Lana Swan, 57, from Plaistow Close, Whitehawk, Brigghton (sic), has been told she must give up her three-bedroom terraced house for a one-bedroom property after housing officers decided her medical condition did not count as “extremely serious”.
Mrs Swan, whose younger son is a registered full-time carer, can only walk short distances due to arthritis and suffers from agoraphobia and chronic anxiety.
Ah, that old chestnut, 'chronic anxiety'. It's the new 'Ooooh, me back!', isn't it?
Sister Carole Thompson, 54, who is appealing against the decision, said council workers had shown the family “not an ounce of humanity”.
“All they are concerned about is getting this property,” she told The Argus.
Well, yes. Why wouldn't they?
“They’re not interested in her health. She can hardly get up out of her chair.
Then it doesn't matter that she's going to have fewer rooms, does it!
“I feel as if they’re discriminating against her. Mental health is an invisible disability and it should be recognised but they’re not doing that.”
Even the MP is hedging his bets on this one:
Kemptown and Peacehaven MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has formally appealed against the council’s proposal.
He said: “There are some issues that the council hasn’t quite taken on board.
“We are working hard to find a solution, whether that means Mrs Swan staying where she is now or moving somewhere better suited.”
Nicely done, Lloyd, nicely done...
One wonders how frequently she visits each of her three bedrooms...?
ReplyDeleteI notice that her sister isn't offering to take her in. Do her sons not have their own places or are they still living at home, hoping to inherit the council tenancy as well?
ReplyDelete"One wonders how frequently she visits each of her three bedrooms...?"
ReplyDeleteQuite!
"I notice that her sister isn't offering to take her in."
Odd, that, isn't it?