Homelessness & Croydon Council

BigAunty

BarbaraJ5 wrote: »

Ok. I get you, but i'm not sure what you're advising me to do with this information....Should i write to the MP complaining about having to stay in the P.R house until the bailiffs come? Sorry, if i'm a little befuddled.

Don't worry, I am probably sending conflicting messages along the lines of 'many councils don't do what they are supposed to for the homeless so seek redress' and 'but their hands are tied because they have so much demand on their services and little supply of property'.

What I am advising you to do is verify with a housing forum and/or Shelter whether the guidance to stay put until the landlord has got a court order for possession or date for the bailiffs is actually valid and then challenge it if it is not legitimate.

As I've indicated,councils routinely use this device to stall from having to give support on a timely basis, this gatekeeping practice (at least in the past few years) is something that councils have been told off about by a higher authority. The Shelter website says they should not do this, whether this is guidance or actual law is the key thing.

Find out the position on this and how to challenge it. The actual legal definition of homelessness is 'no security of tenure past the next 28 days' so I'm not sure why it got corrupted into 'we won't lift a finger until the bailiffs come to toss you out'.

BarbaraJ5

embob74 wrote: »

I've been down the homelessness route and it's not a good one so you will need to stay strong.
I do wonder why you are paying arrears if the letting agent has never asked you to? And paying 3 fuel providers at the same time? I don't wish to offend you OP but is there anybody who can help explain things to you as you don't appear to have much of a grasp on basic financial matters.

Embob,

The letting agents came to me last year and said that there was a shortfall of 350. When i asked for an explanation of how this came about, all he sent was an a4 sheet showing all the payments i had made from my account and nothing to show where this deficit came from. I never had a full or sensible explanation of how these arrears came about. I also got another email shortly after that saying it was 980 outstanding. Between Housing Benefit, myself and the CAB we worked out that housing benefit was being paid every 28 days, allowing for overlapping days. We weren't able to figure out if these arrears were from payments due, but had not been paid as yet, because we think the letting agents is working on a monthly basis rather than the 4tnight. Yes, it is complicated and took several months of back and forth with HB for us to work out that i needed to be paying 29.94 per week. During this time and up until now, i have had no correspondence from the the agent. With that said, i still pay the extra, but now that i'll be moving out, if i have over paid will most likely not get that money back from them, so will be chasing them up for an update.

No offence taken, because i know myself. As for the fuel suppliers, a mistake was made at the time of me doing a price comparison online for cheaper dual fuel. The same thing happened to my daughter who lives alone as well, as we did use the same website for it. I was still liable for the outstanding because according to all three suppliers, they supplied us with fuel for 3 months(each co. 1 month) and i made arrangements to pay. I am dealing with my debts as well as alot of other things taking place in my life, but as you don't know me, its may appear that i'm clueless with the finances. I am clueless with this benefits thing, as i've never had to go through this and i'm doing my best to get it sorted out.

BarbaraJ5

BigAunty wrote: »

Don't worry, I am probably sending conflicting messages along the lines of 'many councils don't do what they are supposed to for the homeless so seek redress' and 'but their hands are tied because they have so much demand on their services and little supply of property'.

What I am advising you to do is verify with a housing forum and/or Shelter whether the guidance to stay put until the landlord has got a court order for possession or date for the bailiffs is actually valid and then challenge it if it is not legitimate.

As I've indicated,councils routinely use this device to stall from having to give support on a timely basis, this gatekeeping practice (at least in the past few years) is something that councils have been told off about by a higher authority. The Shelter website says they should not do this, whether this is guidance or actual law is the key thing.

Find out the position on this and how to challenge it. The actual legal definition of homelessness is 'no security of tenure past the next 28 days' so I'm not sure why it got corrupted into 'we won't lift a finger until the bailiffs come to toss you out'.

Hi again,

Ok now i'm clear! Thanks for that. I will definitely check that out today. Much appreciated. Blessings

londonbabe73

Hi Barbara ,

Unfortunately there is an eviction process in the uk,stay in the property when the 1st nov is past the landlod has to apply to the court for a bailiffs warrant for eviction which could take between 2-8 weeks depending on the courts workload ( if I were you ring the county court on your paper work the number is usually at the bottom and ask for the bailiffs office and you can query how long is the queue for them to execute warrants then you can judge roughly how long you've got ) but the court will hand deliver the bailiffs warrant appointment this the date you by law have to leave so make sure you take your stuff out the night before no one want to be dragged out ) the bailiff will ask you to leave the property and will usually be accompanied by the landlord . This when you go back to the council immediately ( amazing how many people get evicted at 9.30 but don't turn up to the council til 4 pm )
There is no right or wrong the landlord is not a charity and as long as they have followed the eviction procedure correctly you have to leave , they have no obligation to you so getting your mp involved is pointless plus your gonna need them when you start getting involved with Croydon council. As I said in my previous post it will prob not be to your liking you may have to share and it sure ain't the Hilton but it's a roof and if you have no other option unfortunately you have no option short term. Just think of it as a bump in the road , but it depends on what's available on the day as to where you get put.

Shame about the father I would have taken the children and put them on his doorstep and let him house them but as you said he is out of the country shame ....

If the landlord or letting agent give you any hassle call the police they are NOT allowed to hassle you , on the 1st ring the agent and tell them that you will not be leaving as you have nowhere to go and they will have to evict you . If they are not on the ball with their paperwork you might even s till be there at Xmas again depends on the court workload. But keep the homeless dept informed in person is best as phone calls can be ignored or denied.

Good luck....