Hello Mandy

I have been reading and I think you are very brave indeed. I respect your views with regards to your darling twins and I am sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time with this. Having been brought up in council/housing association homes myself, I am familiar with the house exchange programme. In fact my Mum and Dad very recently downsized their big home for a small place now us 'kids' have moved out. I know this process was a little time consuming for Mum and Dad, but they were offered 2 good properties in 6 months. They advertised in the paper and by puttting notices up... in supermarkets/local shops etc... Your flat would really suit someone whose children have grown up and left home. Maybe advertise online too? Gumtree.com I hear is a good facility?

Please keep us updated on your progress as we are all very concerned.

Good luck with your babies! Sending you best wishes and praying things will get easier for you soon.

Rach
x

of course you are over crowded hon.
Have you been to citizens advice? They will be able to fight your case with the housing associations.
In my area if you have 3 kids you are entitled to a 3 bedroom home. 5+ then a 4 bedroom home- to find out what your areas policy is you really should see c.a.b.xxx

hi
thanks all xxxx

im on exchange boards etc....

im not brave just insane lol,no i love my kids they are all a true blessing ,we are so excited about the twins,be glad when they here now as im so tired of sleeping on sofa being so fat ..

i have had letters from h.v and social services regarding housing and still nothing with my local council im in band 3,which is 2 below me and 2 higher bands.
im facing facts im going to b bringing babies home to flat where i put them god knows lol.

i will really push in new year and fight until iget somewhere, i will go CAB see what they say.

thanks ,mandy 35+1 twins xxxxxxxx

hi mandy, i would take it to your local paper, this is insane. how can they say you are not overcrowed?! they cannot class your kitchen or hall as living space (or the bathroom or toilet for that fact) so when you go to CAB makesure you remember to tell them that is what they did.
when i was pregnant with my daughter there were 6 of us adults living in a 3 bedroom house and we were told we were legally over crowed and my opiions were to eith find somewhere private to rent and get help with paying that from benefits or risk having my daughter taken away at birth. i was very lucky that i went to the cheapest esate bloke (very well know as creap in local area, scummy places at all that) and thankfully he found me a 2 bedroom house. it was on the worse estate in the area but it meant i got to keep my daughter(and as it turns out they couldnt have taken her anyway without good reason and i think im a bloody good mum) after i moved in the council then told me that the place was too big for our needs (a bedroom each!omg!) and i had to pay half my rent then so i did for a year then i moved in with my boyfriend who i had only been with 9 months(not dd father) and he is now my hubby.
anyway i hope to god that they find you something very quickly. go to CAB they are so nice and will help until it is sorted. you can phone them if you cant get there! just goggle CAB. things will work themse;lfs out hun. good luck, thinking of you xx
good luck,let us know how things are going xx

hi mandy

see if your local council have a Bond Board.

this is a dept pretty good that often liases with private Landlords who have recieved accreditation for providing good properties etc. they may be able to help you out, but i'm not sure if all councils have them!

the other thing i know is that my local council have knocked 2 houses into one to provide necessary accomodation. (i dont know if these have been 2 or 3 beds), but they are just what you need!

see if they can do that for you

good luck with the babies, they must be ready to come soon

xxxxxxxx

hi there, im no expert but i do know a bit about housing.

1. There is a website called homeswapper, www.homeswapper.co.uk. If you register on there you can see loads of people that want to swap

2. The council are trying to fob you off, they are not allowed to use any rooms that are not bedrooms as sleeping space. So you need a room which you can share with your 2year old but that means 4 children sharing and girls+boys that are over 7 which is illegal

You could either

1.threaten to go to your local paper, this will get them moving, although you may not make many friends that way

2.go to your doctor and tell him the situation is making you worried and stressed. He should write you a letter which will give you medical points. Your midwife or hv could also write one but they cant class as medical opinions but will still boost your case

and keep phoning them up every single day. Just be very polite but make them realise how desperate you are.

Hope this helps and good luck with the house and your babies xvx

hi vixieL,
im on homeswapper already,have doc letters also from social services,hv etc.
i think papers r my next step tho,everyone keeps saying go papers.
thankyou all for your help xx
mandy xx

well if you have all that i would defiently go to the papers, but tell your housing place thats what your going to do. You may not even need a story printed but it will make them move alot quicker. good luck x

Hi ya we have had problems with a housing assoc for a couple of years not about over crowding it's about something completly different and we tryed going to the papers but they get soooo many complaint about housing that they don't normally take your details let alone print them!

They might as your story is so extreme but I couldn't even tell the man my story as soon as i mentioned housing assoc he interupted and said no!

Good luck xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hiya love! What you really need to do is go down to your local MP in surgery.. get him to to write a letter make an appointment ect..

your babies are considered people from when you reach the point where you get you MATB1 form.. so they have to recgonise them..

I would 'sugest' to social services that you are thinking that you really want to keep these children but there is a distinct possiblity that you may not be able to if your not re housed due to lack of space shortly! It will cost them to take a few children of your hands than it would to help apply a little pressure and pull some strings!

also I would take your children down to the office and refused to leave tell them if its just a matter of 'floor space' you can set up camp in there office! then when they see how rediculous the idea is I would ask to speack to the manager of who gave you faule information and request to put in a complaint!

put EVERYTHING in writting and get reciepts!

take photos.. & take everyones name of who you speak too..

let us know how you get on hun! x