A mum with three children who all have additional support needs believed her application for a new council home was open for over a year – only to be told there had been a “mistake”.
Heather Brodie, from Aberdeen, had been under the impression that her application for a more suitable council home was open after submitting it in September 2020.
Since then she has had multi-agency meetings with health visitors and housing officers who she claims told her the application was live.
The 29-year-old said she had been informed it was up to the allocations board to find her family the accommodation.
However, in October this year, she was told the application wasn’t live and there had been a “mistake”.
Asthmatic children struggling with stairs and mould
She had requested a ground floor flat with access to a garden. This is because the flat in Cornhill where they currently stay is unsuitable for the family.
Miss Brodie’s step-daughter Karley, 11, suffers from ADHD and social anxiety.
Meanwhile, Emily, three, has ADHD and Patrick, one, possibly has autism. Because the children struggle in social situations the mum believes they would benefit from a garden to safely play in.
The flat they currently live in is on the third-floor and her children are asthmatic meaning they struggle with the stairs.
It is a two-bed flat and Karley has a bedroom because she needs her own space.
This means that the mum has a single bed and cot in her room for Emily, three, and Patrick, one, as well as her own bed.
She said: “Because we’re cramped, we’ve got stuff everywhere because we’ve got nowhere to put it. It isn’t helping the situation because then we’ve got boxes of toys all piled up, which behind that will be creating mould.
“The mould is on every window, and all up the bathroom wall.”
Although the mould has been treated and painted over it has grown back.
Two of her window frames do not open properly, making the mould worse, although an inspector from the council has visited the property to look at them.
The single mum claimed that the damp in the flat is affecting Karley the most because she is severely asthmatic and she is now on daily inhalers.
It has taken a ‘big toll’ on the mum’s mental health
Miss Brodie and her children were offered a temporary flat in September last year, but when they went to the flat she found strips of valium in the stairway.
There were also other problems with the fourth-floor flat, such as all the drawers being nailed shut and Miss Brodie did not want to take her kids there so she handed back the keys.
After finding out that her application was not live, the single mum had to resubmit all the forms, putting her at the bottom of the list again.
She was also dealt with another blow when she was told she could not reopen her application until the rent arrears worth £500 were paid.
“It has taken a big toll on my mental health,” she explained. “Like a really big toll.
“I’m a single mum, where am I supposed to find that money?
“My kids don’t deserve this.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “The applicant has a responsibility to advise on changes to their circumstances to maintain a live application.
“Two offers of temporary accommodation have been made and refused by the applicant.”
