Having HIV is no longer a fast-track ticket
to social housing but some people with complex needs still manage to get a
place to live, writes Jon Williams
Illustration Raffaele Teo
I
was gob-smacked the other day to hear Coronation Street’s resident hooker
Leanne Battersby hold forth on politics. Had she got Ken Barlow’s script
by accident? While downing a cheap bottle of wine with Liam from the knicker
factory she complained: “The health service is in crisis, the home office
is a joke and the tax burden just crippling.”
What she failed to mention was that the UK is also in the grip of a housing
crisis that is hitting homeless people with HIV.
I am one of the lucky ones having been housed back in 1995 in a property designated
specifically for people with HIV. Recently, management of my home and 450
other HIV-specific homes were handed back to their housing associations; a
good idea at the time as many tenants were unhappy at the way the properties
and support monies were being managed. We kept our homes but now if a tenant
moves out, the flat does not automatically go to someone else with HIV.
How hard is it to get a council home?
Anyone living with HIV who has tried to get social housing in the last few
years will be aware that simply having the virus is no longer a fast track
ticket to a council home. The council is the gatekeeper to most social housing
and by law has to give “reasonable preference” to homeless people
and those living in unsanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing. They
also have to give reasonable preference to people with medical or welfare
needs.
That said, social housing for people with HIV is a postcode lottery; outcomes
depend emormously on where you live. This is not helped by the fact that housing
departments have quietly re-categorised HIV so we are not automatically given
“priority need” status. Priority need is the standard benchmark
for people deemed vulnerable and who councils have a duty of care to house.
Homeless people with HIV are finding it harder and harder to prove they have
a priority need, mainly because many people are doing well on therapy. Medical
professionals employed by the councils to judge your eligibility for housing
do so on a case-by-case basis. The guidelines are:
• a formal Aids diagnosis, not merely being HIV positive.
• CD4 count of less than 200.
• multiple symptoms.
When should I apply?
Timing is key when presenting yourself to the council with a housing need.
Someone with a low CD4 count experiencing illness and mobility problems, peripheral
neuropathy, hep C, mental health problems, stress or depression or with dependant
children will find their case may have more weight than claims based on HIV
status alone.
It is not uncommon for people with HIV to have their housing applications
and medical evidence rejected at the first hurdle. When this happens, many
find themselves pressured into accepting expensive private rented accommodation
and in doing so they relieve the council of any duty of care. The problem
with this is private sector rents can be high (especially in London) and people
with HIV become dependant on benefits to pay the rent.
These days, housing advisors are referring record numbers of HIV positive
clients to solicitors to challenge these decisions, mainly because cases are
rejected at the first attempt having failed to prove they have a priority
need with their supporting medical evidence or that they are homeless or have
a strong connection to the area.
What kind of medical evidence?
Supporting letters from your GP, HIV consultant and other medical professionals
like psychiatrists need to be presented in a concise but detailed way. They
should go into detail about how HIV and any other related illness affects
your daily life.
So don’t hold back when telling your doctor exactly how bad things are
for you. The council should acknowledge clinical depression if it is being
treated with some of the stronger classes of anti-depressants and social problems
like drug and alcohol abuse should also be taken into account.
What happens if I become homeless?
Councils have a duty of care to house the homeless, although it may take them
a long time to accept this. They also actively pursue a policy of “gate
keeping” - purposeful use of tactics to avoid accepting a duty of care,
such as insisting evictions are at their final stage and trying to trick you
into signing up with private landlords
Your argument to the council should be: “I have nowhere to live, nowhere
to go; I am ill, vulnerable, unable to act properly on my own behalf and need
full assistance.”
Even when the council tell you they probably won’t be able to help,
hold firm and keep to the rule book. It is important you are not seen as making
yourself homeless if you are going through a formal eviction involving the
courts.
If the local authority refuses to assess or accommodate you, ask them for
the reasons for that decision in writing before leaving the housing department
so you can obtain legal assistance. This applies to homelessness and general
housing applications.
Housing facts
• 90,000 homeless households are living in temporary accommodation in
England, more than double the 1997 figure
• More than 120,000 children are living in temporary accommodation
• 54 per cent of homelessness applications are rejected or deemed not
priority
• An additional 20,000 social rented homes every year over and above
those provided under current spending plans are needed to meet the level of
newly arising urgent needs
• 2004/05 local authority spending on temporary accommodation was £709.4
million
• Over 2.3 million properties have been sold under Right To Buy since
1980.
Will I get temporary accommodation?
If you’ve run the gauntlet of your housing department and survived while
officials picked your application to bits, well done; you’re over the
first hurdle.
Now you will most likely face a stint in temporary accommodation. The amount
of time you spend there and the quality of the housing you are offered will
vary depending on where you are in the country. In some areas temporary means
years rather than months. So contact your housing officer weekly to keep your
case uppermost in their minds.
How does the point system work?
All homeless applications are put automatically into the top band/category.
Most councils operate a point system where priority is given to those with
the most points. You get extra points for medical conditions, homelessness
or having dependant children. How housing is allocated will vary. Some still
use the old standard where the council or registered social landlord allocate
property. Some use bidding systems where you bid for a property either on
a website or by phone. The person is then assessed with the other bidders
for that property
What type of housing is available?
A large number of council homes are being transferred from councils to housing
associations so you could be housed by either.
Housing associations are the main provider of new housing stock and as a rule
provide better quality homes and work harder to keep their tenants happy.
The way they are funded obliges them to earmark around 25 per cent of their
new-build properties for sale to key workers priced out of the housing market.
Housing projects today mix tenants and home owners side by side.
There are still some truly ‘independent’ housing associations
but these are rare. Councils and housing associations charge similar rents
as the government has set guidelines for affordable rents and rent increases.
Why is it so hard to get social housing?
In the 1980s, council tenants were given the right to buy their homes cheaply
but the money was not reinvested in new housing.
Over a decade ago the government made arrangements with independent housing
associations to house people on council lists in return for investment. But
they have failed to keep pace with demand for social housing.
The government also failed to make adequate extra housing provision for the
larger than expected numbers of asylum seekers and people granted leave to
remain in the UK, which also put pressure on housing lists.
Is it worth it?
There is little doubt having a secure, affordable home of your own is good
for your health and sense of security; dealing with a dodgy landlord is the
last thing you need when you should be looking after you health.
However, getting over the many hurdles will definately take it out of you.
Find out how available property is in your area and if possible speak to someone
who has been through the process first.
• Many thanks to Ola Opoosun at THT
Mercy’s story
I arrived in the UK from Malawi with two young children in 2001 and got leave
to stay about a year later. I spent five years in temporary accommodation.
Seven weeks ago I put in a bid for a flat and I was successful, I think probably
because it was pretty run down. Frankly, I don’t care; my kids are happy
and we now have a roof over our heads.
Tendai’s story
I applied for a council house some years ago. I was in band C so I knew I
would have to wait ages. Living in private rented accommodation, I moved often
and ended up in a house, sharing one bathroom and toilet between seven; it
was pretty grim. Because I was living in unsanitary and over crowded conditions
and I was HIV+ my band was changed to B. Six months later I had a successful
bid. It was such a relief.
Alan’s story
I was diagnosed nine years ago and was medically retired a few years later.
I returned to London in 2006 and stopped with friends but I realised it was
temporary and I needed to find a permanent place.
I tried various organisations. Eventually Oasis in Kentish Town advised me
to go to my borough’s Homeless Persons Unit.
The procedure that followed was intimidating, slightly humiliating and far
from simple. After waiting for a whole day I wasn’t even seen and had
to return the following day. The forms were numerous and the questions endless.
To apply for homelessness you need a six month, documented link with the area.
My friend wrote saying that they no longer had room and had to evict me. My
HIV consultant had to confirm my HIV status; it helps to get evidence from
any other medical practitioner you have seen.
I had to prove I had not made myself intentionally homeless. Finally they
put me in temporary accommodation and a few months later they accepted a permanent
duty of care. A combination of homelessness and clinical depression finally
tipped the balance.
After nine months I’m still in my temporary accommodation. Although
not pleasant, I have a roof over my head. I put in weekly bids to my council’s
Home Connections scheme. Let’s hope I find something soon as I recently
found a job and the rent in temporary accommodation will be crippling.
Numbers and websites
National
• Shelter 0808 800 4444 www.shelter.org.uk
• CAB www.citizensadvice.org.uk
• Directgov: www.direct.gov.uk
• THT 0845 1221 200 www.tht.org.uk
• Stonewall 020 7359 5767
www.stonewallhousing.org
Brighton
• Open Door 01273 605 706
• Brighton Housing Trust 01273 234 737
Wales
• THT Cymru 02920 666 465
• North West Wales/Cheshire Body Positive
01270 653150 www.bpcnw.co.uk
Manchester
• George House Trust, 0161 274 4499 www.ght.org.uk
• BPNW 0161 882 2200 www.bpnw.org.uk
Scotland
• Waverley Care 0131 441 6989
www.waverleycare.org
• Sata for HIV/Aids supported accommodation
team: 0131 525 8040
• Glasgow THT 0141 332 3838
• Brownlee Centre 0141 211 1075
