Autism and homelessness - anyone with experience with Housing Law?

I already made a post here with a full background of events:
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/17545/autistic-and-homeless-for-13-years-looking-for-advice-people-s-experiences

Here I will keep it much more brief.

I am homeless and have been put in a temporary accommodation hostel over christmas. I've been beaten up here twice, and they clearly see that people bully me, and i'm not high functioning enough to talk my way out of danger.

now the council say I must move out

the options the council are giving me is:

  1. moving me into 'Supported accommodation' - which is full of heroin and crack addicts, alcoholics, people with severe mental health problems, schizophrenia etc, and people moving out of prison. here I would be on "lockdown", need to give urine samples, have daily room inspections etc. and have to pay them £120 out of my own money each month, not covered by housing benefit as "service charge" (this place seems more like a psych ward than a "supported accommodation") 

  2. or they say they're kicking me out back onto the streets to go back to being street homeless and let me fend for myself again

Does anyone have experience with the council ? or homelessness while having autistic spectrum disorder?

They don't seem to care, and seem to be treating my traits and symptoms as me being "difficult".

  • I really want to try shelter. its hard to get a meeting though, or get through to their helpline.

  • thanks, that's a really good idea.

    I went to CAB, they signposted me somewhere else.

    I went and spoke to a legal adviser, but her advice was "priority need is hard to argue, and appeals don't usually work as the courts side with the council" also said that when councils refer people for medical examinations, the examiners side with council too.

    Legal adviser says my appeal is my argument is that my condition makes me "more vulnerable than a normal person if homeless". 

    and apparently I am not bad enough to be considered that. I don't want to pretend or exaggerate my traits, but a lot of the documents the council have have lies about me written on them. Things i did not say, and assumptions they have made about me.
    They also often call me by the wrong gender like they've copy and pasted the words from somewhere else. like they just have templates for rejecting people.

    I'm really at a loss. The supported accommodation rejected me because my "support needs were too high for them". now i'm being refereed to supported accommodation for heroin and crack addicts and people with severe mental health problems.

    im at a loss and its making me not eat, barely sleep, hardly leave the house. and have constant meltdowns and depression.

    im glad i found this forum. it feels like im not so alone anymore. 

    the legal adviser says i need a rediagnosis of my condition to make a strong case, but doesnt know how to find someone to do that.

  • Try calling Shelter or you have a local office go in as they are housing specialists. Citizens advice might also be able to help. 

  • Citizens Advice Bureau could advise you.  They're usually in town centres.     Would social services be able to help or is it them who are suggesting you move to the supported accommodation?  Your council will have a list of councillors with their details, inc any positions they hold on the council.  There will be a councillor in charge of Adult social care (or similar title).  You could try contacting them to see if they can help.  

  • exactly how i feel. Disappointed huge disappointmentface

    it's an almost impossible battle. and also I need a medical expert to re-diagnose me as autistic i think. to show them exactly what my condition is like

  • That seems totally crazy for them to say that " not more vunerable......"

  • I had hoped so too. they did their own version of an assessment on me at the council homeless centre. They have said that I am "not more vulnerable than an ordinary person who is homeless" so they don't have a duty of care.

    I don't know what a welfare officer is, or how to get one.

  • I would have thought they have a duty of care!...You need to be assigned  a welfare officer!