Parents of disabled children-Special needs forum support group

hi, this is a bit long and complicated so i'll try and keep it simple...
i am a single mum to 2 boys (aged 2 and 3) jacob has quad CP and lots of other health issues and logan has behavioural problems.
Jacob spent his 1st 18mths in hospital and came home with a gastrostomy and overnight feeds, i was at the time privately renting a very small 2 bed house.
I often used to find logan in jacobs bed, touching his monitors and equipment and on a few occasions he actually pulled on jacobs feed tubing and managed to pull jacobs peg out of his stomach entirely

This resulted in many more hospitalisations and in the end the damage done had been so bad and the site had become so badly infected that the peg needed to be removed and an NG put back in before discharge jacobs consultant stated that it would be unsafe for jacob to have overnight feeds whilst staying in the same room as logan so..... my sister had just separated with her partner she owned a 4 bed house and it seemed like the perfect solution for us to move in there, which we did.... 3 months down the line my sister discovered she was pregnant (concieved before the breakdown of her relationship) and decided to recconsile her relationship. initially they both agreed that we could remain living in the property but as time went on things became tense and hormones were flying until one day it all came to a head and she asked us to leave.
We were rehoused by the councils homeless team on a temporary basis whilst they looked into our case (moved us into a large 3 bed house after confirming with jacobs medical teams that 3 bedrooms were medically needed). they conducted their investigations and declined our homeless application on the grounds that they did not consider us to be living with my sister on a permanent basis and they have said that with the increase in the amount of housing benefit that they are willing to give us, it would be appropriate for us to privately rent. obviously the nature of my sons very severe physical disabilites mean that he will almost certainly never walk (at 2.5 he cant yet sit unaided) and so we will definitely need adaptations.

The council are insistent that we can still get these things done in privately rented accomodation but myself and jacobs team all feel that its unlikely we will find a private landlord that accomodating.
I have appealed the decision and after chatting with various people it would appear that they are probably doing this because they just dont have a suitable property to house us in, does anyone know where i stand and what rights to council housing we have (if any ) the situation is hugely stressful jacob is due to go into hospital 2hrs from home for up to 6 months next month and i just dont know what we will do if this isnt all resolved by then.
thanks in advance
carrie

I take it that you were assisted with the appeal by a housing specialist? You can take the matter to court ultimately but if they dont have a suitable house and are unable to locate one from the numerous social landlords accross the UK then it falls to them to find you a suitable private tenancy until one becomes available.
If you are up to some serious reading then apart from your local authority website there is a document referenced in homelessness law as the local authority code of guidance (available on-line through communities.gov.uk), when making a decision on someone's case the homelessness department must have 'due regard' to this document and your letters should include their references to it during the decision making process.
many councils claim they have no duty or that someone is intentionally homeless without investigating or having due regard to the code of guidance and get their fingers burned when challenged correctly.

that is brilliant thank you, no one helped me with my appeal, i recieved my letter stating that they had found me intentionally homeless so i went to the housing offices where i was told that no one was avaliable to speak to me regarding the situation and that i should put my appeal in writing. i did and a couple days later recieved a letter asking me to send in any supporting evidence within 10 days (no hint as to what they though might be a useful sort of thing to send). i sent letters from my sister and her partner and also from jacobs community nurse who had visited us on several occasions at my sisters house, but wasnt quite sure what else to do. i shall have a read of the .gov website you've recommended tonight. i really cant thank you enough for you help
carrie

how did u make yourself intentionally homeless? the home you were in before your sisters was too small due to childrens medical needs seeing as the doctor deemed it unsafe for them to share a room and you could hardly have one in with you. you sister might have a 4 bedroom house but with a baby on the way even if you hadnt had to leave you would still be down to 2 bedrooms due to baby needing own room as well.you had moved in with your sister on as permanent a basis as anybody moves anywhere that they do not buy, if she had not got back with her partner and was having a baby then you would still be there as she would have been a support to you as well.
is there any reason you cant stay where you are as that is big enough for you? its strange they say they dont have any properties but were able to house you there. usually emergency housing is cramped or even a hotel (round here anyhow).
corinne

hi as soon as you rent privatley the council will discharge their duty of care. also you will find it hard to have adaptations done in a private rented house unless you have a tenancy agreement for 5 years or over, which is unheard of. I have been there if you need to chat more contact me.