council house problems!!!!/no rebate for rent/ctax (merged)

stellagypsy

An ALMO is an "Arms Length Management Organisation".

It all boils down to the govt no longer wanting Councils to control social housing in the way they have always done (who'd have thought it of a Labout govt??) and have told them they have to work out a way to do it differently (as usual it is all about money - more later).

There are 4 options - stock transfer (which our Council did) where the entire stock and staff are transferred away from the Council to form a non-profit making Housing Trust - we are now a registered charity with 28,000 homes to rent. Another is PFI (Private Finance Initiative) were the private sector fund the housing like a business. Another is to just stay the same and for the Council to keep on as they did (they have made this so unattractive that it is unimaginable that any Council will opt for this) and finally the ALMO - the Council retain the housing stock BUT a company (ie mostly the former Housing dept staff) manage it at "Arms Length" (one danger with this is that they can be replaced by another company if they fail to perform - more later). All will be under the guidance of the Housing Corporation (ie the Govt) whose standards of performance are stringent. Quite a culture shock after working for the Council for years!

Now to the money bit - the govt are enticing the Councils to make the changes by dangling vast wads of cash at them - we got £175m for repairs / refurbishments as we took the most favoured route and completely broke away from Council control. Other options attracted less cash with the "stay as we were" option attracting - surprise surprise - none!!

The theory is that it is better for the tenant as the properties can be brought up to scratch (and ours were pretty grim) over a period of 5 years to meet the Govt's decent homes standard. Cash starved Councils just can't afford it, in my experience our cash was always being hived off to prop up some other department or to fund the Chief Executive's latest pet project. New stock can be built (Councils were not allowed to build and the stock had dwindled due to right to buy). Also the Housing Corporation grade the new Trusts / ALMO's and allocate "stars" to each organisation based on its performance against benchmarks in various areas (we are going through this process now - I am after a job on the implementation team). If your area diodn't make 2 stars, they are in trouble and from what you have posted, it all makes sense now. Punitive financial sanctions appear to have been taken against them. If they fail to improve they could be put in to administration - VERY serious.

There's a whole heap more on this at the web site of teh ODPM (Office of The Deputy Prime Minister) for those of you with insomnia.

It's a whole new world out there.........

someonehadmyusername

thanks for that

well, she called and left a msg so i called her back, she was on the phone and took about an hour to call me back

she said usually after 28 days of being homeless (ive been statutory homeless since 21st january) they broaden your areas of choice

she siad in my case she didnt want to do this etc

she said i may be able to be put in a higher banding (a-the highest) but she will have to speak to senior officers and she cant do this for a few weeks

why cant she do it soon??
x

huntervicky

My understanding is that once you are classed as homeless, you go to the top of the list for housing in the areas you've requested. Forget points, all that doesn't count anymore, allegedly. :rolleyes:

This means that (in theory) the only people that are above you on the list for the areas you are down for, should be other homeless people who were classified as homeless before you. Is there a particular shortage of accommodation in the areas you want?

I think I read a post that you are in Easington? A potentially useful organisation to contact would be DISC in Meadowfield nr Durham. Find the number online or in the phone book. They have a housing/legal person who is fabulously helpful - I'm sure he covers the whole of the County.

Good Luck!

someonehadmyusername

there are 3 allocation groups:

group a:
*urgent medical- those applicants with 10 points or more
*regeneration schemes, eg.tenants who are losing their home as a result of demolition
*special transfers-includes 2 categories:
(i)supply and demand/allocation co-ordinator discretion. to release certain properties and make best use of housing stock, eg. if property is under-occupied and there are families waiting for this type
(ii)two for one transfers, eg. applicants who are pepared to give up two properties to move to another area, where this will make best use of the housing stock

group b
urgent housing need
*statutory homeless
*special circumstances

general housing need
*need larger accomadation
*medical under 10 points
*property condition
*social circumstances

community
*positive tenancy
*contribution to community by providing services/employment/work/training


group c
no housing need and/or no connection with district of easington



in some cases applicants may fall into more than one group which means people with multiple housing needs will be given an advantage, for eg, an applicant may appear in the urgent housing and general housing need catergories and therefore would receive a double opportunity

certain applicants who are found to be statutory homelesswill be given an earlier queue date if their circumstances reflect the statutory additional prefererence group





i think i am only in group b and she said i was statutry homeless

what does this mean??
x

stellagypsy

Stautory Homeless means that you tick all the boxes for that definition of homeless. ie you are technically homeless without requiring emergancy accommodation. This being the case, I cannot understand why you are still waiting from JANUARY to be rehoused. Our homeless team have only 6 weeks to rehouse priority cases.

Is there a big clearance programme in this area? I can only think there are no available properties due to "decants" ie rehousing people whose homes are being demolished or modernised. I am aware of the Easington area (OH has family there) and I would have thought they have adequate stock.

You really need someone to help you with this, as they are an ALMO, local Councillors do not have any clout nay more - if you have done all you can, you need to go to Shelter / CHAS or similar and try your MP (as suggested previously). I note from your other post that your situation has worsened now - there is no more time to sit back, DO IT NOW.

HTH, Stella xx

someonehadmyusername

right, the little one is off at her nanas today and at a kids party, im not working either SO:::

i think i shall start with shelter-
how do i go about this?
what shall i tell them?
should i call (will they be open weekends?), write or e-mail?
what exactly will they do to help?


i dont want to bully council for the work to be done to my house (major stuctural work) as i fear they will ship me into temp house and ship me right back here and ive been waiting 4 years to get out of here!!! (almost 2 years in a high band (b1 on the old system-(april 2005) and stat homeless since january 2005)

i want a house/ not for the work to be done
i want to push for a house, not push for work

the cab were not useless i suppose, but were useless to me, waste of an afternoon
told them my situtaion (2 ppl were there), they noted everything, they called the council, asked them about it, they fobbed off the cab and they said there was nothing they could do-id get a house when it was my turn!


in the paper yesterday:
top consultants are to drafted in to improve housing services. east durham , which manages easington disrict councils housing stock, has just over a year
to transform itself from a 1 star to a 2 star service in order to access £117m in government funding

...councillors were asked to employ consultants costing £65,000 for 85 days work....(to help get funding etc).......this will help us to provide an excellent housing service to our tenants and meet goverments decent homes targets

...more than 7,000 of the 10,500 properties owned by east durham homes cannot be classed as 'decent homes', residents have to put up with crumbling doors and windows as well as poor heating systems, kictchens and bathrooms.........

(some ppl up for these consultants, some not).......(councillor):why should the taxpayer have to fund these consultants? the housing stock is in a terrible state and homes are crumbling. we need new management



xxx

stellagypsy

This is what I was saying about your housing dept / ALMO - they have failed to perform and now the Housing Corporation are kicking !!!!!! and - beleive me - the consultants are not a matter of choice, it is now time for them to put up or shut up. If they fail to improve after this some one else will take them over (appointed by Housing Corporation) and heads will roll. We have had consultants in from BEFORE day 1, it will work, I suspect it will be the same ones we had (they were from Durham area). They are experts at this and in the long run it will be money well spent. I suspect your Housing dept were a bit naive and thought they could just carry on as before - the have found out the hard way that they can't.

Where I am, they have been brutal with we staff to get us in to a different mindset (it is really hard when you have worked for a Council for years to think like a business, I am OK as I have a business degree but some are really struggling and others have left). I suspect yours have not gone at it as hard with the staff - but sooner or later it all comes home to roost........ We are going through the grading process soon - going for 3*'s and realisticly looking at 2*'s - 3*'s would be fabulous, but I think we might push our luck at the moment. There will be hell to pay if we fail.

Because we did the full transfer, we got the dosh straigh away (like I say, this is the Gov'ts preferred option). Our homes were really grim, I have already supervised a £4.5m contract to fully refubish one village and have another starting in September (yuk - all grotty flats and bedsits, single blokes - it will be a real pain). However, while al lthis is gong on, we still have to deliver ALL our services to an acceptable standard.

Re Shelter - I think you should take the weekend to sit down at the PC and do a timeline and log of all that has happened, find any correspondence, decide what outcome you want to achieve (you say rehousing NOT repairs - make this clear from the outset). Make sure you have everything relevant to your situation. Print off a copy for them, scan / copy any letters (NEVER part with originals). I have to admit that I have never dealt with Shelter on Housing issues - we usually deal with CAB or CHAS - but their contact details should be in the phone book or on the net. I would make an appointment to see them face to face, I think this is better. You could also send copies to your MP and ask him for assistance. Sounds like there might be some mileage in it for him/her if Housig is a big issue locally at the moment.

Re Housing Benefit if hubby is refused JSA - Housing Benefit is means tested - that means it is calculated on whatever income you have coming in AT THAT POINT IN TIME. If that is NIL, you must say so to them - they will work it out on that basis. You need the oficial "finish" date for hubby and you need to claim from that date. DO NOT delay or you could be out of pocket.

HTH, Stella xx

someonehadmyusername

i e-mailed shelter a great big e-mail and they said this:


Thanks for your enquiry. I'm sorry to learn of the problems you've been
experiencing, and can appreciate how distressing this must be for you
and
your daughter.

We only provide initial advice through this service, so whilst I can
offer
some general advice about your situation, I may be repeating
information
that you've already been provided with by the Citizen's Advice Bureau
(CAB).

If you have applied for a move, your application should be treated in
the
same way as anyone else applying to the waiting list. Certain people
must
be given priority on the list. This can include people that need to
move
due to threats of violence from an ex-partner.

You can read more about who should get priority and what to do if you
don't think you've been given enough priority here:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-3174.cfm

You've said that your housing officer has put you on the homeless list.
Depending on your circumstances, the council may have a legal duty to
find
you suitable housing. If you are classed as homeless you should also
be
given priority on the waiting list. You've not said if the CAB has been
helping you to check you've been given the right priority banding on
the
list. If not, you could ask them to check, and to help you ask for a
review of the council's decision if you don't think you've been given
the
correct priority.

In the meantime, the council have a responsibility to make good the
repairs to the structure of your current home. It sounds like you have
been waiting a long time. Have you lodged a formal complaint about
this?
You will need to use the council's internal complaints procedure in the
first instance. You could also include a complaint about the person
that
you spoke to. If you're unhappy with the council's response to your
complaint, you may then be able to take it to the Local Government
Ombudsman.

Finally, if you feel that you have to move urgently, and can't wait for
a
transfer any longer, you might want to consider your other options for
housing. You could think about renting privately. This would mean you
could choose the area you wanted to live in, and could move quite
quickly.
I can appreciate that this might be a more expensive option. You might
want to get some local advice to look at the financial assistance you
may
be entitled to should you decide to rent privately. You can read some
general information about possible financial help here:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-111.cfm

You may wish to consider returning to the CAB for help with all of
this.
Alternatively, you can look for another advice service in your area:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-1005.cfm

I hope this is helpful to you.



Shelter's email advice team


i also called the council to see if the lady (i now try and contct her all of the time) has spoke to her senior officers about my banding

i called 2-3 hours ago- she was on the phone
took my num and she will call me back
she still hasnt so i just called

she is on her lunch-whos calling?-me again
i did pass on your msg (snotty)
shes been in a meeting all morning- (even tho she told me she was on the phone)

this woman was so snotty on the phone!
why do they hate you calling so much?
i dont call up and shout and scream at them, yet they are so rude to me!!!

xxx

someonehadmyusername

well, she must be having the biggest lunch in the world coz she still hasnt got back to me!

dare not call again as they are to snotty!
x

someonehadmyusername

had to call her back at 4.40pm as she obviously wasnt planning on calling me

she said my banding desision was made before the new policy and that my areas of choice should be widened after 28 days of being homeless (since jan 05)

she said in my case she didnt think this was right and that i should be put in a higher banding (only 1 more higher than mine-a)

she will hae meeting with senior officers next week( maybe)

so i dont really know what will happen
x