Jump to content

Housing for Disabled - Advice appreciated!

Recommended Posts

Hi, new member here.

 

My partner (we're in a long distance relationship) lives in Sheffield (born and raised here) and I'm currently in Lincolnshire. We're both 24-25 years of age.

We're looking at moving in together in the Sheffield area, however I am disabled and neither of us are quite sure who we can approach or contact in terms of housing.

 

Ideally, we'd like to try and register for Council Housing, but I would imagine that the waiting list is pretty long (can anyone give current timescales?) and I'm also not sure whether the council would be able to adapt properties to accommodate my disabled needs. On top of this, I'm not sure whether my disabilities would be considered a 'priority' case as it's not made clear on the council website. I am not in a wheelchair, but I would still require minor adaptations due to what I have.

 

On the flip side, we also thought about renting through an estate agents, but again, due to my disabilities, not many estate agents or Landlords/ladies will accept disability benefit/support or adapt their properties for my needs. I have contacted a few estate agents in the Sheffield area to enquire about some properties, unfortunately they either don't respond back, or they say that landlords will not accept it or make adjustments.

 

Our goal for the future is to be able to buy a property in the area, however this isn't an option at present due to our financial situation. We want to be able to get ourselves somewhere that would help us both achieve what we'd like.

 

We aren't sure who we can get in contact with about the options available to us, but also don't want to make unnecessary visits to places just to get no answers.

 

Apologies for the long post, but would appreciate some advice or information if possible!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi

 

If you were to apply to the council they are obliged, if you have disability priority, to rehome you within 13 weeks, but getting them to fully take into account your disability could be quite hard. Their statements to me when I was considering how on earth I'm going to get somewhere that meets my needs really weren't that helpful.

 

They appear to regard the absolute rules as the only thing that they have to comply with, so they were not prepared to even enter into a discussion about, for instance, my need to have space for a dishwasher because I have arm disabilities and find it impossible to do the dishes in a sink. That isn't in their rules of what they have to provide and apparently I'm meant to get a carer to do that, even though I'm independent now.

 

They also were not prepared to even discuss two people who are a couple sleeping in separate rooms for medical reasons, and told me that we would have to find a way of getting two single beds in the same room, irrelevant of the fact that I can only have a king sized bed because other beds are shorter than me. If we're going to go for their help then we need to follow their rules and accept their choices apparently.

 

This has led to me really not wanting to enter into their process at all, and I'll do what I can to find another way to get somewhere to live that meets my needs.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Our goal for the future is to be able to buy a property in the area...

 

I know honesty is always the best policy, but don't go advertising this little fact to potential Landlords who you're also hoping might make adaptations to their property to facilitate letting it to you. For me to make changes to a property they have to benefit the property (possible) or I have to think the Tenant (never any guarantees) will a) really appreciate it and b) be there an awfully long time.

 

Examples for me have been the addition of a second shower, addition of above-wall garden fencing, provision of external tap (some benefit the property anyway so there's no big deal with those, some others are more dubious).

 

Your best option would be non-PRS... I'd focus my efforts on the Council side.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.