'I'm in a wheelchair and about to be homeless - but the council won't rehouse us until we're on the street'
A wheelchair-bound Shropshire woman who was given an eviction notice after her landlord decided to sell up has accused the county council of refusing to rehouse her until she is actually on the streets.
In August, Sam Davies and her family told the Shropshire Star that there were no homes for disabled people available for rent in her home town of Bridgnorth.
The disabled mother, who has lived in the town for the last 15 years, has been asking Shropshire Council to find her family a home after the authority kept turning down her requests for bungalows in the area due to her disability.
The 37-year-old, who was born with the congenital spinal disease spina bifida, says every time she, husband Trev and son George apply for a home, the council tells her it is not suitable due to her conditions.
Sam, who works at Bridgnorth Medical Practice, was initially told she had to vacate her home in Whitburn Street by last week, but has been given until October 21 by her landlord due to issues with the no-fault eviction notice.
But she says despite pleas to Shropshire Council, she has been told there are no homes available - once the family are on the streets however, the council will find them emergency accommodation.
She said: “The council keep saying that we can't have any of the houses we apply for because they are not suitable for my condition – but how do they know what is and isn't suitable? Surely I am the one who should decide if somewhere is suitable, as I am the only one who knows what my needs are.
“But they have also said we have to stay where we are until we are evicted on October 21. Then when we are on the streets they will find us emergency accommodation, either in a B&B or some other temporary accommodation.
“But that won't be suitable for a wheelchair user either, so how is it we cannot move into a rental home because it is not suitable but can move into a emergency accommodation that is not adapted for a wheelchair?
"And if they have accommodation on their books that is suitable, why can't they offer it us now rather than wait until we are homeless?
“The situation is really stressful. We have to sit here and wait to be kicked out otherwise the council has said we won't be rehoused into emergency accommodation as we will have made ourselves homeless.”
A spokesperson for Shropshire Council said its housing options team was "still working with the tenant to secure suitable accommodation".
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