Tenant Stories

Tanya

Tanya became a Southdown tenant in 1996 at a particularly low point in her life. She had spent many years in hospital with mental health problems and was unable to look after herself.

After moving into a flat, Tanya initially needed 30 hours of support every week from Southdown to maintain her tenancy. But, with staff encouragement and advice, she has gradually become more independent and able to reduce her reliance on us. She is now able to handle all her own finances and needs just four hours of support per week.

Tanya's success has meant that she can transfer to a general needs tenancy with floating support. She also achieved a personal goal recently when she travelled abroad on her own.

Ben

Ben, who has a severe hearing impairment, moved into a specially adapted Southdown flat in 1998 after being referred to us by social services.

We helped him set up his new home and provided advice on managing his debts and effective budgeting. With the backing of a Supported Housing Officer, he set up a filing system, paid bills on time and began to build up savings.

By earlier this year, Ben had become so skilled at living independently that he no longer needed our support. He now lives in a rented local authority flat, works full-time in a supermarket and is settled and happy.

Bakari

Joining us
"I worked as a postman and was doing OK, until I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act because I had some problems in my life. I lost my job after being in hospital for three months, and then I got evicted from temporary accommodation when I had a mental health relapse.

"I was in bed and breakfast for eight months and didn’t really have any support. It was a difficult time, but then I was offered a tenancy with Southdown."

Working together
" I moved into my new flat in 2004 and Southdown have helped me maintain the tenancy ever since. My Tenant Support Officer helped me to look for furniture and Southdown also gave me £50 towards decorating.

"I also built up a rapport with my Supported Housing Officer really quickly and, when I had another relapse and was in hospital, they were the first people to visit me. Now one of them visits me at home every fortnight though, when I first came out of hospital, they visited me more often."

Achieving goals
"My support workers help me with what I want to achieve. They encouraged me to apply for a higher education course and helped me get some charity funding I needed – I was worried about paying for the course but didn’t want lack of money to stop me from studying.

"Now I start an access course in health and health sciences at college in September and then I want to do a diploma in mental health nursing. It will be hard work, but I’m looking forward to it."

Moving on
"Initially, Southdown leased my flat from Brighton City Council and it was sub-let to me. My tenancy has just been switched back to the council, but I will still get visits from Southdown through floating support. I can call any time if there are problems I need to talk through, and I feel comfortable knowing that the support will continue."

*Some names have been changed.