Council Tenant's Rights

[Iamcazzy]

A friend of mine lives on a council estate where some redevelopment work is currently being undertaken. On the opposite side of the street, there is a man living who has threatened my friend with physical violence on a number of occasions. The police have been involved quite a few times, although the last seriou incident was around five years ago.

The street tenants have permission to move around the street while the redevelopment work is being undertaken as there are quite a few empty properties there. The man concerned has shown an interest in moving into the empty property next door to my friend.

My friend is absolutely terrified at the prospect of the idiot moving in next door. She has been told that someone has applied to move to the house but the Data Protection Act prevents the council from disclosing the name of the applicant. However, a relative of the idiot has disclosed the information to the community with great relish.

Is there anything that come be done about this situation? I'm inclined to think that the council don't really care less about the move and will assess the application on a points basis which might well give the idiot an advantage over someone else who has applied for the house. I do appreciate that councils are meant to try to prevent this sort of thing occurring, but one reads so much about "neighbours from hell" nowadays with no one seeming to care.

Thank you.

[daffy654]

What do you mean by

"The street tenants have permission to move around the street while the redevelopment work is being undertaken as there are quite a few empty properties there."


I'm damned sure the council have not given permission for the folks to go into the empty properties for any reason, that is not how councils work when building new properties.

[Iamcazzy]

In this case, there is no building of new properties involved. The Council are upgrading each home to a certain standard as far as plumbing, central heating, new bathrooms, new kitchen, rewiring etc are concerned. A number of vacated houses already exist on the street. The council have upgraded these void properties first and the tenants are allowed to move to a house that has been upgraded If they desire instead of living in a house while the upgrading is going on at their home. If they do move to an alternative home, they may re-locate to this house permanently.
It's not that uncommon a system apparently and works very effectively.

[Gmcd01]

Is it feasible for your friend to move into a different, renovated property herself? Obviously, there's hassle involved, but if you compare that to the alternative, it seems like a good plan. I don't know if your friend is renting from the Council etc., and there's no reason she should have to move, but it would be a tremendous two fingers up to your 'neighbour'!

[bushbaby_de]

A letter to the allocations/decant team expressing your friends concerns and reminding them of the previous incidents may be enough to prevent the man being given the neighbouring house

[poodicat]

I was told i couldnt pick and choose who they put next door to me,but you have a right to voice your opinions,i said if he ever stepped out of line i would hold them directly responsible

[Iamcazzy]

Thank you all for the answers so far. My friend has got copies of letters sent to her housing officer detailing past incidents and threats and putting these in the hands of the council now might well be useful.

This man is very subtle and clever and my friend has n doubt she's going to end up waking up in the morning to a greenhouse with a smashed pane of glass, eggs on her front door and horrifying stuff shoved through her letter box.

As far as I'm aware, even if she points out to the police and/or council that such incidents did not occur before he moved in, it's not proof that he's responsible unless he gets caught red-handed. Because of this, the authorities are unlikely to take much notice of the complaints.

It's really not practical for her to move to another property on the estate. She is a council tenant. It's not possible to put two fingers up to this man - he's the sort that delights in cooking up methods to turn peoples lives into a misery and will dance on the street if she moves elsewhere because of him. In effect, he'll have won and will take great delight in showing as much to everyone.

I'm not too sure about how exactly the council can be held responsible for damage etc. Are you saying poodicat that my friend should expect reimbursement from the council if this man chucks a brick through her greenhouse?