possible advice please

Hello both of you

Thank you for the replies. I live in a council bungalow on an ordinary street though lots of elderly folk, and we all had our surveys at the beginning of the year. Even the asbestos was now some time ago.  I have been posted a vague list which I do really hope the liason officer will explain more in full. For example just says shower room. Not the actual work that even I can see that needs doing like dealing with mould and damp which is lifting the wall paper of sufficiently enough that the internal wall is crumbling apart. But because it just says shower room I do not know exactly what work is being included. I have an antiquanted toilet, (pull chain). It works perfectly fine but the top lid doesn't fit neatly onto it so every time it flushes it spill over a little. That wasn't done in the survey. Partial rewiring doesn't tell me what work is being done. Windows as necessary, but not what. Really hoping the liason officer can say more. I can cope with one workman in and two but it be really hard if people are coming and going all the time for however long it takes.  So yes it be good to get a real detailed scheme of work and I can but try for alternative accommodation whilst it being done.

thanks guys

Hi asparagus. If you live in Social Housing, I can advise you. If you have a letter detailing the work, I can tell you what that means too. I would need you to be more detailed if possible.

This type of project can be seriously disruptive, and it's likely that you would be disturbed beyond endurance.

In any case, if you have a social worker then they should be putting your case forward. The disruption to your home and life need to be properly assessed, but having seen this process many times, my best recommendation is that you should be eslwehere for the duration.

A Social Housing provider will have alternatives that they won't want to use, but they should be sympathetic to your case. The Housing Liaison Officer's job is to find out this kind of information from you so that it can be included in the project planning, to tell you about the work that they plan to do to your home, and to be there to help you if you need anything.

Has your home been surveyed yet?

You ought to be able to ask for a clear scheme of things, and you ought to be able to get temporary accommodation if it is going to be messy. Reality may not be so easy.

Are you in a location where there are other people with disabilities or special needs, or are you in an ordinary street. Is the landlord the local authority, a housing association working with the local authority, or a private landlord?

If you are in an area with lots of people having special needs you ought to be able to get collective help to ensure smooth running, but even that isn't a certainty. If at the other extreme as far as you know it is just you who might have an issue because of autism, that could be harder.

I have great difficulty getting workmen in, and have great difficulty when they are there. I don't think my difficulty is obvious but it sure does seem to be there when there are workmen in the house. They seem to spot something and seem to be trying it on with me, and try to be over-friendly, even patronisingly so, and too intrusive and informal - or maybe it is just I'm paranoid.

It really isn't practical to be around if they are lifting floorboards, removing plaster, drilling and banging a lot. I've tried to stay in out of necessity, not having anywhere else to go, and not wanting to pay for a hotel, but it is horrible. You no longer have your personal space (just somewhere in a corner of a room the furniture has been moved into) and you may not have a workable kitchen or bathroom, or even a means of washing.

Workmen may try to tell you they will have minimum impact, but that's a laugh - they are only there during the day....you have to cope overnight.

So you do need to talk through with the housing liaison officer exactly what is involved. I don't know whether it helps to explain having autism, as no-one seems to be trained up on this in these organisations. They'll probably be quite bullish about there being no real upheaval.

You are entitled I would think to a clear explanation of the work. Even if you are a tenant or (part tenant if it is housing association), or are the owner in multi-unit premises run under a maintenance contract, you are trying to make a home in the spaces you occupy and disruption will affect your daily life, so don't be brushed off.

But try to get clear facts. Don't get emotive or argumentative. Just try to get something in writing about the sequence of events and the level of disturbance, so that you have something to refer to. Or failing that have someone with you when you see the housing liaison officer.

It may be that some tenants/occupiers will get together to ensure all get a fair deal but that's harder to be part of if you are on the spectrum.

This must happen a lot so there ought to be something on the NAS website about workmen. Can't find it on an initial scan. Maybe it is just assumed we all have a care worker to sort things out for us!?!