Moving House

Well, we're moving house in the next fortnight. We have to, the landlord is selling the house we're in currently. Luckily the new house is £50 a month cheaper in rent.

We've come to a decision about my Autistic son too. We're not taking him with us to the new place. Time to make a stand and say enough is enough, no more prevaricating: they MUST house him. We have to be tough, because while he is in the house (even though technically he's homeless as we don't have a room for him here), because he gets ESA benefit in his own right, its that that means we don't qualify for housing and council tax benefits. The bailiffs letters are mounting up because we can't afford to pay the bills, so its a purely economic decision. We need to do it in order to get help with council tax and the rent. Well, thats what I keep telling myself, although it kills me that we have to take such drastic action, after years of fighting for his needs and supporting him. It does feel like I've failed.

But, its time to start playing the system and be hard-nosed about it. He needs to be in supported housing before I drop dead, otherwise his social issues will mean he'll end up homeless. He needs to be in supported housing for the rest of his life and if this is the only way to get it, so be it. So, short-term pain for long-term-gain is the way I see it.

We're actually moving about a mile across the border from Havant to Portsmouth. The social worker tasked with trying to house my son upon hearing the news had a moment of elation: "Aha!" He said, "As your son will be moving to Portsmouth, you need to get in contact with their social services to house him." (In a quite obvious attempt to move the problem to another department/local authority: a move which we've seen happen many times before). At which point we deflated his elation by pointing out that our son will NOT be moving with us.

They've got two weeks. Will he be left on the doorstep? Most probably. Will I be contacting local papers if that happens? Most definately.