House Soon Is Now?

Well that's us celebrating 6 months since the (then) housing officer turned up at our door and the ball began rolling on our "really urgent" house repair job.

To be honest it's actually 2 1/2 years since they were meant to actually carry out the repairs but I thought I'd be kind. 

Anyway,  as a sort of  tribute to the incredible efficiency, general competence and all round professionalism of Wheatley Homes and their obviously top quality and well trained staff (and for those of you new to this whole sorry saga) here is a timeline of the story of us asking for a leak to be fixed....

Enjoy. 

Oh and I've cut down on the sarcasm this time around for a change. 

 

This statement may not be accurate.

30/05/24 – After nearly 4 years of waiting – and thanks to our local MP - repair work begins on the house. A new toilet is fitted and a large piece of wood is nailed to the kitchen floor.

A hole is left in the bathroom wall and paneling is removed from the kitchen.

Housing officer informs us that she’ll be back in touch within the next few weeks to arrange a full repair.

We begin to pack/box our belongings in preparation for what may be a 5 day move whilst the kitchen is replaced.

Fast forward almost 2 years.....

18/02/26 – New housing officer visits to introduce herself. I mention the repair issues, she promises to return and begin organizing repairs.

20/02/26 – Housing officer visits and informs us that due to mold in the bathroom we must move out within the next 5 days to allow repairs.

We point out that packing and moving (to where? This isn’t discussed) would be impossible in that time-frame and explain that because our 3 children are Autistic that we would need to put things in place for them first. 

We also add that a NT family would probably struggle to pack an entire house in such a short time-frame.

She replies by threatening a forced eviction.

23/02/26 – Receive a call from social work, it appears that due to our youngest child's (Autistic) ‘behavior’ the housing officer has raised concerns regarding his mental health alongside the fact that our house is ‘cluttered’.*

*Social work are aware of our children's diagnosis so say not to be concerned plus we explain that the house is cluttered due to us beginning to box things a few years back whilst also juggling real-life with supporting our children attending college, shopping, laundry etc.

26/02/26 – Housing officer visits to remind us she can evict us if we don’t comply with her demands.

02/03/26 – Police (home) visit to investigate a child mental health/imprisonment claim as it appears the housing officer doesn't believe our son is Autistic (and the imprisonment? we have a lock on our living room door as our son is a flight risk). No action taken due in part to the police having absolutely no idea why they've been called and because one of the officer's has an Autistic child and is completely onboard.

03/03/26 – Undeterred by the lack of police/social work action and concern the housing officer arrives unannounced with a hotel booking for 4 of us (there are 5 in the family)  for the the entire of March starting the day after (4th).

You may be surprised to find that we'd not actually been consulted or ask if this would be at all suitable.

The housing officer then informed us that she'd decided that we could take the girls to college (from the hotel), then come back to the house and pack (or something) then go pick the girls up before going back to the hotel) and then...

Well we're still not actually sure what the logic behind her frankly magnificent plan was (or why she'd managed to miss a child off the booking) but it seem to be that she'd come to the conclusion that our reasons for a hotel not working, including the fact that: Cassidy can escape from hotels (I spent a week in Spain on a school trip with him, trust me I know), all three children have a limited diet so wouldn't be able to eat, the fact that we'd be in rooms with them at night which means that Cassidy's new routine would then be sleeping in with me as opposed to his own bed - an issue we had when we first moved, were actually us being awkward and unhelpful.

And on that note she quickly reminded us that she could force an eviction.

Within minutes of this frankly bizarre exchange, social work called, they have been ‘asked’ by housing officer to persuade us to do as she says. We in return ask them to explain our situation and that, under the Equality Act we are allowed certain adjustments.

Housing officer complains about the hotel costs and tries to convince us that it's already paid for whilst we read out the terms and conditions on the booking saying that it's totally refundable, she eventually relents before adding she has done more to accommodate our families needs than anyone before or since before mentioning forced eviction. 

Again. 

09/03/26 - Social work ring (again). It appears that the housing officer wants another meeting but insists on social work being involved so a date is made for March 12th for a 'friendly discussion'.

12/03/26 -  A (very public) Autistic meltdown ensues.

Thank you Wheatley Homes. 

That wasn't the most demeaning part of it though, that would be the fact that the housing officer (after telling me to 'calm down' as the incredibly ineffectual social worker nodded in agreement) - turned around and said the worst thing about the whole situation was that she was 'hurt and angry' by the fact that I'd presumed she had no experience of - and I quote - 'people with Autism'.

To be honest if this was true and this is the way she treats them then I think the police were called to the wrong person.

It soon became apparent that the social worker had no idea why he was here and, realising that bringing (another) person into the mix wasn't the intimidation tactic she thought it would be - the housing officer suddenly changed tack, would it be easier to just do a permanent move? (we'd been suggesting this already), would it be useful if they hired us a skip to aid clearing the house? (we'd asked for this on numerous occasions) and as an apology for the stress we've been under and because the repairs had been forgotten would it be easier for them to supply new furnishings etc?

Obviously we agreed and excitedly looked at photos of the property on her phone.

She would organize a visit.

And storage.

And we could expect the keys on 1st April. 

Finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

We begin taking the kids to see the area/new house in the car whilst explaining the move to Cassidy via Google Maps, social stories and the like, he's not happy with the whole idea but we were working on it. 

19/03/26 - A storage company turn up to collect some boxes, true we've only had 4 days notice but it's better than nothing.

23/03/26 - A skip arrives to put rubbish in and the repair team visit to see how/if the move is going. We inform them that we're moving house permanently and should get the keys soon. The head of the repair team says that they will nudge them to allow us to visit.

 26/03/26 - We visit the new house and are pleasantly surprised to find it much more suitable for our families needs. The back garden is large and enclosed (perfect for Cassidy) there's more storage space and it's close to train and bus access.

The girls are excited and delighted, Cassidy even chooses a bedroom.

To say we are relieved is an understatement.

We book the girls time off college to move and start pulling in folk to help, finally things appear to be moving forward.

02/04/26 -  We receive a call from housing saying that our current housing officer has left suddenly and not done any of the handover work required.

03/04/26 - We meet our - interim - housing officer who says things are still moving forward but she's just to check a few things.

We continue to box up our belongings ready for the move and take the kids on visits to get used to the area.. 

09/04/26 - We find out (by phone call) that the move isn't happening.

It appears that although we'd been promised a permanent move (to as mentioned a much more suitable house) it's actually just going to be a temporarily one.

But then again it might be permanent because no-one knows quite what is happening.

In fact the only thing that Wheatley are sure of is the fact that because the old housing officer is no longer working for them, nothing she said or did is anything to do with them any more.

Which is pretty convenient.

14/04/26 - I contact housing with a stage 2 written complaint (we can't actually submit a stage 1 as we don't have a housing officer since the old one went AWOL) that, according to their website would be acknowledged within 2 working days.  

20/04/26 - We get a phone-call acknowledging the complaint with an apology for the delay but it had gone to the senior housing officers junk folder and she hadn't checked it.

We ask for a written reply for our records.

24/04/26 - A letter is sneaked through our door (no stamp, they just turned up, popped it in the letterbox and left) - It seems that Wheatley aren't in anyway responsible for anything, including:

A. The old housing officer (because, as we mentioned, she's left).

B. The ongoing lack of repairs - because according to them if it's not completed within 6 months it then doesn't count or something...no me neither.

C.  Any expenses incurred due to the lack of repairs (low water pressure, collapsing floors etc meaning we've had to pay to do our laundry).

They also claim that because they have a completely made-up version of the Equality Act on their website that it's impossible that they have breached it in any shape or form but if we'd like to appeal the decision that they've done absolutely nothing wrong - as opposed to just doing absolutely nothing - we can in fact put in another complaint to the same person.

Kafka would be proud. 

At this point I've gone from Autistic meltdown to Autistic shutdown via headaches and chest pains whilst Cassidy - after all our good work - had started unboxing everything whilst shouting "No moving house!" and the girls just sat around confused and upset.

12/05/26 - Housing have decided we must attend a meeting at the office (with the kids in tow) in regards to forcing (sorry 'persuading') us into a temporary move to the house we were meant to move to that Cassidy is now dead set against going to.

A move that we've told them (multiple times) just isn't workable. 

Doing the work around us as much as possible with a week or so in an apartment/air B&B (which would be easier for Cassidy) isn't even being considered by them and any reasonable adjustments for disability (a legal requirement as far as I can tell) aren't even up for discussion partly I think because disability isn't actually mentioned on their interpretation of the Equality Act.

As an aside and thinking it's something they may be able to manage we ask them if they can pick the skip up so the kids can use the garden during the summer, the girls are chomping at the bit to have their friends round and Cassidy can use the garden as not only is there no room but we can't keep an eye on him if he hides behind the skip. 

We also point out that it's full and that people have started to put their own rubbish in it.

After a long pause the housing officer says that instead she'll send out a letter telling people to come and remove their rubbish from it. 

14/05/26 - Social work turn up for a 'surprise' visit as it appears we've been reported to them again.

The reason this time?

It seems that we have too many boxes/bags in the house (maybe it's because we were meant to be moving?) and those coupled with the pesky lock on the living room door (remember that?) constitutes a dangerous fire hazard and a risk to our children's lives and therefore warrants an emergency intervention from social work/adult services.

 In a huge turn of good luck though, the social work team - after listening to the actual story (complete with texts, letters and notes, always keep a paper trail kids) - decided that we were, in fact in the right and offered to support us going forward.

Sighs and cries of relief all round. 

15/05/26 - Housing meeting is cancelled, social work are having one with them instead.

21/05/26 - Social work have a meeting with housing, housing say we're great (which is odd) and will do everything they can to facilitate a move, pulling out all the stops to find us a suitable property including exploring the idea of casting the net outside our local area and looking at more suitable properties.

 26/05/26 - It appears that the housing transfer forms we filled in back in April (and social work support letter) has 'gone missing' so we need to fill in another.

Bizarrely housing have decided to fill in the form themselves (as they obviously know our families needs better than us) and as yet we still haven't seen it or signed it.

Whilst on the phone we ask if they can pick up the skip (again), the housing officer side-steps the question and asks if the other people have removed their rubbish yet.

09/06/26 - We get a phone-call to tell us the transfer forms are almost complete and would we accept a house without a garden?

When we point out that we need a garden and one that's secure housing ask why which leads us to having to remind them that Cassidy is a flight risk before pointing out the huge fuss they've made regarding locks and safety. Housing reply by saying social work hadn't mentioned a garden and they know our needs better than us. 

The housing officer then gets annoyed when I point out that maybe, she's wrong and maybe we know best.

Social work are oblivious to the fact that they now appear to be in charge seeing as housing has told them everything is in hand. 

17/06/26 - Housing ring and leave a message to see if we will let a fire officer come and examine the boxes as she's sure it's a fire hazard.

The overstuffed skip in the front garden however isn't according to her. 

Being busy we decide we'll ring her back before the end of the week.

19/06/26 - we get an early morning phone-call from social work (our worker is on annual leave), it seems that the housing officer has contacted them as she's 'concerned' as to why we haven't rung her back regarding the fire safety visit and to see if they can persuade us to allow the visit because it's an important 'tick box' exercise.

We explain the situation to the poor social worker who's been tasked with dealing with the whole ludicrous situation then attempt to ring the housing officer back to say no to the visit.

Again.

The result is that the whole morning is taken up waiting on calls that leaves Cassidy's routine shot and him out of sorts for the rest of the day.

Joy.

23/06/26 - Housing call again,  it seems that "we'll find you a suitable property" actually translates as "if you don't accept the first property you're offered that's it because you only get one choice" which under the circumstances seems a wee bit churlish seeing as not only had we already accepted a property that we were subsequently told we weren't actually offered and must be lying about it - bizarrely when we showed them the actual text offering it to us we were told that text messages don't count as official Wheatley correspondence.

So it turns out that housing decide if a new house is suitable for our needs but if we see it and it's not suitable they we can't be offered anything else because 'policy'.

To be fair admitting to breaching the Equality Act with a blatant case of Indirect Discrimination is a pretty bold move in anyone's books.

11/07/26 - After nearly a month of admittedly blissful) radio silence we bite the bullet and text (again) to see if they can uplift the skip as the kids are really upset at their friends not being able to visit and Cassidy has taken to bouncing off the walls seeing as he can't let off steam in the garden.

No reply. 

20/07/26 - Taking a leaf out of housing's book we text our social worker and mention we're 'concerned' over the lack of response to our skip request. He agrees it needs uplifting and promises to mention to housing that it's a fire hazard knowing full well how obsessed they are with those.

 22/07/26 - What a surprise, the housing officer texts to say she hadn't seen our message or something and will get the skip lifted as soon as she figures out what company it's from and who to contact.

We end up having to take a photo of it and send it to her. 

 23/07/26 - The skip is finally uplifted. 

It's just a pity that the housing officer decided that we didn't actually need to be told when it was getting picked up because obviously living in a small cul-de-sac we wouldn't have to make sure the area outside the house was free of cars.

Or that we were at home.

As luck would have it the skip man (worlds worst superhero name I know) turned up at 8:30 in the morning and there were no cars blocking the house - except ours which we could move - so it actually turned out OK.

A cynical person would be inclined to think that they didn't get in touch to tell us the pick-up date/time so that on the chance it couldn't be removed they'd be able to somehow blame us but to be honest I don't think there's anyone working for Wheatley is actually clever enough to actually think of that.

And since then, nothing. 

No check-in from housing to see how we're doing, no updates, no begrudging apology for causing the situation in the first place.

Not a thing.

It's almost like history repeating itself.