Anna tells her story in this episode.

It's the story of how Anna, her partner and their 2 sons had to leave their council flat because their neighbour, who likes to wield a knife, was threatening to kill the children. 

The tyres on Anna's car were slashed. The abuse and aggression escalated as time went on.

Anna asked Hackney council for help for a move to a like-for-like council place. This is what is supposed to happen when people are in serious danger, but - yeah. If only. 

Anna explains what happens when there's a housing crisis and you have to try to find another place to live, because you might be stabbed at your current address. 

She talks about trying to get help from the council, which more or less became a bigger problem than the neighbour. 

This is a part of the housing crisis that perhaps doesn't get the coverage it should - ie, that it's not at all easy for people who are dealing with violence and abuse to leave. 

People can't afford to rent somewhere else. Councils are meant to help you find a safer place, but they're not too good at it. 

-----------------------

All music on this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Photo credit: photos.snapsthoughts.net

Send us a text

In this episode, Megi talks about Hackney council forwarding another family's very personal information to her husband's email address. 

Megi has an autistic daughter. She talked about the family's housing problems in episode 5.

The information that the council accidentally forwarded to Megi's husband contained very sensitive details about another family entirely.

It had their names and contact details, children's names, bank details and details of abuse and fostering. 

Why do these very serious data breaches keep happening? 

Why are people who claim benefits or who need council help with housing made to put up with negligent security of their personal data?

-----------------------

All music on this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Photo credit: photos.snapsthoughts.net

Send us a text

In this episode, we return to Latoya. 

Latoya was featured in the first episode of this podcast. 

She has an incredibly active 7-year-old autistic son who runs, climbs to incredible heights, barely sleeps and just about never stops. 

Latoya also has a 4-year-old daughter who is also very likely autistic. She has just been referred for assessment. She is also very active and copies her brother. 

The family lives in a second-floor council flat, which the boy (and possibly the girl, as time goes on) is going to fall from, sooner or later. 

For years, Latoya has been begging Hackney council to move the family to a ground floor place that has a bit of a backyard. 

The boy can't fall from the ground floor, obviously. And if the place has a backyard - even a small one - Latoya can put a small trampoline there for her son to jump on for hours. 

If he does that, he sleeps and then she can sleep. At the moment, she gets a couple of hours sleep a night, if she's lucky, before she gets up at about 5am to go to the first of her cleaning jobs. 

WHY won't Hackney council move on this? 

Why won't Labour tax, tax and then tax major corporations to pay for the social housing people need? The hell with their election promises. Life, and certainly early deaths, matters more. 

--------------------------------------------

Music credit: all music in this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Episode artwork is by Latoya's autistic son. 

Send us a text

In this interlude episode, I ring (and record) letting agents to ask if they accept people who pay rent with benefits like universal credit.

You'll hear what the letting agents say.

It is actually unlawful for letting agents to say No to people who claim benefits, but that doesn't stop them keeping benefit claimants out, as you'll hear. 

Most letting agents are smart enough to sound very welcoming and to say that of course you can register with them, but then they say - we don't have any landlords on our books who take benefit claimants as tenants. 

So - that's really a No, isn't it.

Meanwhile, councils insist that people who are desperate for housing and who are on low incomes call letting agents and private landlords to try and find a place to rent. 

What is the point of that, we ask.

---------------------

All music on this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Photo credit: photos.snapsthoughts.net

Send us a text

Megi has an 8 year old daughter with autism. 

Megi talks about her daughter and the family's housing issues in this episode. 

She also takes us on a rollercoaster ride (some cracking downhill bits) through the 5 years that she's spent getting absolutely nowhere in her attempts to get her family rehoused.

Megi's daughter is non verbal, not toilet trained and very active and strong. She generally only sleeps for an hour or two a night. 

She also has serious meltdowns. 

Their family of 3 lives in a one bedroom flat on the 5th floor of a council block. 

The girl is at serious risk of a fatal fall from the 5th floor. She can break locks and even windows, so needs 24/7 supervision. Also, the flat is far too small. Megi sleeps on the floor. 

The family has been begging Hackney council to move them to a ground floor or first floor place as a matter of haste. 

"Are you waiting for the worse to happen before you do something?” one exasperated health visitor wrote to the council. 

Good question.

---------------------

All music on this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Episode photo: picture from Megi of the drop from the 5th floor of their flat 

Send us a text

Total circus here.

Niki talks about the 2.5 years it took to get on the Hackney council housing waiting list.

She has a 6 year old son who is autistic. He attends a SEND school in Hackney.

The family lives in a very small, one-bedroom private rental which has damp, mould and rodents. Needless to say, the family is keen to get out of there.

Niki also speaks of her concerns about the security of her family's personal documents after Hackney council's systems were torpedoed by a cyberattack.

She had to submit documents to apply to get on the council housing list. She was asked to submit them several times. She still wonders why.

Niki also talks about the way that councils assess people with autism for places on the council housing waiting list.

Her son's autism was severe enough to get the family into band B to bid for council places - but then they were downgraded to band C.

Very strange. His autism hadn't changed, but clearly somebody decided that it had.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

All music on this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Episode artwork: by Niki's son

Send us a text

Millennium politicians like to say that getting benefits, housing and support is too easy for too many people.
 
Au contraire.
 
In this episode, Niki talks about the ways that trying to get that help takes over your life.
 
Niki has a young autistic son, a tiny, rented one-bedroom flat for her family's four members (the landlord wants to raise the rent) and an almost full-time (unpaid) job wrangling the benefits and housing systems for support.
 
Easy it is not.

-------------------

All music on this podcast is by © Concrete Uncle

Episode artwork: by Niki's son

Send us a text

The podcast heads to Hackney council to ask to speak to someone about Latoya's desperation for a swap to a home when her son won't get injured.

The council shows this podcast the door - though we absolutely refuse to leave. We are staying until someone from the council or the ruling Labour group gives an interview.

Also - a few lines about how outfits like councils and government departments such as the department of work and pensions use press statements to blatantly lie about the services they claim to provide.

Enjoy. 


Music credit © Concrete Uncle

Send us a text

Latoya is the mother of a 7 year old boy who has autism.

The boy is heading for calamity in the family's present home, which everyone who sees him, including professionals, understands within five minutes of watching him.

Will Hackney council help the family find a safer place to live?

Answer at the moment is probably no, given that Hackney council refuses to even talk about it. They need to have a quiet think about that, because we will be back. My word.



Music: In the First World. Original words and music © Concrete Uncle

Send us a text