TF’s calm and softly spoken voice and calm exterior belied the depth of anxiety he was in. He was a council tenant, and his son had joined a gang and allegedly threatened TF with a knife. TF had reported this to the Police and to his Neighbourhood Housing Officer whom he had little faith in, believing the latter had not been taking him seriously.
TF had been placed in temporary accommodation and as he was in receipt of Universal Credit, his housing costs were covered, but now he was receiving letters about the level of arrears accruing at his principal home.
“All this is causing me stress and depression” he said. I looked at his journal and saw that he had asked for housing costs to be paid for both homes, something which is permitted for a 52-week period in cases where a tenant flees their main address due to domestic violence. His last communication from the DWP about this issue was a month ago.
I called the DWP and was advised that the issue was still with a Case Manager, there was no timescale for a response and queries with that section were dealt with in chronological order, her advice was that TF post a message in his journal, asking how long he would be waiting. TF asked me to do this although he had no problem reading what I had written.
I called his Housing Officer who explained that he wasn’t sure that TF fully comprehended the information which he had given him, although TF would always say he had understood. I put the call on speaker and the Officer MG explained that TF had given the DWP incorrect information, namely that he would not be returning to his main home, however the “two homes payment “could be applied provided the Tenant intended to return to their main home. The Council were preparing to evict TF’s ex-wife and son who were now resident in the property. I now understood why there had been a delay in this payment and explained it to TF adding that if he were to lose this Council property it would be very difficult to get another one. He seemed clearer, adding that this was not what he understood previously. Once we had finished the call with his Housing Officer, I supported him and typed another message in his journal for the DWP Case Manager.
I expressed surprise that his son was doing this, and TF told me he was dealing with many issues presently. How close he had come to death when his son had arrived with gang members to stab him, was playing on his mind, the son had similarly threatened another member of the family and now the issue of rent arrears was present. He thanked me for my assistance and left feeling better now that he was closer to a solution.
The next day I contacted him with details of organisations which deal with Child to parent violence. I called him too and he narrated a series of incidents about the fact that his son had come after him at his first temporary accommodation placement and this was his second one, he was scared to return home and confessed to feeling depressed again. I advised him that it strengthened his position if he had a clear rent account, and I would support his request for a transfer from his main home. TF contacted later, he had found the organisations useful (at least this had decreased his feelings of isolation around the issue, I thought.)