I am writing on behalf of a friend who has been dealing with N. Somerset council for the last 6 months. He is on the autism spectrum and have documents supporting this as well as having attended a specialist school, etc. He is 20 and was forced to leave his home due to an abusive/neglectful family situation. He has been living with their grandparents and is having serious issues accessing housing support from the local council.
He has been repeatedly antagonised for rejecting unsuitable housing offers and given inconsistent information. His support needs mean that shared accomodation is not an option and he would be at risk of harm if placed into the hostel-type accomodation that North Somerset council keep offering. However, each time he rejects this, the council threaten to cease their support and lower his priority on the council housing register.
The council housing register is primarily housing association properties, which would be ideal for my friend's situation due to the stability and support services offered by them. He is currently on band C, but was moved from band A, then band B. The council keep changing his priority, one minute they seem to be supportive and the next they are insisting that he wont accept their support.
I have no idea what to do, ideally he needs somebody to speak on his behalf (like a social worker or advocate) who has experience working with adults on the spectrum. At the moment he is left to deal with these affairs himself and he doesn't know his way around these systems. His grandparents are not supportive and don't 'believe' in autism. He has reached out to various homelessness groups but he is just sent back to the council, who aren't working with him properly. What are the options when the council is behaving like this?
