DSS Properties-Help Needed Please

Diamond78

thank u mr broderick 4 ur support :T

thesaint

Diamond78 wrote: »

I had a letter from my doctor months ago stating that I needed to be moved as my sons father was causing me problems and my health had got worse but they did nothing. As I dont live in that house no more and im in a different borough I wouldnt know who else to contact.

I am not sure if you want to stay in the area your current property is situated. If you do, then contact the council again, and make sure you write down the name and extension number of the person you speak to.

Always ask for a time-frame to which they will reply to you. As soon as this time passes, call them immediately.

Double check with the Police that they have sent the fax to the right number, ask if you can have a copy of the confirmation report, so that you can take it to the council in person.

Diamond78

Thank you for your response. I have re contacted the police via email as I feel they are getting fed up with me constantly ringing.

I dont want to live in the area or borough of where I use to live. Thats why I am at my brothers as I have no where else to go and I use to live in the area when I was younger. The borough my brother lives is not close to the area I was in which is a lot better for me and my son.

I have tried to ring the council but all I get is no one is avaliable. I have also emailed the local councillors in this area hoping to get a response.

I found a private property to view in a few days time,its a flat so if the council dont help I might have luck in the private sector. I can understand why landlords do not want to rent out to council tenants as a lot of tenants have had no respect for the property but not all us are like that. Unfortunatly Ive been very unlucky due to health and other circumstances. One day I will get back on my feet and be a working mum.

thanks guys for the tips and advice.x

Amarillo

Diamond78, I am so sorry you are going through this. I can't be of any help but just wanted to say, you are exactly the sort of tenant that I like to have in my flats.

I have just let my upstairs flat to a lady who is on her own with 3 children after separating from her violent ex -partner. In her case the council have guaranteed her deposit and they fast tracked her housing benefit claim (they have paid an interim payment until the rent officer has been to assess the flat.) I was happy for her to move in without paying anything to help her out of her situation. And it's not a flea pit either, it's a large 3 bed flat right next door to a park and 3 minutes walk from a beach, which has just had new carpets, new windows, upgraded electics, Worcester Bosch boiler fitted two years ago, painted pretty much throughout.

My tenants stay a long time . The downstairs flat has another lady on her own with two children who has been there for 8 years now and the flat I just let had another single Mum who stayed for over 5 years.

I know this doesn't help your situation, I just wanted to give you some hope that things can work out for you. Good luck.

thesaint

Diamond78 wrote: »

I have tried to ring the council but all I get is no one is avaliable. I have also emailed the local councillors in this area hoping to get a response.

Calling the council that you are applying to is futile, they will have people on their doorstep begging for a place to stay.

Someone calling on the telephone will be brushed off without a second thought. You need to get down there.

SquatNow

mr.broderick wrote: »

You are really beginning to vex me, we have a lady and a petrified 5 year old here, just button it will you.

It was meant as an insult to DSS landlords rather than to the OP.

Most Landlords who offer property to DSS offer properties in APPALLING condition that most people wouldn't let their pets live in, let alone a woman with a young child.

Her best bet is to look around for a BTLer who has had a long void and is desperate to get someone in... then she will get a semi-decent property.

Most BTLers don't accept DSS as they fear it will devalue the property, but many are more flexible now they can't get tennants.

thesaint

SquatNow wrote: »

Her best bet is to look around for a BTLer who has had a long void and is desperate to get someone in... then she will get a semi-decent property.

Could you give the OP a few pointers on how to find out that information in her position.

Taffyscot

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/ put in rentals and put the county that you would like to live in. It will bring up rentals that you might be able to afford. Then get a pre rental assessment by the housing authority done. Explain to the landlord that you are not a hooligan and that you have a young son. Good luck love. Know how you feel Taffy

Loretta

I think that Women's Aid will give you good advice as they know what the Council should be doing, they are the experts. I was a social worker for 15 years until 1989 and dealt with this situation but my knowledge is out of date.

I do remember that with domestic violence you were immediately a priority for housing by the Council and you could go to any local authority even if you had no local connection as you would have to have if domestic violence was not involved.

The Council I worked for always tried to avoid housing people from out of the area even though they had a duty to do so and I would ask people to get in touch with Women's Aid because they are the experts and would insist and would make it quite clear to the Council what they were supposed to do!! I could then say to my boss that this person had to be housed because of.... and it would save so much time at this difficult time

The problem with having a problem is that it is so difficult to try and get the help you are entitled to when you have a problem. When you don't have a problem it is easy to find out what's what and you have the energy to do anything.

Get some support, I think that Women's Aid can arrange for one of their advice workers to go with you to the Council, don't phone you need to go there so that you can't be fobbed off, I used to find that 4.50pm especially on a Friday worked really well!!

Not only are you entitled to this help you very much need it. I hate bullies whether it is a violent partner or a Council who try to avoid their responsibilites towards someone who is in danger and a 5 year old who needs to be settled and safe as soon as possible.

Good luck, keep posting, we all want to know how you get on and that you are safe, and someone on here will have some knowledge I am sure

Diamond78

Hi All,
thanks for the replies and kind advice. Well this is the latest. I got an email from the police so I could forward the letter to the council where my brother lives. I emailed it to the manger of the case worker I had and I called her but took the advice and went in there today. I waited ages and ages which is usually the case but I had to view a private flat 2day so didnt want to wait too long. My son was also starving hungry as it had well gone past his lunch time so I left the office. Within minutes of me leaving the manager called me and said she had just recieved the email I sent her in the morning and that is not what they wanted from the police. She told me I would not qualify for help as me and my son was not at risk. The form they request is called a risk assesment form although te police have never heard of it. They also call it a RA2 form. When I told the sergent in charge she rang them and spoke. When I rang her back she told me she knew what they were talking about. And she faxed it twice last week and emailed it on monday..Strange how they havent got it once.

So basically what the police provided was the crime reference numbers and a brief description of the incidents. I emailed the sergent as there was no answer on the phone and explained wht I was told,I have not heard back. I emailed local mps from my brothers area yesterday, I have not heard back.

My son starts school on monday,I dont know what else to do.We are both sleeping on a small sofa, I suffer with back problems as it is.Its so so worse now. We are not getting proper sleep as we keep squashing each other.

The flat I went to view was in a very very rough area, it was horrible but i would take it as Im desperate but he had another person come to view when I was there and they were working people. I wish I worked. I will oneday but its coz of these situations that stops me.

can anyone recomend anything else?Im sorry to be a pain but Im not sure I can stay at my brothers much longer. Where can I go? I told the council under no circumstances will I return as even my council said I need to be out the borough yet they cant transfer me to another borough. Ihave enough crime rerefence numbers and doctors letter to prove my situation so why are they being so harsh. Once I move into private property I will be making myself intentionally homeless which is not the case.