formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

[alan1]

hi I will start by introducing my self and my wife we are a couple of 63 years old with son with medical condition and special guardians to our grand daughter who is 5, basically the reason why I've come here is i'm hoping to find some advise on this situation we have been put into, our previous neighbors moved and the house became empty i had the keys left by the previous tenant with my self to give to housing association when they call the house had to go up on u choose and people had to bid on it during the time i held the keys a family visited the property the place was locked up including the gate which did not make any difference to these people they lifted the kids over the gate to look around the garden and in the process they took 2 large balls that belonged to my grand daughter which had gone over the garden i knew the people as friends of people who live on the same estate a few doors up and they are not the kind of people to mess around with they are all gypsies so did not confront them couple of days later the housing officer rang me at home and asked me if she could collect the keys on a particular day and said yes you can in the process i asked if the place had been allocated to a family of gypsies she said to me she is not at liberty to say to which i replied on what happened with the people who climbed the gate and took my grand daughters balls and described these people to her i said that i would not confront them as i knew them from people who live a few doors down she said i will ask them if they had been and took the balls and they are still having checks done on them to which i replied this is not a good report about them what I'm giving to you! please take this in to consideration and the fact we are 63 years of age and my son is mentally ill and suffers from paranoia and a 5 year old we are trying to bring up and its not a very good start ! the people that live few doors down have bad manors i.e swearing, music loud till early hours , drinking ,parties, so i'm just expressing whats is to come and begged the housing officer to consider our situation and the person that lives next door to me she is 65 with a son with learning difficulties and his nerves , so our both family's need a quite and tranquil environment this was pointed out to her and please consider these circumstances this is a very small close with four houses the end one being the empty one i said to the housing officer this place is too small for lorries (wagons) and i don't want them parked out side my window full of scrap metal she said to me you wont have any lorries (wagons) parked out side your window !!! several days later she collected the keys from me i asked again are that family that stole the balls having that house she said nothing is definite on that i handed the keys over on the 17th of July around 5 o'clock the housing officer phoned me and told me to phone police and report the incident that happened about the balls i said no i don't want to its to trivial just for balls its the principal and i don't want no repercussions she said you wont get any which made me believe by doing this then this would stop them from getting the property so reluctantly agreed so i phoned them got the crime number and told the police to phone the housing officer which she had told me to do they said they would but would also come and see me at a later date 2 days later on the 19th July she handed the keys over to this particular family and let them sign the tenancy agreement i could not believe that i had been put in this situation knowing that she had confronted them about the balls and got me to ring the police about the incident ! now I'm living in fear about repercussions to come i am having a lorry parked (wagon) out side my property full of scrap metal and gatherings of the 2 gypsies family's out side the front of my house! this is very intimidating to my self and my family and the neighbor as been in tiers our way of life as changed now where we wont go out if there is a crowed i have had these people starring in as they know it was us who told housing officer about the balls I'm so upset I'm dreading the police calling what can i say now its just pointless i feel that it has just escalated and we want to move as we are no longer happy or feel safe here my son is up all night and will only sleep partly in the day time in no longer wants to go into the garden there always there crowded and playing loud music OK cut the story short we have been applying for houses else where and have had another housing officer out from the council now when she came out after being here for 15 mins she said that what was happening while she was here was intimidation they started the wagon up and just left the engine running out side our window and shouting from one end of the close to the other between the 2 family's when she advise us to seek private accommodation then she could help us she wasn't happy with the way we had been treated and said that this close was too small to have things like that here i.e wagon, music,shouting,swearing (with young grand daughter ) and a son who feels paranoid with the hole situation i feel terribly let down and want to be rehoused i suffer with deep depression and blood pressure this situation is not helping ! please can someone advise me on this situation what can i do ? can someone help me write a formal complaint to head office in a more suitable way i would like now to be rehoused with them as i hold them responsible for this whole situation and cost of moving as i have spent a lot of money on this property making this our home now it feels its no longer our home. kind regards Alan

[bluebottle]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

Hi Alan and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Do you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, usually lasting about six months with an option to be converted into an Assured Tenancy, previously called a Secure Tenancy, or do you have an Assured Tenancy.

From what you have said, it sounds like the housing association may have breached their obligations under the tenancy as the situation you now find yourself in may amount to the enjoyment of your tenancy having been adversely affected.

Before writing to the housing association's head office, you would do best to speak to your local CAB or Law Centre, if you have one near to where your home is. Take a copy of the tenancy agreement with you so they can see it.

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

Hi and thank you for responding i have an assured tenancy

[PlanB]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

to LB Alan. And *snap* because we are the same age

Since you are tenants on an assured tenancy with a Housing Association you have plenty of legal rights. They most certainly have a duty to make sure you enjoy peace and quiet in your own home. You seem to be suffering from your neighbour's anti-social behaviour and there are ways of dealing with this without you having to feel driven out of your own home.

Can you tell me the name of the housing association so I can check them out on the internet and see what their grievance policy is and also their complaints procedure. After that I'll explain how you can make a formal complaint which you can refer to the Housing Ombudsman Service if the HA don't resolve this horrid situation to your satisfaction. The Ombudsman is a free service too They are familiar with anti-social behaviour problems as you will see from this link:

http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/.../#.Uf1O9TtwZjo


In the meantime here is another link to information on your legal rights as an assured tenant:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...ured_tenancies

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

Thank you for your help its bromford living housing assosiation

[PlanB]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

Well they do seem to take anti-social behaviour seriously so that's a good start:

http://www.bromfordgroup.co.uk/my-ac...ial-behaviour/

I'll have a proper read of that website in the next couple of days (and I'll read your first post in more detail again) and see if we can come up with a plan

In the meantime start a diary. Write down all the noise, threats, and intimidating behaviour this family make with the date and time (that's most important). And if you've got a digital camera or a camera on your mobile phone then take pictures of everything hoto: Try to be discreet so as not to wind them up and make things worse for your family :spy: But you will get a better result from your complaint if you've got evidence on file :typing:

Maybe get your granddaughter and son involved in the diary if you think that will make them feel more in control of the situation and less helpless. Sometimes children's words paint a picture of upset better than adults. The little girl must have felt gutted to have her toys (those balls) taken

Whatever happens don't confront your neighbours direct. Just keep your head down and log their every move :ranger:

You sound like a really lovely family and you deserve better than this :grouphug:

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

I have been taking pictures and have pics of wagon parked outside my window full to the top of scrap metal exactly what the housing officer said we wouldn't have

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

I thank you so much for your help you don't know how much this means to us we feel so isolated in this situation and don't know where to turn

[PlanB]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

I have been taking pictures and have pics of wagon parked outside my window full to the top of scrap metal exactly what the housing officer said we wouldn't have

Good

Some housing associations and/or local councils will also install recording equipment in your home so you can record any noise disturbance from wild parties etc. as evidence :drum:

Have you considered making a noise complaint to your council's Noise Pollution Team which is part of the environmental health department? Most councils operate a 'three strikes and you're out' policy. So pick up the phone and report it every time it happens any time day or night hone:

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

I would not do this because you are not just dealing with one person this is a large family with a lot of unsavory friends and family i would not put myself or my family in anymore trouble than i feel im in already

[PlanB]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

I thank you so much for your help you don't know how much this means to us we feel so isolated in this situation and don't know where to turn

You've come to the right place for help now :beagle:

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

Hi plan b hope you haven't forgot about me alan

[PlanB]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

Hi plan b hope you haven't forgot about me alan

As if

Have you got the diary under way ?

This will be evidence to convince your Housing Association that they should place you at the top of the transfer list. I'm referring to your re-housing needs not footie.

[alan1]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

hi yes well underway videos and pics

[CleverClogs]

Re: formal complaint to the housing association advise needed on how to proceed!!

I have been taking pictures and have pics of wagon parked outside my window full to the top of scrap metal exactly what the housing officer said we wouldn't have

As the odds are in the order of a pound to a pinch of dried-up dingo dung that the pikeys are not licensed to carry waste, perhaps you should (anonymously, if possible!) inform the local Environmental Health wallahs. After all, they may also indulge in fly tipping.