Homeless

debrag

Similar query.

Mother with 2 kids (5 & 7) both girls but youngest with autism, lived in a HA flat with her boyfriend (neither worked). They left this due to a neighbour downstairs getting her daugther to claim she was hit but the other mother. Anyways police were involved and they were interviewed. They moved out and back into her parents 3 bed house. All this time they said the police were involved and they were getting a new HA house. Does the fact that there was a police investigation & having a disabled kid mean that they were able to get a property so quick (within a few months of moving out) or is it the case that they left a HA property so wont be a priorty for rehousing? Maybe they managed to find a private LL to take them on.

I always thought that if you left a place voluntarily then you went to the bottom of the list or were give temp accommodation.

squinty

It might be helpful to understand how the council consider if someone is homeless. There are a number of questions that the council must ask (or hurdles for the applicant to clear). Each of these needs to be answered in turn:


1. Are you eligible for housing ? - this to exclude certain groups from abroad. Presumably as you hold a tenancy you have already proved this, so the answer is yes.

2. Are you homeless? The legal definition of homeless cover not only people without somewhere to live, but also people who have accommodation but it is not reasonable to live there. This includes the threat of violence.

The Code of Guidance goes further and says:

8.24. When dealing with cases involving violence, or threat of violence, from outside the home, housing authorities should consider the option of improving the security of the applicant’s home to enable him or her to continue to live there safely, where that is an option that the applicant wishes to pursue. In some cases, immediate action to improve security within the victim’s home may prevent homelessness. A fast response combined with support from the housing authority, police and the voluntary sector may provide a victim with the confidence to remain in their home. When dealing with domestic violence within the home, where the authority is the landlord, housing authorities should consider the scope for evicting the perpetrator and allowing the victim to remain in their home. However, where there would be a probability of violence if the applicant continued to occupy his or her present accommodation, the housing authority must treat the applicant as homeless and should not expect him or her to remain in, or return to, the accommodation. In all cases involving violence the safety of the applicant and his or her household should be the primary consideration at all stages of decision making as to whether or not the applicant remains in their own home.


This suggests that you should clear this hurdle.


3. Are you in priority need? As you mention you have a son, and the guidance suggests someone who has children under the age of 18 and living with them is in priority need you appear to clear this hurdle.

4. Are you intentionally homeless? “The duty owed towards those who are homeless, or threatened with homelessness, and who have a priority need for accommodation will depend upon whether they became homeless, or threatened with homelessness, intentionally or unintentionally” (code of guidance). This is the part that you may struggle with.

It is clear that it is not up to you to prove your case, but an investigating officer may interpret your actions in leaving the property as you not taking reasonable steps to secure the property. They would be wrong.
Again the Code of Guidance is clear on this

11.13. In cases where there is a probability of violence against an applicant if they continue, or had continued, to occupy their accommodation, and the applicant was aware of measures that could have been taken to prevent or mitigate the risk of violence but decided not to take them, their decision cannot be taken as having caused the probability of violence, and thus, indirectly, having caused the homelessness.
Authorities must not assume that measures which could have been taken to prevent actual or threatened violence would necessarily have been effective.

Ie – the Council cannot take the fact that you have left the accommodation as proof that you are intentionally homeless.

I do understand your reluctance to have the ASB investigated, however the homelessness process has a different level of proof. They do not have to investigate to the extent that they would be able to successfully prosecute a perpetrator, but do feel they need some evidence to back up your assertion of ASB. The reports to the ASB team, and the Police may be sufficient for this (especially if they are over a prolonged period).

I hope this is useful, if a little long. But from the information you have posted it looks like you may clear all the hurdles as be accepted as homeless.

You should get a written decision from the Council on their decision, and this may lead you through the process as described, but may have different conclusions. In that case you do have an option of an appeal to a more senior officer. If you do need to appeal I strongly suggest you seek the help of others try a local law centre or a local housing advice centre for this.

I have referred to the Code of Guidance a few times. If you want to see the full version see

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/152056.pdf

Good luck

Dontknowanymore

antrobus wrote: »

That is not correct. Google 'legal definition of homeless' to confirm. You can, for example, be deemed 'homeless' because "you can't live at home because of violence or threats of violence which are likely to be carried out against you or someone else in your household". However even being homeless doesn't necessarily mean that the LHA will actually do anything.

I was gonna say that the poster was wrong.
When i lived in a refuge last year I was legally homeless.

concerned43

Just a quick update, my councillor got involved and got a call from the head of Housing. It appears that the 'housing officer' I saw at the point of application was not a housing officer but in fact a clerical assistant pretending she was a housing officer!!!!
The head of housing has appologised and explained that this clerical assistant put my application into the wrong category for housing. I have to have a meeting with head of housing and councillor this week and councillor says I should be hearing about a new house at the meeting - so fingers crossed and a big thankyou to all who responded to my plea for help.

concerned43

Special thanks to squinty for doing all that research for me x

concerned43

Thought I would post an update -- my son and I are still homeless, the council have not came to a decision and although I gave them the police incident numbers on the 1st August they only requested the reports from the police last week!
I did get a call from housing this afternoon and the housing manager said that the police reports do not collaberate with my version of events, when I told her that I had spoken with the Anti social team last week, I was told that they had not asked for the reports yet and therefore is she saying that they do have the reports and they say something different to my statement because if that is the case then I will obtain the reports myself. She then denied she had the reports - saying she has never seen the reports :mad: I am really fed up with all of these lies and underhand tactics employed by the Council. She also advised that they will not take my application any further as these points are 'crucial' and when I told her I should have other points added i.e. overcrowding, health etc - she told me she has closed my application for now and nothing will be done about my application until 1) the police reports are provided and 2) an internal meeting will be had to whether they believe the anti-social behavour was severe enough! and she cannot tell me when that will be!
I have kept my councillor fully up to date with events and he has done nothing apart from forwarding my emails to him onto the offending housing officer!! I am furious about this as it was confidential information between me and my Councillor and I feel he had no right to email these to another without my permission - does anyone know if there is some law/councillor rules that prevent him from doing this. I feel I cannot trust him anymore.

Wee_Willy_Harris

You ask your Councillor for help. Your Councillor helps. And now you want to make it a criminal offence????

Of course they forwarded all the information you gave them. What else did you expect?

Hump

The problem may be the Police analysis of the incident(s) you reported. You make your report, the Police look into it (if you're lucky) and then assess whether it's serious enough to warrant action - unilaterally or in conjunction with their partner agencies i.e. the Council. Though what you have been through has significantly affected you - and you definitely view it as serious - but if it comes down to your word alone without corroboration, they might think you're exaggerating or that you're being over sensitive to what passes as 'normal' in your area. If the Police tell the Housing Manager that it's 'much ado about nothing' then nothing will happen. Barring hard evidence such as CCTV, then challenging the Police assessment will be well nigh impossible without some independent support - for example another neighbour either supporting your version of events or making their own complaints.

I know of no council/ housing association who would move or rehouse a family based solely on the testimony of the tenant/ applicant without tonnes of supporting evidence - sorry - but I fear you have a mountain to climb with the Police, Councillor, Housing Manager all looking on whilst you struggle on - do you have any independent witness at all?

concerned43

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

You ask your Councillor for help. Your Councillor helps. And now you want to make it a criminal offence????

Of course they forwarded all the information you gave them. What else did you expect?

How exactly is he helping? - what did I expect? a private exchange between me and my Councellor!!!
If I wanted the women to know what I was doing/saying I would have told her myself!:mad: so apart from marely forwarding on my email to him - he has done NOTHING ELSE.

concerned43

Hump wrote: »

The problem may be the Police analysis of the incident(s) you reported. You make your report, the Police look into it (if you're lucky) and then assess whether it's serious enough to warrant action - unilaterally or in conjunction with their partner agencies i.e. the Council. Though what you have been through has significantly affected you - and you definitely view it as serious - but if it comes down to your word alone without corroboration, they might think you're exaggerating or that you're being over sensitive to what passes as 'normal' in your area. If the Police tell the Housing Manager that it's 'much ado about nothing' then nothing will happen. Barring hard evidence such as CCTV, then challenging the Police assessment will be well nigh impossible without some independent support - for example another neighbour either supporting your version of events or making their own complaints.

I know of no council/ housing association who would move or rehouse a family based solely on the testimony of the tenant/ applicant without tonnes of supporting evidence - sorry - but I fear you have a mountain to climb with the Police, Councillor, Housing Manager all looking on whilst you struggle on - do you have any independent witness at all?

Yes I do have an independant witness - however there is nothing in housing anti-social policy that states than one has to have an independant witness! apart from that the council have 2 options: 1) either find me unintentionally homeless and place me as a priority for housing or 2) decide I am intentionally homeless and put me on the general register with points.