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03/06/2008, 12:01 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 who are they trying to keep out? Hi, i live in Brighton and for the past 6 years have been trying to get back home to norfolk, Ive already lost 2sisters (one died an hour before i could get to norwich and the other died a couple of hours before i could get to her in time to say goodbye, i have no family in brighton and only moved here for my own safety ( thats another story which i will be taking up with the newspapers once im back in norfolk). I have a brother who has 3grown up children and 4 grandchildren and they are all growing up without me. I finally found a lady who wants my home but im not allowed as its a 3bed and theres only two of us, strange cos theres only two people in the norwich house. Anyway im now looking for a 2bed large garden in norfoIk who wants a 3bed, 2med gardens, non estate,right to buy, should be easy you think? Imagine my excitement when i learned of the norwich exchange website, imagine how i felt when i saw the 50pages of two bed houses, each with ten...thats 500 possiblities! I was positively beside myself, at last i thought, im going home. I couldnt view the details as i wasnt a member of the site and as my landlord, sanctuary housing association hasnt applied to be on the exchange scheme, im not allowed to join the website. We all know the times we live in, very few people do something for nothing and my landlords no different. Why should they join? If it does cost then we cant pay ( and if it doesnt cost we dont have the staff to organise the application). I have been bounced around on the phone between norwich council who say its up to the website organisers, and sanctuary, and never the twain shall meet. I emailed the website organisers last week, still waiting for an answer but something tells me they wont help. The other lady has tried to join the site and applied to the council but that was several weeks ago and despite phoning them, they still havent sent her the membership. I still want to join the site in case the other lady changes her mind so why are they being so picky? I did ask norwich council but they didnt know why, hmmmm so now im in a catch 22 situation and my question is, WHO ARE NORWICH COUNCIL TRYING TO KEEP OUT? and if anyones got the time HOW THE HECK CAN I VIEW THE EXCHANGES? I used to think councils care about finding homes for people, but in reality its just a job to them. Do they realise there are people living miserably in unsuitable locations, the lady in norwich is desperate to get near her mother so she can care for her (she has been diagnose bi polar) . I myself have been off work for the past 5years with depression brought on by family estrangement and homesickness. Who knows how many people want my home for serious personal reasons? I may never know. Im 53 and want to get home, will someone please help me? Is anyone here a member of  that site whose membership i can use just for 1hour? thankyou for listening kind regards millicent in brighton        Report

03/06/2008, 12:34 PM MattW Joined on 15/02/2004 Norwich Posts 118 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Sorry Millicent but getting council houses are very difficult. I couldn't get a council flat in the Norwich City Council area despite contributing to the local economy and being in low wage work in the area but alas, to no avail. I suppose the fact that my parents bought their council house didn't help matters! I thought that being a local I would get a modest flat quite easily but I was wrong. I think that your only real chance of relocating to Norfolk will be to rent privately in the local authority area where you wish to live, and then apply to go on the housing waiting list. Good luck!    Report

03/06/2008, 1:07 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Hi Matt, imagine you have children, you get a house with a garden. You spend long years in your home, the kids grow up and leave, does that mean you should move out into a 1bed flat, should you give up your 26year tenancy rights and go into a private and tiny house with rent so high you have to keep on benefits or worse, he decides to sell and now youre old and homeless? I would have to be a fool Im 54 and while living in one room was fine when i was young, now its not. Do i have to give up my few pleasures cos i  have only enough room to watch telly? What happens to me when im 65, a bedsit? Come on, you know if you were 65 you wouldnt give up your house for a bedsit? Where will my 3 nephews and 4 great nephews and nieces sit? I really miss my family but i just cant move into a flat, i would go crazy, ive already downsized from a 3bed to a 2bed and have lost a lot of my hard worked for stuff which took years to save up for. Ive got a piano, do i give up music as well as gardening? That only leaves tv and booze, hmmm I must remember how i got to this point so i can tell the aa why i started drinking in 2008      Report

03/06/2008, 1:47 PM MattW Joined on 15/02/2004 Norwich Posts 118 Re: who are they trying to keep out? As far as I am aware, the council prefer to allocate the proper houses with gardens to tenants with children. I could be wrong, so by all means, check with the council. I think you would be waiting a lot longer for a house than a flat, though. If you wish to relocate to a different area and obtain a social rented property, then there may have to be some trade-off I'm afraid. There are quite a few blocks of 2 storey maisonettes around Norwich. The ground & 1st floor ones have some garden. The post-war council flats in Norwich are of a very good size. My ex-council flat (bought on the open market) has good proportions for a 1 bedroomed property, compared to new private slave boxes being built by the river Wensum. Despite Norwich's cheap(ish!) house prices/rents compared to Brighton, there still is a housing crisis here. The wages are quite low. Many people on the Norwich City Council housing waiting list are living in Bed and Breakfast accommodation.    Report

03/06/2008, 1:49 PM ironsmad Joined on 12/03/2008 Posts 131 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Try your MP that's what they there for ,write to him stating all the facts.Three bed-room's are in short supply and lot of people don't like swapping from council to housing  association's as the rents are higher.Good luck    Report

03/06/2008, 2:10 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Hi, id just like to say that its useless going to the mp. they cant help, ive tried. I can understand how awful it is trying to get suitable housing and i think anyone with a child should have a garden. Its up to the housing associations now to build new homes, you know, the ones where theres only space if you sleep upright. The council should take on that responsiblity again. I wouldnt mind so much if i hadnt been used to space and having room to pursue hobbies, i am a homemaker and dont go out much. I love being at home and making my home beautiful. I will spend my last penny (and i have) on making my home lovely. I will sweat blood and tears to make my home a wonderful place to live. so now i have to go into a flat with only enough room to change clothes to go out drinking/clubbing/pubbing I dont wish this choice on anyone over 50 you could take all those whose children have grown up, put them in bedsits, then there would be loads of houses for families and a very depressed older generation. Im not a drinker so what else do i do? Ive no garden and no room for family visits, ive given up music as theres no room for a piano, i can start up my own business and employ young people in a most entertaining and happy profession or run teaching classes as theres no room to put all the paperwork, in fact all i can do is live like a machine. Well if this is what ive got to look forward to, i would rather be dead. I have seen 500 possible swaps, all 2bed houses. I have a lady with a 3bed med gardens, non estate, council right to buy so i have a good chance at a multiswap, only thing is, the norwich exchange website wont let me join so i cant access the details.      Report

03/06/2008, 2:24 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out?  and until they make it law that housing association rents be in line with council rents, there will always be people on benefits long term. My rent for a 2bed rabbit hutch is 91 per week. Ive seen ones over 100 quid per week.    Report

03/06/2008, 2:47 PM ironsmad Joined on 12/03/2008 Posts 131 Re: who are they trying to keep out? I think you find it be the other way around councils in line H/A rents its what the government and councils want,The only people who will be on council /ha willbe housing benifit claiments as your self .    Report

03/06/2008, 3:04 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out? so why are the government whinging about the amount of people on benefits. Im doomed to a life of living on the social, shame considering im well educated, learned a new trade, willing to train and employ people, put on exhibitions and shows, very community minded, always fundraising. i do hope someone in authority is taking note, especially the ones who moan about "spongers off the state", high unemployment rates, low moral among communities. Its the government who is making it this way. If i have to move into a tiny home i will just give up and start drinking and taking drugs, its the only way to blur out the misery so i dont care anymore about making children happy and people laugh, mine is an entertainment business, well it could be, ive already had business cards printed, should i chuck them out and forget it?   so if im on benefits, unable to make enough to pay the bills, how do i get a holiday or a runabout car or even just have a meal out at a restaurant ( thatll be a first). Do i have to break the law to make my life more bearable or do i just lock myself in, sell all the furniture and drink/smoke till it doesnt matter anymore? That quiet little old scruffy lady, who would have thought she was an entertainer, who would have thought she had a science degree? all she does is shuffle to the corner shop and back. Is life over at 53? already i am telling lies so i can get in the back door of that website. I hate telling lies but we all know that the more crooked you are, the better life you have, isnt that the truth?    Report

03/06/2008, 3:29 PM ironsmad Joined on 12/03/2008 Posts 131 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Is it more of worry of those who  they want to bring in.Payed council tax yesterday in city hall .I did not here many local accents plenty of leaflets in Polish .I wonder if with the freedom of information act its possible to find out how many EU citizens have been given housing in Norwich over the past 4 years.I always thought if you made your self intentionally homeless they did'nt have to put you on there list?    Report

03/06/2008, 3:44 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out? well we all know what the government is doing for the "non british" citizens. I have read in the newspapers how these asylum seekers are given homes, a car, an allotment and all the tools/seeds they need, the right to sell their produce and keep the profits, not affecting their benfits. What hope do we have? Dont believe the council/government when they say they dont have the funds because they do. Maybe we should start a thread entitled, if i were in charge of the country i would...... the government should read and learn instead of trying to get through their lives with the least amount of effort, grabbing as much lucre on way to ensure a happy retirement. Why on earth should they think about us, it doesnt matter how many promises these politicians make when they are canvassing for votes, its not a legally binding contract. ( and that sentence came from the mouth of a politician ) theres only one think i need right now, its not much and it would help me enormously, I just need access to view the exchanges on the norwich council website, sadly they wont let me look.    Report

03/06/2008, 3:48 PM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out?  millicent wrote:  get through their lives with the least amount of effort, grabbing as much lucre on way to ensure a happy retirement, thats just reminded me about the purpose of drug dealers, notice the similarities? I missed out profiting from others misery.    Report

04/06/2008, 5:03 AM ironsmad Joined on 12/03/2008 Posts 131 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Asylum seekers if given the right to stay in Britain should be given a home as long as they don't break any laws or plot to over throw our way of life.Don't forget that they come to this country to become British and their own place of birth is a hell hole,most work hard and become part of the community.If they come to sponge or can't be bothered to learn English and take up our cultures and way of life boot them out back to France.All the other things you say about cars and allotments is a urban myth put by raciest scum.    Report

04/06/2008, 10:00 AM millicent Joined on 03/06/2008 Posts 16 Re: who are they trying to keep out? i used to live a couple of doors away from a house being used as a brothel/drug dealing business, this house was occupied by asylum seekers. Im not a racist, the info came from a newspaper article. I have many foreign friends and multicultural family. My point is that these asylum seekers are getting treated better and given more opportunity than british people who have struggled and continue to struggle. Theres many a homeless brit.... Dont think the asylum seekers are lily white, theres still some wronguns among them.    Report

10/07/2008, 6:34 AM cartoonp Joined on 10/07/2008 Norwich Posts 2 Re: who are they trying to keep out? Hi Millicent so sorry to hear about your problems. Have you thought about useing another exchange site or even puting A ad in the edp or easten evening news.I am sure there people out there that want to move.Wishing you all the best    Report

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