Social Housing Problems

I have taken this essay out of Mikes post as it was unfair for it to remain there.
My husband and I have been on a waiting list to move for years. We are stuck in a one person flat (too small). When we got married 3 1/2 years ago we wanted to start a family no chance of that now thanks to our housing association, we are not getting any younger.

I suffered a miscarriage 18 months ago due to stress caused by our previous upstairs neighbours, nothing we can do about it, we had local youths kicking on our front door thinking we were the people upstairs (mistaken identity). This caused me to have the miscarriage.

We have had various "Liquids" leaking through our ceiling from upstairs flat after being tested was shown to contain amongst other things: blood. Those neighbours have now been moved (to about 3 doors away) and they have been replaced by someone who is just as bad if not worse. We now suffer from screws being hammered into walls at 11 at night when we are trying to get to sleep.

Just last night we had another spate of really loud noise from the flat above us. My hubby went up there to see what was going on only to be told that the noise was being made deliberatly to annoy us. We had already written to our housing association to complain about the noise (the loud hammering).

We desperatly want to move, we are top of the list for a transfer but until someone else moves we are stuck. My depression is getting worse each day. Could very easily just sit and burst into tears all the time but doesn't help of course.

We work quite hard at keeping our flat clean and tidy despite our disabilities and pain and have spent many hundreds of pounds on decorating it to a very nice standard. It took us 3 months of decorating and cleaning before the place was habitable. If we had turned it down we would still be waiting for somewhere to live.

We were in a car accident 6 years ago and I was left with a disability (permanent injury to my back) I would love to work, and I did return to my job for a while but was unable to carry on with it due to the pain it was causing. I was then made redundant. My hubby was born with a disability.

I have been considering retraining as a veterinary nurse I have written to local vets for a placement as a trainee and I am waiting for replies.

Does anyone have any ideas what we could do to get more appropiate accommodation.We are prepared to privately rent and have been using rental websites. Does anyone know of any houses near you that are to let or have any houses to let. We really would consider anywhere. Must have a garden. Rant over....until next time !!

Have you tried housing associations? There are a couple in bedfordshire (I can't remember their names, I'm afraid!).

Otherwise, look in estate agents for their rental properties. Most of the rental properties in northampton are owned by asians. Some are great with letting you keep a dog, some aren't. The hindus & sikhs are ok, but a lot of the muslims won't allow it as they see dogs differently.

Kathy, what a terrible situation to be in. I hope things work out for you soon.

its things like this that really get me peeved. somalian assylum seekers were given a 5 bedroom council house in London but complained that the area wasnt nice so they have now been given a 2 million pound house in Kensington at the cost of 8000 a month rent. sickening the average pensioner gets 6000 a year pension and they have worked and paid taxes in this country and even fought for its life. its a disgrace when you cant get another property when things like this are happening

Thank you to you all for replying to my message. Thanks for that Caryll, it's little bits of info like that that I would never have known about.

It's the old adage of "They can't shoot you for asking" that's one of my Dads favourites. If you never ask you never know.

I don't know what I would do without the support I get here. My hubby and I don't have that many friends to chat to and it is an immense relieve to know you are there. Thank you.

Oh hun, so sorry to hear this. I no how sh*t councils can be. Won't go into it, surely you can find a place to rent?

A friend I know was in a one bedroom house with 2 kids, she found herself a place to rent, but the rent is covered the same as being in a council property so to speak.

It seems like a dead end road, but I'm sure you can find light. have you ever considered shared ownership properties, thats what I did. Xx

Its horrible to be living somewhere like that. Like Caryll said, I would put my name down with every housing association and check estate agents. I've known people who have gotten more points with associations for health reasons. I don;t know if they all work in the same way with a points system.
I hope you find something soon.

janey wrote:

Oh hun, so sorry to hear this. I no how sh*t councils can be. Won't go into it, surely you can find a place to rent?

A friend I know was in a one bedroom house with 2 kids, she found herself a place to rent, but the rent is covered the same as being in a council property so to speak.

It seems like a dead end road, but I'm sure you can find light. have you ever considered shared ownership properties, thats what I did. Xx

Thanks Janey. How did you go about the shared ownership?? Have seen it but don't know anything about it. We do not have any money to put down as a deposit.

I think it depends where you want to live, we rent privately and we are what i would class as young, and our 3 bed house costs us £475 a month it's through an estate agent, so it depends there are houses out there but mostly private

Awww in this day and age you really shouldnt have to put up with neighbours like this how sorry I am to hear about all that you have to go through . I have just bought a house that im renting out but my freind is having it im letting her rent it very cheap and im doing a total refurbishment its going to be lovely and in a nice quiet place in a greenbelt area on the edge of a 7 acre bird sanctuary. As soon as I bought it I had about 25 enquiries to rent I never realised how many people were waiting for housing it really is a country wide problem . So hope something turns up and you get somewere really nice to live

When I was living over there, I worked with a lady and at the time herself, her husband and their 3 year old son were all in the same bedroom as it was only a one bedroom council flat and it wasn't deemed urgent that they should move. Their bedroom was crowded with their a single bed, a double bed, all the furniture, clothes and toys that three people (one a small person) would have. Eventually they were moved to a 3 bedroom house, but it took a couple of years. I know we have public housing issues here too, but I think it is worse in the UK. My husband and I never had any problems renting privately over here; always seemed to be homes available. Over in the UK was very different. I am very sorry you've had such a rough time of it. Not too much help in Australia, but I can be moral support