Thank you Elegran for your astute observation! It is a shame that many Gransnetters dismiss the local sites as not being used by local members. If they don't use their own, then of course it won't get used! Self-fulfilling prophecy. If Gransnetters aren't interested in local sites, they will eventually disappear, which is fine, because they were set up out of a perceived interest in local sites, which has to exist to make them work! If there's no interest there's no point!
>>>
Hello dollie! If you would like Gransnet West Sussex to publicise the problems you're having, then our local forum would be a perfect vehicle - local.gransnet.com/west-sussex
I can discuss it on our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/GransnetWestSussex?ref=hl
and on our Twitter page https://twitter.com/GNWest_Sussex
dollie The West Sussex local site started out as the Worthing site, but it was decided to expand it to cover the whole county because … now let me think why … Oh yes - people complained there were no Gransnetters in Worthing, and we hoped there might be a few elsewhere in Sussex!
By the way, East Sussex is a separate site, being a separate county, and is to date editor-less. Anyone in East Sussex fancy taking it on? local.gransnet.com/east-sussex
Brighton & Hove has its own site, which I also edit: local.gransnet.com/brighton-hove
Anyway, back to your problems with Adur and Worthing Councils dollie
If you'd like the local site to help, it would help to know exactly where the council have been less than helpful.
For instance, their website does make it clear that
"There is a severe shortage of housing available and approximately 1 in every 10 people will be rehoused each year. Many people wait at least three years to get a property through the Housing Register but other people will not be rehoused at all."
The bidding process seems to be set out quite clearly here: www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/housing/looking-for-a-home/choice-based-lettings-all-about-bidding/ and this paragraph explains how you will get to view a property once you are at the top of the list. It doesn't seem to suggest at all that you will be penalised for rejecting somewhere once you've seen it. Seems reasonable to me?
'What happens after I have bid for a property?
"You will be contacted if you are at the top of a list for a property and invited to view the property. Sometimes the top two or three people may be asked to view a property in case the first person refuses it. After you have viewed the property you will usually be offered the tenancy and asked whether you want to accept the property. If you refuse the property, you can usually carry on bidding for alternative properties." '
Available properties are listed fortnightly:
"How do I find out what properties are available?
Properties are advertised every two weeks on the Sussex Homemove website. www.homemove.org.uk
This is not a subject I know anything about, so perhaps others with experience can tell me if this seems a reasonable set-up?
If it is, then dollie must be having problems caused by the correct procedures not being followed. I don't want to post grievances against a local authority on social media without having the facts straight. If the local MP has intervened, there must be good grounds?