1:10am Friday 10th July 2009
By Lucy Tatchell
A FAMILY of six is living in a cramped two-bedroom second floor house because the bidding system was not explained properly to them, they say.
Lisa Buzza has been waiting for years to move out of the Cranham Drive flat, in Warndon, but was told she could not leave until the £2,000 rent arrears she accumulated had been cleared.
But it seems this is not the case and Miss Buzza, aged 24, needs to bid for a new house before being considered. She has not done this because she claims no one told her.
She said: “I told them my situation and he said we cannot move until we have paid the arrears. I did not know anything about the bidding system.”
Miss Buzza lives in the flat with her partner Phil Barrow, 23, and four children Jamie-Leigh, six, Ethan, five, Paige, two, and Skye, nine months.
The oldest three children sleep in one bedroom and Skye sleeps with her parents in the second room.
Unemployed Miss Buzza, who has a heart complaint and health problems following a bout of childhood rheumatic fever, struggles to get her two youngest children safely down the stairs.
Her partner does not feel he can leave her at home alone, and has postponed looking for a job until the family is moved to suitable accommodation. Mr Barrow said: “I am well bored being in the flat all the time. If I got a job she would not be able to get out of the flat. We need more room, we are outgrowing this place, they cannot keep us here much longer.”
Miss Buzza said: “Yes, I have had the kids but I do not want them suffering for what I have done.”
A spokesman for Worcester Community Housing (WCH), which owns the flat, said all properties are allocated through the HomeChoice Plus Scheme. Once registered, tenants need to bid for the homes they want. Miss Buzza is registered on the scheme but has not bid for a single property. She is also paying off her housing debts.
Iain Harkess, head of operations at WCH, said: “Every bid made to move to another WCH home is considered individually.
“Until a bid is made no decisions are made on whether or not a transfer can take place. Once a bid is make we would examine a tenant’s payment record and level of outstanding debts at that time.
“I would encourage the tenant in question to have a look at the properties advertised on HomeChoice Plus and if she feels there is something suitable to made a bid. We can then look at her situation in more detail.”
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