Went to look after my sick mum and squatters broke into my council flat.

Lver1210

My mum is on Attendance Allowance and I receive Careers Allowance for taking care of her. 2 weeks ago her health got worse (she was moved on to higher level Attendance Allowance) so I went to stay with her. During this time my council flat got broken into through a back gate and entrance. My neighbours flat who shares a garden with me was also broken into as it was also empty due to him recently passing away. There were squatters in both flats.

I explained the situation to the council, and called the police who removed the squatters. They didn't steal anything, but the flat is a mess and full of used drug paraphernalia. The council then put a lock in place of the broken lock to "secure" my flat. I asked them to do more to secure it, but my housing officer didn't seem interested as he said it's a fire exist and can't be boarded up.

2 days later after I'd returned to take care of my mum, my flat was broken into again. I do not know if it is the same or new squatters. I've notified the council and asked for some advice on what to do next, but no one has contacted me. It is also getting increasingly difficult to leave my mum alone due to her health needs.

My mother lives alone in a different London borough to me and has a 2 bed council flat (my sister was with her until very recently). I have contacted my council regarding ending my tenancy and moving in with my mum to take care of her and if some kind of tenancy succession at her place can be put in place. I am yet to hear back from them.

Thankfully I have all my valuables and I have a safe place to stay whilst being able to take of my mum. My mum doesn't like strangers and I am happy to handle all of her care needs, but what are the responsibilities of both councils here? Am I doing anything wrong right now by staying with my mum? I don't see the point calling the police again if I can't get the council to secure my flat properly (struggling to even get them to contact me back). Should I just wait until my council  contact me about my request to end the tenancy? Should I even keep paying rent?

Any advice relating to this would be much appropriated as it's nearly the weekend and I'm not holding out any hopes of my council contacting me today.

Thank you in advance

theartfullodger

How long were you away from your flat before break-in please?  Did council know (from you ) prior to break-in that you were not in residence?

Rent up to date paid in full?  Any housing related benefits,? (HB or UC/HE??)

Sorry for you situation.

elsien

I don’t think stopping paying you rent is any sort of a solution if you’re planning on keeping your flat or wanting another tenancy elsewhere.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/withholding_rent_for_repairs

Lver1210

theartfullodger said:

How long were you away from your flat before break-in please?  Did council know (from you ) prior to break-in that you were not in residence?

Rent up to date paid in full?  Any housing related benefits,? (HB or UC/HE??)

Sorry for you situation.

I was away for just over a week before the break in. They didn't know I was away prior to the first break in, but knew for the second.

I receive US/HE and rent is up to date. Actually paid for the whole month already.

elsien

It’s probably a bit late in the day now, but can you get hold of your local councillor to see if they can get a sensible answer for you/prompt some action.
Otherwise, do you know anyone who could stay at your flat while you’re away or keep more of an eye on it? 

It’s your mother’s council you would need to be talking to about the tenancy succession. That’s not anything to do with your council. 

You should be able to look online for the other borough’s specific rules with regards to succession. 

deannagone

I don't think the OP is seriously considering withholding rent.  Please don't come down on them for that question. They have enough to cope with right now, awful situation and yes, there isn't much support to answer questions from a housing department or anyone else in the outside world.

elsien

If you are referring to me, I was not coming down on the OP.  It was providing information because they did ask that question in their original post.

Lver1210

elsien said:

It’s probably a bit late in the day now, but can you get hold of your local councillor to see if they can get a sensible answer for you/prompt some action.
Otherwise, do you know anyone who could stay at your flat while you’re away or keep more of an eye on it? 

It’s your mother’s council you would need to be talking to about the tenancy succession. That’s not anything to do with your council. 

You should be able to look online for the other borough’s specific rules with regards to succession. 

I wouldn't want to ask someone to stay in the flat knowing someone might try to break in again. Even if my flat was secured again, they'd still have an issue with squatters in my neighbours flat. They would know straight away when someone leaves my flat.

The information I got from my mothers council was to tell my council about my need to move for caring needs and have my council reach out to them. I probably wouldn't be allowed any succession, but might be eligible to bid on a bed flat in the future instead as an exemption which they would need to discuss between them. I have done this, but haven't heard anything back with regards to what I should be doing right now so I don't break my tenancy terms or my mothers. .

elsien

I think in that case, I would be looking at local councillors to try and prod some action out of them. They won’t be able to do anything today, obviously, but if you email them and I would email all of them for your area, Then potentially they could get onto it at the start of next week to at least get those discussions between council started. 

You could also make a complaint about the security of your flat. 

Can you contact your local PCSO and ask them to keep an eye out and what about your neighbours? Would they be willing to call the police if they saw or heard anything? 

Lver1210

elsien said:

I think in that case, I would be looking at local council is to try and prod some action out of them. They won’t be able to do anything today, obviously, but if you email them and I would email all of them for your area, Then potentially they could get onto it at the start of next week to at least get those discussions between council started. 

You could also make a complaint about the security of your flat. 

Can you contact your local PCSO and ask them to keep an eye out and what about your neighbours? Would they be willing to call the police if they saw or heard anything? 

Squatters have already broken back in and I'm waiting for my council to get back to me about securing my flat in a different way before I call the police again. If I call the police now to get them removed then all that will happen is that they put another lock on which really isn't doing anything to secure my flat. My "neighbours" now are unfortunately also squatters in an empty/voids flat and the shared garden and side entrance just makes things really difficult.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try reach out to my council again on Monday and if I hear nothing back by Tuesday then I'll start looking to do some of the things you've suggested.

gwynlas

I would not give up your tenancy to care for your mother as she might in the future need more care than you can provide and need to go into a home. it is unikely that you would be allowed to succeed to a two bed property suitable for a small family when you only need a one bed and you might then be offerred something that you do not like. It is very unfortunate that your flat was squatted but this was quickly dealt with and you say you have your valuables with you.