that, she told me she will get on the phone to my landlord and sort it for me, she also said because I have arranged a crisis loan to pay the rent back plus had my LHA payed directly to her, she cannot go section 8 on me because I have made effort to pay my rent, she said there is still a chance she can do section 10 but it will be very unlikely as she is actually getting paid and a judge would be likely to dismiss this in court.
I also gave her a 3 page letter I hand wrote yesterday just explaining everything, I gave her my doc's number and the number of my councillor just so she has proof of my depression.
Well as soon as it started it was over and she had to go, but she is going to ring me tommorrow.
The women from Brighton housing trust said we will wait until tommorrow until we speak of other options because she is confident this will go in my favor and I will not be eveicted!!!!
I dont want to get too excited, just encase...touch wood.

lisa.m_3

Oh goodness me !

So much for getting excited....
Crisis loan didn't work said they are not going to use it for rent, I then rang up my homeless officer person and she told me she might be able to give a loan from the council but she will have to pass all the details on to the senior officer....

The waiting is just torment:mad: I wont receive call until mid next week she said!! I have to pay the arrears by the 7th December otherwise I'm in court and intentionally homeless, I stressed my urgency and she told me not to worry...easy for her to say.

Brighton housing trust still not back in touch, I rang her earlier and she told me she had no news:mad::mad::mad::mad:

What is it with everyone...

dancingfairy

Just wondered what you are paying at the moment? An SOA might be handy for this. If you are paying for anything non-vital eg Sky, credit cards, unsecured loans etc - you should stop paying them and use the money to catch up on the rent arrears. The things you need to be paying are rent (obviously), electric/gas, council tax, food etc.
Have you got anything you can sell at all to get some money?
Hope things get sorted for you.
df