Update Friday 16 October:
Received a response yesterday from Brent Council which details the council’s rent in advance and deposit support scheme, and outlines the flat-inspection process that the council has undertaken to get the deposit paid retrospectively in this instance. The council says that having completed its checks, it has “now arranged to pay the money to the agent who has agreed to return the deposit he received.” Sounds very good. Will update this post when everything is finally settled and write more detailed article about this issue of rent in advance and deposit payments for people who can’t afford those payments as housing pressures intensify. The council’s response did not include comment on the request for the inspection findings for the previous flat, so will make another request for that.
Was intrigued by a line in the council’s response which said I’d never emailed or phoned the council press office about this issue. I find this an interesting remark, given that I’m sitting here looking at the email I sent to the press office about the rent in advance and deposit issue on 30 September at 12.23pm and also at the phone log record of the call I made about an hour earlier on the same day, but I’ll let that one go for now because I am feeling uncommonly generous today. It is Friday after all.
————————–
Original post.
Well – it’s been about a week since I posted this attempt to get answers re: Brent Council’s policy on paying rent in advance and deposits for re-housed tenants, and reimbursing people who pay that money on behalf of others. I also asked in that post if Brent Council could let me know how a flat inspection carried out about six months ago panned out.
I’ve been completely ignored. Being ignored is not something that sits well with me in the general run. Am presuming Brent Council is still there (their twitter feed is), so am starting to think that there may be reasons to take this silence personally. Which I am.
My contact details are here, Brent Council. Am standing by.
Pingback: Fighting Brent Council for rent in advance and a deposit for a disabled man’s flat | Kate Belgrave
From long experience of, say, letters hand delivered to [Camden] council office reception going astray and my being told officially that I had to submit info that I had already submitted, I discovered that copying ward councillors into letters and/or email correspondence with council officials got better response.
Dude Swheatie of Kwug
Not a bad shout. I fear that a lot of my emails fall into spam buckets – well, spam buckets which are labelled Who Gives A Shit What Bloggers Think. A lot of organisations seem to have those.
Brent Councillors and their contact details can be found at
[Brent Council website] > Democracy [sic]> Your councillors
I’m being evicted. Disabled, on benefits and after more than 3 months of antiquated sneering ‘No DSS’ rejections, hobbling around town in pain during the pandemic, being shown the dank windowless caves that do accept HB where the landlords claim the maximum amount of HB in exchange for their hellhole boxes aka flats, over 500 enquiries, numerous completely unsuitable inaccessible properties, chasing, and damage to my mental health – I’ve found a place that is within the LHA rate, in Brent, is safe, clean, accepts HB and has a lovely landlord who wants me to live there – miracle! However…
Brent Housing actively pushes people to find accommodation in the private sector because of the lack of social housing, but simultaneously doesn’t seem to be willing or able to provide the necessary elements that are needed in order to do so and I’ve been left dangling at the final hurdle when it comes to the financial support needed to move somewhere. How?
Because I’ve been told I can’t apply for a DHP to cover a deposit AND rent in advance AND removals assistance (bear in mind – disabled and on benefits, doing everything I’ve been encouraged to do and have done literally 100% of the work to find somewhere without their assistance). I can either apply for help with a deposit OR an unspecified ‘incentive’ payment to the landlord and nothing else.
Private sector landlords ALL want rent in advance and a deposit. It’s how rentals work these days.
Brent have removed the link to the DHP policy from their site, so I can’t even see if this is now policy or mere whimsy by the housing officer. There are no government guidelines online anywhere that specify that DHP can’t be claimed for all three things.
2 weeks left before I have to leave where I am now and unless I can arrange for the basics to be covered by a DHP, I’m going to lose my holding deposit (that I had to borrow from friends, so will be in debt), become homeless, lose all my belongings and lose the one perfect, accessible home that is happy to accept HB and is affordable on HB that I’ve spent 3 solid months searching for.
Not quite the effective Homeless Prevention Duty they claim it is, is it? *big sigh*