Is there anywhere I can make a plea for help

missbiggles1

deannatrois wrote: »

Thank you, that is so kind.

I've just received the possession order.., relevant date is 25th November but should receive bailiffs letter by Wednesday apparently. they're saying I have to pay costs by then too, yikes!

I will sort something, if I don't it won't be for a lack of trying lol.., I remember the bailiffs and sheriffs programmes all to well, that is NOT going to be me lol.

No sleep at all lolol.

LL is already making enquiries about the £400 fees.

Storage might have an answer, found storemates.co.uk.., several places in Gravesend - where you put stuff in spare space in people's homes. Lot cheaper than commercial storage units. Now just need to sort getting it there.

Probably ought to look at insurance too, god knows how one finds that (for items in storage). But I will.

https://www.insurastore.com/self-storage-insurance-quote.htm

carefullycautious

Are you registered with home swapper. I have been alerted to some property that you don't have to bid for (not in your area though) so it does look like there could be accommodation that you can apply for direct. It may be worth you also looking into this.


If you put a search into your area with a wide radius something may come up


Don't be afraid to ask your local church or salvation army as they may know of volunteers who would help you.

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately, with the way things are, I'm sure I'm not the only one. I saw this week's Tonight Episode - Property The True Cost. For once, not the sort of people you see in those 'Benefits on Sod Street' type of programmes. But same end result.

[Deleted User]

pmlindyloo wrote: »

According to this link the landlord cannot apply for a bailiffs warrant until after the date for possession expires.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/court_action_for_eviction/court_orders

If so then this gives you some time to get things sorted.

Now you have the possession notice you must take this to the council. They should not delay finding you temporary accommodation and they must not ask you to wait for the bailiffs. This is called 'gatekeeping' if they do so.

You need to telephone Shelter and check this all out.

Plus, as already said you need to speak to the council about storage costs and help with moving.

If you have a good CAB they may be able to help you if the council don't play ball.

Thank you for this. But it seems like my reality is different. The LL seems fairly certain I will get a letter from Bailiffs mid week. Time will tell if they are right. I would agree, I would expect them to have to wait til Possession Order runs out. But that's only 11 days away so perhaps it doesn't make much difference.

When I spoke to Housing Officer a few weeks ago, asking him to refer my case to a manager to get evidence that my son had already gone downhill when we were in one room in a refuge (so we wouldn't be allocated to one room shared lettings), he made it clear that he had five cases being evicted that week that he had to find accommodation for (so must have bailiffs notices) so I was told I was a long way down the list of getting anything done. I watched this play out with someone down the street. She did have to wait til bailiffs were at the door before council found her accommodation.

I know councils aren't supposed to gatekeep and insist on you having a bailiffs order before they do anything but my council seems to do it, and they must get away with it. Its wrong, but maybe the law is just 'shouldn't' rather than 'illegal'. Lets face it, my council seem to be perfectly able to not take our various health problems into account when assessing our priority. Without a second thought. Perhaps the law isn't as watertight as one assumes, I don't know.

I may get some help from Sanctuary Housing. Asked for Help from Shelter weeks ago but they said they could only get legal aid for help fighting a S21 (which would just mean more court costs and eventually granting of S21 anyway). Closed my case when I said no point fighting the S21. So lost faith with them.

elsien

Deanna. I think councils do take medical need into account, when allocating bandings, but this may not change until after you are evicted. Do you have any medical evidence to send to them in the meantime, whether they're requesting it or not?
I don't know which council you are, but somewhere on the website (usually well hidden) there should be a summary of the criteria used to allocate people's bandings. If you haven't seen it, it might be worth a look for future reference.
I know in my area, there's a minimum 4 week wait to get a housing officer allocated once you're on the homeless list (due to staff shortages,) and they can't/won't increase the banding without the housing officer's assessment so unfortunately it's not always a quick process. It's less about gatekeeping than about firefighting, from the conversations I've had with them lately. But if you can gather any evidence that might help in the meantime, it might speed things up further down the line.
Shelter do their best, but it's up to individual councils to formulate their own policy rather than it being covered by national legislation so if they're following that policy, legally there's probably not a lot that Shelter can do.
I wish you luck.

[Deleted User]

God yes, I have letters, assessments and more coming with the work on me now. All I have, the council have. So far, it hasn't made a jot of difference. The new assessments on my and my older son (saying he doesn't just have ASD because there are more tests they want to do to confirm the ADHD) wont come through for 2 or 3 months.

I have looked at Gravesham Housing's housing policies. And unfortunately the council seem to be determinedly interpreting it differently to how I would. To me it sets out that they should take into account medical/mental and social health needs. My son's specialist social worker has sent in two documents that they should have used to reassess need, council point blank ignored them and told me that I'd be assessed as Priority C only, when homeless (i.e. no higher). I was told only thing that would place me higher was if I went a lived in one room at a friend's (which I don't have). Quote 'You will only be assessed as category C, regardless of illnesses, regardless of bedrooms you are lacking because you are <insert laugh> 'homeless'. That's exactly what he said.

I believe this gentleman will be my housing officer. Well, so I've been told. apparently he's one of the good ones. God help me if I had a bad one. I read the policy out to him, but he just ignored what I said and stuck to what he was saying.

This may change once I am actually declared Homeless.., but I won't hold my breath.

pmlindyloo

Have you actually completed a homeless application and received a reply?

missbiggles1

Just in case you haven't had a chance to read this, here's a link.

http://www.gravesham.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/185879/Housing-Allocations-Policy.pdf

NewShadow

I know cash is going to be tight, but I figured it might be worth knowing your options regards self storage.

I googled self storage gravesend, and he's a quote I got from the first link:

60 sq ft (e.g. contents of 2 bed flat) - £23.42 per week inc. VAT for the first 8 weeks then £46.84 per week.

I don't know, if you can't find a free option, and you really don't want to lose your furniture, it might be worth hiring a unit for a few weeks to give yourself some breathing/planning room.

If you're only storing some hard to replace and precious items, you might need less space:

20 sq ft (e.g. 40 - 50 boxes) £10.86per week inc. VAT for the first 8 weeks then £21.73 per week.

30 sq ft (e.g. contents of sheds and garages) £14.01per week inc. VAT for the first 8 weeks then £28.03 per week.

50 sq ft (e.g. contents of 1 bed flat) £19.64per week inc. VAT for the first 8 weeks then £39.28 per week.


Just to give you options.

[Deleted User]

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Just in case you haven't had a chance to read this, here's a link.

http://www.gravesham.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/185879/Housing-Allocations-Policy.pdf

lol.., do you want me to take a photo of my dog eared copy with notes on it..,I've already said I've looked at it and even read it out to the housing officer dealing with my case.

No I haven't been asked to make a homeless application. Yet. Can't force them to do it. Its awful how they just leave you to worry until the possession order or bailiffs paperwork turns up.

Thank you Newshadow but I did look, and it seems StoreMates is quite a bit cheaper and is more local. If I have to convert from a 3 bed house to a 1 bed flat, I'll probably incur the higher charges (£43 - £53 a week) which won't be easy to pay on top of the court fees, and service charges I'm expecting to have to pay. I may not be able to even take my bed if a 1 bed flat as I'll have to sleep on sofa with my son (do back a lot of good, not). I was quite surprised how much less expensive StoreMates was compared to commercial storage units. I'll probably have to get some insurance myself though but won't be much.