Settled family may be forced to move again

9:23am Thursday 18th October 2001

Catch-22 in housing lists confusion

DISTRESSED mum Joan Gittens is being forced to uproot her family for the third time in three years and fears the move will dash her son's GCSE hopes.

Ms Gittens, 40, an administration worker of Longland Way, High Wycombe, moved from Hillingdon in London to temporary housing in High Wycombe in 1998 after Hillingdon Borough Council could not find a suitable property.

She moved to Hill Street, High Wycombe, with her two children but was later transferred to a three-bedroom, housing association managed house in Longland Way.

But now Ms Gittens has been told by her Hillingdon-based housing officer that the landlord's plans to sell up mean she will be moved again.

"I've really settled down here," she said. "After a lot of hassle before moving here I found myself a job I really enjoy. The children dread the thought of leaving their schools. Eric is doing his GCSE's this year. I can't imagine how it will affect them to have to move all over again."

Both her children are students at Highcrest Community School in Hatters Lane, High Wycombe.

Ms Gittens said she approached Wycombe District Council when she first arrived in 1998 but was told she could not sign up on two housing registers.

"It's a catch-22," she said. "If I came off the Hillingdon register I would have been intentionally homeless and would have to start at the bottom of the ladder. I never had a chance."

She also wrote to MP Paul Goodman for to see if he could help.

She added: "He said he had been in touch with Hillingdon and had spoken to High Wycombe's housing department but they were unable to put me on the waiting list in High Wycombe."

A spokesman for Wycombe District Council said: "Whilst Ms Gittens is a tenant of Hillingdon Borough Council, it is that council's legal duty to provide her with alternative accommodation."

A spokesman for Hillingdon London Borough Council said she could only be permanently housed in High Wycombe if she was on Wycombe District Council's housing list.

She added: "Alternatively, once in permanent accommodation she is able to enter on a transfer list which enables council tenants to swap permanent homes between councils."

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