We are a family of six who live in an ex-council flat on the top floor (2nd). We bought (leased) the flat 15 years ago. It's a nice quiet area, lots of easy parking and a short 10 min walk from schools and work.
Over the weekend noticed a few purlins in the roof had collapsed. We don't use the attic much, just use a step ladder and put a few boxes within easy reach of the trap door.
Informed the council straight away who sent a guy out Wednesday morning. Wife calls me at work in the afternoon saying we've been told to leave and are not allowed to stay overnight. We are allowed back during the day to get a change of clothes etc.
I leave work early, pick the kids up from school and arrive home to find about 8 guys waiting outside, surveyors and structural engineers. We hand over the keys and they get busy while we sit in the car. Meanwhile housing arrange a nights stay in a local bed and breakfast. We are given time to pick up some clothes and toiletries.
On Thursday morning we drop the kids off at school, let work know we won't be in and start emailing and making calls to the property management team. My wife also has a job interview in the afternoon which she has to attend because her team's being made redundant, next week.
The housing office book us in for 11. At the meeting we are offered a flat used by a local charity to house homeless in an area everyone wants to avoid. We ask for other options, we are desperate and say we'll even consider one bed properties, anywhere but there. We are told to take it or leave, we have until 3pm to accept and it's a one time offer.
We have to leave as the wife has to get ready for her interview. On the way to the interview we pop into the council and pick up the keys. We decide we'll give it a chance as we have nowhere else to go and hotels for 6 aren't cheap.
After the interview we pick the kids up from school and drive over to the flat. As it's in a tower block in central Portsmouth parking is limited and the residents bays are only for permanent tenants. We have to park on a meter and if we stay we'll have to leave the car back at home. Not an issue during the day as we can walk but we do use the car for after school activities.
Inside we walk into something from the 60s. Bare minimum furniture, rusty metal bunk beds with stained mattresses and a fold out sofa bed in the main bedroom.
No shower, just a hot and cold tap with no mixer. Kitchen was tidy and living room with a couple of sofas and a 20" TV.
Now I'm not asking for anything special but if I was offered money to sleep on those mattresses I would refuse. Some stains looked like blood. The were the usual stains on walls, inside wardrobes etc. Directly outside another tower block in being construced so lots of noise during the days. Kids weren't happy, a couple were in tears.
If I was homeless or a refugee I would be grateful and take wherever is offered. But we are both working professionals, never claimed benefits, all kids have 100% attendance at school and regularly get top grades in their class etc. Council have suggested if we can't find anywhere local we take the children to their grandparents in Bristol and miss at least 2 weeks of school. I myself would have to take leave from work as it's too far to commute.
So we left the flat after getting nowhere with property management or housing, who just pass us between each other. We booked ourself into the nearest cheap hotel with just one change of clothes which we packed earlier in the day. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant so for the second evening in a row the children have had no hot meal in the evening. We're on a tight budget and takeaways are out of the question, we have already used up our pizza allowance.
Arrive in the hotel and read an email from property management telling us we are under no circumstances allowed to enter our flat as the roof is too unstable. The kids only have their uniforms which they have been wearing since Wednesday and pyjamas.
So where do we go from here? Forced out of our home, not given enough notice to pack for 2-3 weeks. No apologies for the disruption to our lives.
We're going to seek some legal advice tomorrow. Can't afford to stay anymore nights in a hotel, this is all going on credit card. And don't want to take the kids out of school or miss work. Kids aren't getting fed, too much disruption to concentrate on homework.
We live in a lovely clean tidy home. Have every thing we be need, good clean beds, new ones bought last month and mattresses replaced on the others last year. Then all the usual gadgets, HTPC, broadband which nowadays is essential for communication, news and entertainment, more than the TV. Kitchen cupboards full of food as we rarely eat takeaways or out, just pizza every other month.
Over the weekend noticed a few purlins in the roof had collapsed. We don't use the attic much, just use a step ladder and put a few boxes within easy reach of the trap door.
Informed the council straight away who sent a guy out Wednesday morning. Wife calls me at work in the afternoon saying we've been told to leave and are not allowed to stay overnight. We are allowed back during the day to get a change of clothes etc.
I leave work early, pick the kids up from school and arrive home to find about 8 guys waiting outside, surveyors and structural engineers. We hand over the keys and they get busy while we sit in the car. Meanwhile housing arrange a nights stay in a local bed and breakfast. We are given time to pick up some clothes and toiletries.
On Thursday morning we drop the kids off at school, let work know we won't be in and start emailing and making calls to the property management team. My wife also has a job interview in the afternoon which she has to attend because her team's being made redundant, next week.
The housing office book us in for 11. At the meeting we are offered a flat used by a local charity to house homeless in an area everyone wants to avoid. We ask for other options, we are desperate and say we'll even consider one bed properties, anywhere but there. We are told to take it or leave, we have until 3pm to accept and it's a one time offer.
We have to leave as the wife has to get ready for her interview. On the way to the interview we pop into the council and pick up the keys. We decide we'll give it a chance as we have nowhere else to go and hotels for 6 aren't cheap.
After the interview we pick the kids up from school and drive over to the flat. As it's in a tower block in central Portsmouth parking is limited and the residents bays are only for permanent tenants. We have to park on a meter and if we stay we'll have to leave the car back at home. Not an issue during the day as we can walk but we do use the car for after school activities.
Inside we walk into something from the 60s. Bare minimum furniture, rusty metal bunk beds with stained mattresses and a fold out sofa bed in the main bedroom.
No shower, just a hot and cold tap with no mixer. Kitchen was tidy and living room with a couple of sofas and a 20" TV.
Now I'm not asking for anything special but if I was offered money to sleep on those mattresses I would refuse. Some stains looked like blood. The were the usual stains on walls, inside wardrobes etc. Directly outside another tower block in being construced so lots of noise during the days. Kids weren't happy, a couple were in tears.
If I was homeless or a refugee I would be grateful and take wherever is offered. But we are both working professionals, never claimed benefits, all kids have 100% attendance at school and regularly get top grades in their class etc. Council have suggested if we can't find anywhere local we take the children to their grandparents in Bristol and miss at least 2 weeks of school. I myself would have to take leave from work as it's too far to commute.
So we left the flat after getting nowhere with property management or housing, who just pass us between each other. We booked ourself into the nearest cheap hotel with just one change of clothes which we packed earlier in the day. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant so for the second evening in a row the children have had no hot meal in the evening. We're on a tight budget and takeaways are out of the question, we have already used up our pizza allowance.
Arrive in the hotel and read an email from property management telling us we are under no circumstances allowed to enter our flat as the roof is too unstable. The kids only have their uniforms which they have been wearing since Wednesday and pyjamas.
So where do we go from here? Forced out of our home, not given enough notice to pack for 2-3 weeks. No apologies for the disruption to our lives.
We're going to seek some legal advice tomorrow. Can't afford to stay anymore nights in a hotel, this is all going on credit card. And don't want to take the kids out of school or miss work. Kids aren't getting fed, too much disruption to concentrate on homework.
We live in a lovely clean tidy home. Have every thing we be need, good clean beds, new ones bought last month and mattresses replaced on the others last year. Then all the usual gadgets, HTPC, broadband which nowadays is essential for communication, news and entertainment, more than the TV. Kitchen cupboards full of food as we rarely eat takeaways or out, just pizza every other month.
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He OWNS the flat, it is no longer a council property - the freehold and structure is owned by the council though.
