Hi, nirvana. Yes, there are still certain grants out there worth bothering with.
(Long story coming up, but....)Just under 2 years ago I decided that I could no longer endure the Living Death that was Bury St Edmunds so, just as the house went on the market, I decided to leap ship and go stay with my parents - I thought it was only going to be for a month or two, gaaah.
anyhooo, I get back to Leamington Spa and I can't tell you how shocked I was at the state of their house... you don't really pay attention to stuff when you're only there for a quick visit.
Black mold, condensation running down the single-glazed metal windows onto the soaking carpets; the mankiest shower room ever known downstairs, an unusable bath upstairs; dodgy roof, ill-fitting front doors, one dangerous gas fire heating the entire property....
Now, it can't be "blamed" on anyone other than my parents themselves. In the 30 and more years they've owned this place, they have literally NEVER done a stroke of work on it or had repairs undertaken.
But within a few months, the place was having a bad effect on my and (more importantly) my child's health and so I went to the council, just really to blast them at how some elderly people were left to live in today's society.
I was lucky enough to blast off at the man I did - gawd bless 'im - who immediately set about filling in the necessary forms for them to obtain a "Decent Homes Grant".
They've recently just had over £21,000 worth of work done: new roof, new drains, double glazing throughout, new front and back doors, electrics done, new gas fire and central heating, new shower room, patio relaid....
Some councils are cutting back on these grants atm, but they can still be had sometimes to make a property "safe, waterproof and windproof" for certain groups of people (such as the elderly and those with children), the stipulation being that the person then has to live in the porperty for at least 5 years afterwards.
