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Hi not sure if i am putting this in the correct place or not?
For the first 29 years of my life i lived in a small village where most my family still live, i suffered with agoraphobia but was able to go out alone in the area where i lived and had a relatively normal life even though i had agoraphobia i was still able to function.
I then had no choice but to move to a town as i could not find a landlord/lady in or near the area i use to live who would take housing benefit.
Since moving to the town 9 years ago i have not been able to live my home on my own, not even in to the front garden, i have my sitting room at the back of my house and have the blinds at the front of the house closed due to so many people walking past my home and going to a busy shop across the road from me.
Since moving to the town i have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and OCD.
I can no longer answer or use the phone to people i do not know well, i cant answer the front door or even go in the back garden on my own, i also do not feel safe in my home so i feel anxiety 24/7.
Since moving here we have had 2 muggings in my street, one which was right outside my house, a arson attack to a shop and 3 police raids to the house next door so add that on to the anxiety i already feel.
I have to rely on my husband to go out and get anything that we need and he has suffered with depression since moving here so at times he is too ill to go out.
My family cannot give me support as my brother who is disabled has to park outside my house but due to the busy shop there are hardly ever any spaces, my father cannot help as we have parking restrictions in the road which only allows you to park for 5 mins outside the shop or up to an hour in a bay which are never empty, my father also has to take me to appointments as i and my husband do not drive and i find knowing i have to leave the house within 5 mins of my dad parking very stressful which adds to the anxiety i already feel.
I have been assessed by ATOS and been placed in the support group and i receive DLA low care and mobility.
2 years ago i went on the council housing list (The council gave their housing stock to a housing association ) to move back to the area in lived in and i have explained to the council that i find living here impossible, that it is too big, there are too many people, i do not feel safe going out and i will not be able to go out alone until i move back to a small village and can have support from my family.
If i moved i would be in a small village that i know with less people and i would have my family for support and could go back to how i use to be.
I provided supporting letters from my GP, 2 social workers, a mental health advocate, a CBT therapist and a psychiatrist all saying how severe my mental health is, how badly my housing effects it and that i am likely to improve if i was able to move.
The councils medical panel ( a housing officer & a GP ) assessed me and said that i had a medium medical condition and a low effect on it from housing so only awarded me 30 medical points ( lowest they give )
I appealed but was told it was staying the same.
I was assessed again and told its staying the same so i asked my mental health advocate to ask how they made the decision and she was told they dont keep notes so i wrote a letter asking and i was sent a letter saying the panel believe it is not impossible for me to live here.
A few months ago they changed from giving points to banding and i was assessed again so i sent in a 17 page letter explaining how my housing affects me and requested information from them on their housing stock and if they treat people with a physical condition differently to those with a mental health condition but they ignored my request.
This is nothing new as when my psychiatrist wrote in a letter that 'she says moving back to the village she grew up in she would improve and this is likely' they put a restriction on me that i could only bid on properties in that village, i told them that i had not just said that village to him i had also mentioned other villages but hes not going to remember the names and that i can move to other villages where i would improve...they insisted a medical profession gave them a letter confirming what i said, i told them again that a medical profession would only be able to repeat what i tell them as only i know where i can move to and i would not bid on any properties in areas i would not improve in yet they would still not take my word for it and insisted on a letter from a medical profession like i was a complete loon who did not know my own mind.
This last assessment i was told i am in band D as i have a low medical need to move, band D is the lowest band they have, i am now in the same band as people leaving prison, people who live with their mum and dad and want their own place and people who have to walk through one room to get to another, ALL these people would of had hardly any points so would of been on the list longer than me yet they will now be in front of me on the bidding list as it is now in order of time spent on the housing list, soo if i bid on a property it goes like this people in band a, band b, band c and those who have been on the list longer than me in band d then me.
I am sure that they are treating me differently to a person with a physical condition that prevents them leaving their home without assistance.
According to their policy the banding is not based on what is wrong with you but is based on how your housing effects your condition so in other words the outcome of it.
I believe that i a person with a mental health condition who cannot leave their home without assistance should be placed in the same band as a person with a physical condition who cannot leave their home without assistance but i have a feeling that i have not been, i think those with a physical condition have been placed higher than me in the bands.
According to the disability act a person with mental health problems and due to them they cannot carry out normal day to day activities should be classed as disabled and i do not think i am being.
I also asked them if i would be considered for a over 55s bungalow as due to the social phobia i could not live in a flat, the two years on the list not one one bedroom house has been put up and most bungalows are for over 55s only, i also know they have under 55s with a disability living in over 55s only bungalows and want to be treated the same but they ignored me.
I have tried reading through the disability discrimination act but i cant seem to get any info if it is discrimination to treat a person with a mental health condition less favorably than a person with a physical condition?
I have just put in another request for information to them asking them to explain in full why they think its not impossible for me to live here, asking if i will be considered for a over 55s property, asking if they have anyone with a physical condition that prevents them leaving their home without assistance above me in the bands and i have put in a complaint that i was not sent the information the first time i asked.
Any info or advice would be great please, i am also going through a ESA review so my anxiety is sky high and my advocate said she is only allowed to deal with one issue at a time and as shes trying to get me an appointment for another assessment with the mental health team she cant help me with ESA or the council. :tinysmile_cry_t:
For the first 29 years of my life i lived in a small village where most my family still live, i suffered with agoraphobia but was able to go out alone in the area where i lived and had a relatively normal life even though i had agoraphobia i was still able to function.
I then had no choice but to move to a town as i could not find a landlord/lady in or near the area i use to live who would take housing benefit.
Since moving to the town 9 years ago i have not been able to live my home on my own, not even in to the front garden, i have my sitting room at the back of my house and have the blinds at the front of the house closed due to so many people walking past my home and going to a busy shop across the road from me.
Since moving to the town i have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and OCD.
I can no longer answer or use the phone to people i do not know well, i cant answer the front door or even go in the back garden on my own, i also do not feel safe in my home so i feel anxiety 24/7.
Since moving here we have had 2 muggings in my street, one which was right outside my house, a arson attack to a shop and 3 police raids to the house next door so add that on to the anxiety i already feel.
I have to rely on my husband to go out and get anything that we need and he has suffered with depression since moving here so at times he is too ill to go out.
My family cannot give me support as my brother who is disabled has to park outside my house but due to the busy shop there are hardly ever any spaces, my father cannot help as we have parking restrictions in the road which only allows you to park for 5 mins outside the shop or up to an hour in a bay which are never empty, my father also has to take me to appointments as i and my husband do not drive and i find knowing i have to leave the house within 5 mins of my dad parking very stressful which adds to the anxiety i already feel.
I have been assessed by ATOS and been placed in the support group and i receive DLA low care and mobility.
2 years ago i went on the council housing list (The council gave their housing stock to a housing association ) to move back to the area in lived in and i have explained to the council that i find living here impossible, that it is too big, there are too many people, i do not feel safe going out and i will not be able to go out alone until i move back to a small village and can have support from my family.
If i moved i would be in a small village that i know with less people and i would have my family for support and could go back to how i use to be.
I provided supporting letters from my GP, 2 social workers, a mental health advocate, a CBT therapist and a psychiatrist all saying how severe my mental health is, how badly my housing effects it and that i am likely to improve if i was able to move.
The councils medical panel ( a housing officer & a GP ) assessed me and said that i had a medium medical condition and a low effect on it from housing so only awarded me 30 medical points ( lowest they give )
I appealed but was told it was staying the same.
I was assessed again and told its staying the same so i asked my mental health advocate to ask how they made the decision and she was told they dont keep notes so i wrote a letter asking and i was sent a letter saying the panel believe it is not impossible for me to live here.
A few months ago they changed from giving points to banding and i was assessed again so i sent in a 17 page letter explaining how my housing affects me and requested information from them on their housing stock and if they treat people with a physical condition differently to those with a mental health condition but they ignored my request.
This is nothing new as when my psychiatrist wrote in a letter that 'she says moving back to the village she grew up in she would improve and this is likely' they put a restriction on me that i could only bid on properties in that village, i told them that i had not just said that village to him i had also mentioned other villages but hes not going to remember the names and that i can move to other villages where i would improve...they insisted a medical profession gave them a letter confirming what i said, i told them again that a medical profession would only be able to repeat what i tell them as only i know where i can move to and i would not bid on any properties in areas i would not improve in yet they would still not take my word for it and insisted on a letter from a medical profession like i was a complete loon who did not know my own mind.
This last assessment i was told i am in band D as i have a low medical need to move, band D is the lowest band they have, i am now in the same band as people leaving prison, people who live with their mum and dad and want their own place and people who have to walk through one room to get to another, ALL these people would of had hardly any points so would of been on the list longer than me yet they will now be in front of me on the bidding list as it is now in order of time spent on the housing list, soo if i bid on a property it goes like this people in band a, band b, band c and those who have been on the list longer than me in band d then me.
I am sure that they are treating me differently to a person with a physical condition that prevents them leaving their home without assistance.
According to their policy the banding is not based on what is wrong with you but is based on how your housing effects your condition so in other words the outcome of it.
I believe that i a person with a mental health condition who cannot leave their home without assistance should be placed in the same band as a person with a physical condition who cannot leave their home without assistance but i have a feeling that i have not been, i think those with a physical condition have been placed higher than me in the bands.
According to the disability act a person with mental health problems and due to them they cannot carry out normal day to day activities should be classed as disabled and i do not think i am being.
I also asked them if i would be considered for a over 55s bungalow as due to the social phobia i could not live in a flat, the two years on the list not one one bedroom house has been put up and most bungalows are for over 55s only, i also know they have under 55s with a disability living in over 55s only bungalows and want to be treated the same but they ignored me.
I have tried reading through the disability discrimination act but i cant seem to get any info if it is discrimination to treat a person with a mental health condition less favorably than a person with a physical condition?
I have just put in another request for information to them asking them to explain in full why they think its not impossible for me to live here, asking if i will be considered for a over 55s property, asking if they have anyone with a physical condition that prevents them leaving their home without assistance above me in the bands and i have put in a complaint that i was not sent the information the first time i asked.
Any info or advice would be great please, i am also going through a ESA review so my anxiety is sky high and my advocate said she is only allowed to deal with one issue at a time and as shes trying to get me an appointment for another assessment with the mental health team she cant help me with ESA or the council. :tinysmile_cry_t:
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