latest

1066ha. 30th/03/2010.
Amicus Horizon turned up for yet another unannounced inspection this morning, once again demanding to check all areas including the loft. I ordered them to leave because if the Police are not going to protect my family from this dreadful harassment then we must do our best to do so ourselves.
We managed to repair one of the bedrooms ourselves last week with the help of a local builders employee so the children once again have a bedroom but there is a limit to what we can do, what we should do.
Please Sign Our Petition

1066ha. 30th/03/2010.
I contacted the police again today regarding our situation and the continued harassment from Amicus Horizon and they told me that they are continuing their investigation and my complaints have been sent to their Equality and Diversity champion.

Dear Mrs Hughes,
I have sought advice on these matters from many sources including the police, ehrc, the cps and I believe that Hastings council is obliged to take a serious interest in these matters because they have a duty of care and it is quite a gap in the community care programme if none of the above public bodies have any authority over a landlord and/or the individuals who work within that housing group.

Advising us that we should contact Amicus Horizon is completely pointless as they have refused to answer over 30 previous requests including requests for repairs/installations.
My understanding is that harrassment is a criminal offence? If Amicus Horizon was a teenager they would have been smothered in asbo`s long ago, it seems very wrong that they are allowed to make the rules that over rule every standard the council orders the rest of the community to live by.
Sincerely
Graeme Morgan
Dear Mr Morgan I am not able to help you with either of this matters. Hastings Borough Council does not have any organisational control over Amicus Horizon. They are separate organisations. Your allegation of harrassment should be sent to Amicus Horizon Direct. Carol HughesTeam LeaderHousing ServicesRenaissance HouseLondon RoadSt Leonards on SeaTN37 6ANTel: 01424 451345

1066ha. 01st/04/10
Amicus Horizon behave like its the 1st of April all year round. They phoned me this morning and asked if I was happy with the repairs they had done, as recommended by Hastings Borough council. You have not done any of them I replied. Do you know when we are going to do them, they asked. Mr Darren Goodsell has decided on a full and thorough investigation and will let me know his decision in May I told her. Why has he done that? she asked. Ask him, I replied. In the meantime they are still ignoring my requests for a new washbasin following Booker and Bests last repairs on the 24th March.
When will they put Amicus Horizon back under supervision? Someone take pity on us poor tenants and start monitoring this dismal housing Association. If the local politicians realise that we cannot vote unless we can get out of our houses they might just start asking Darren Goodsell to do some repairs.

1066ha.06th/04/2010.
News stories on attacks against disabled people are appearing on the news, there have been three that I have noticed in the last week alone. Why is it that no one is ever prosecuted?. Why do the police regard such activity as civil offences?. Why do the CPS have a policy that crimes of disability discrimination require physical violence before they will prosecute? Why do our social landlords and local authorities ignore these dreadful crimes? As useless as I would probably be I could not stand by and stare while anyone was being attacked as I have proved in the past but it feels as if our society is almost encouraging this type of behaviour because their silence appears to condone it. It does`nt matter what the crime is action always comes down from the top, the courts deal with anyone who is brought before them, the police will arrest anyone who commits a crime but it is the CPS who decide which crimes are prosecuted and those which are set aside.
A thug in the street - A spiteful landlord like Amicus Horizon - An Act of Parliament that has no act. They all have the same thing in common, they create victims. If you feel discriminated against because of race, or career, or looks, or weight, or poverty, try the stigma of a disability, suddenly everything you own is given by the state, and that has one thing in common with the policy of the CPS, it is completely wrong! because believe it or not most had a life before disability or family, and you have not paid for everything that thay have.
Stop Disability Discrimination in Hastings and others will quickly follow. Please sign our bbc watchdog petition before you leave.

1066ha.06th/04/2010.
We did a little tour of some of the Amicus Horizon estates over easter. (by invitation) we only went into a few homes because they had asked us to have a look but if you do an estate inspection you do end up getting the impression that Amicus Horizon are running some of these estates into the ground, it certainly looks as if they have chosen areas, and the play areas are disapearing.
Check your estate and let us know, just ask yourself these three questions:
a.) The play areas your children had 10 years ago,are they still there?.
b.) When was the last time they painted the outside of your properties?.
c.) What do you dislike most about where you live?.

1066ha. 07th/04/2010.
We heard from the police today who are still investigating our complaints and we also heard from the CPS. I will not put the content of those letters up here for obvious reasons but as far as I can understand from the adivice that I have had so far is that it is very difficult for the CPS to prosecute a corporation for disability discrimination because it is very hard to prove an intention to discriminate or cause harm, but that does not prevent individuals within a corporation being charged. I can`t say that I feel let down because the company is nothing more than a frequently changing name, as far as I am concerned the individuals create the personality of the company so it is them that I want them in court anyway.

1066ha.07th/04/2010.
Looks like the Equality Act will be through for Royal Accent within the next few days (not snookered by the election as was feared). So, no more Disability Discrimination Act as it gets replaced by the Equality Act along with some 20 other pieces of equality legislation ... confused yet?!

Either way it is going to change things so that corporations and individuals are going to have to conform or learn the art of subtlety because they are going to find themselves within the reach of the lenghthening arms of the law
Click Here

This is another Amicus Horizon home tenanted by Rob & Rachel. There was a dispute over whether there was anything wrong with it and like so many other housing disputes it ended in the courts who awarded damages of £41,000 and major repairs to be completed under the supervision of an expert. So far the only work that has been completed is the successful erection of the scaffolding, I was surprised at this success but there you go success it was but that appears to be all that is happening but we will keep an eye on it and post progress reports here.
Our own situation has not changed at all except that we have recieved two letters from Booker and Best stating that they will inspect our loft insulation on the 19th April and Surprise surprise, Amicus Horizon are claiming that there was never anything wrong with our house, despite council reports, surveyors reports, and many recorded conversations with Darren Goodsell, Ron Grimmer, John Head, and Booker and Best where they clearly give a list of serious faults.
Please Sign Our Petition and help us get this failing social housing landlord back under supervision.

Jesterminute.12th/4/10.
£40k TO £50k is the cost to rebuild this house, what happened during the build,
Rother BUILDING CONTROL FAILED. I have got £200.36 save up in one of my accounts,its from housing benefit,MR Watchman from rother council say's he will not stop paying housing benefit to amicus horizon , it don't not matter to rother council,
THAT NO ONE CAN LIVE IN THIS HOUSE. Greedy Amicus Horizon i will see you in court,
can you see a court awarding amicus horizon rent for a house i can't live in.

1066ha. 12th/04/2010.
I sympathise entirely with you Rob. Amicus Horizon have deliberately delayed and delayed here until the summer and then they will say where is the damp, but you notice from your own experience that the courts do not fall for any of it, judges see cases like ours everyday. Just continue to record everything and in the end you will win.
Adult social care are coming to see me on 21st April, a yearly visit to see how I`m doing lol. Pity they did`nt come down when we had no gas or water, apart from the waterfall feature in the bedroom. I have many gigs of phone and video recordings now, quite a library, puts Amicus Horizon and the rest of them to shame.

1066ha. 14th/04/2010.
Amicus Hoizon say that they do not discriminate against their disabled tenants but I requested repairs to our boiler on the 06th April 2010 because we have no heating or hot water, my requests have been ignored. (report ref:5078324)
I requested repairs to our washbasin on the 25th/03/2010 and repeated those requests on the 06th April and many times since. (report ref:8273943) Amicus Horizon say that they are not discriminating they are merely following their policy of no communication with any tenant in which they are engaged in a dispute.
Anyway you look at it this is discriminating, it is unlawful, immoral and should at the very least take away their right to collect rent.

1066ha. 16th/04/2010.
And so it goes on... Amicus Horizon telephoned today (Andrew) in regard to our request to have our broken basin (Booker and Best) replaced. Amicus Horizon have decided that before replacing the basin they will need to carry out a full survey of the broken basin and they will decide a date for this survey later and inform us of their decision by post.
Booker and Best came out today and repaired our boiler (changed the pump).
Following yesterdays inspection by Amicus Horizon prior to them installing our replacement kitchen, it has now suddenly been decided (probably because I refused to sign a document which stated I would not claim for any damage caused by workmen) that we can not have a new kitchen because we have not had an asbestos survey.
Even though the lady tore this document up when I refused to sign it, I have kept all the pieces and I will put it back together for the court to see. I asked her before she left if she would consider signing the document if it was her house and she replied, no I would never sign anything like that.

1066ha.16th/04/2010
Meanwhile in court against Hastings Council today, Hastings council were bizarrely allowed to restart their case after it failed when they failed to identify the perpetrator to the offence... It gets worse!... A little while later after the sole prosecution witness admitted on several occasions that a.) he was unsure of events. b.) that there were errors in his statement. c.) that he had copied another persons notes into his statement so could not guarantee it was accurate, the court decided to disregard his statement and allow him to enter a new one then and there.
If our local court is not going to abide by the law, if they are always going to twist and turn in order to make sure that Hastings Council are always above the law, what chance do we stand for fairness in this town... of course we have lodged an appeal but the truth is we should`nt have to. Hastings Magistrates court proved today that in Hastings you have no legal personality if you are a youth.
Over the past few years we have won 6 council tax cases against Hastings council, the last where we showed that they had deliberately presented false evidence and a false statement into court, refunds totalling more than £3,000 have been given by Hastings council. The worrying ttruth is that Hastings council control the Magistrates court and Amicus Horizon control Hastings council, what position does that leave the general public in?
Sign our Petition because there are much worse things than expenses scandals... You could be next being honest does not make you immune!

1066ha.16th/04/2010.
We were turned down on our house exchange which came as no surprise because Amicus Horizon have deliberately set our banding is wrong, and the the size of the house we are entitled to move into, so what with one thing or another it is fair to say that we have taken our fair share of blows this month but when you are up against organisations like Amicus Horizon who are exempt from any kind of social rules it is to be expected.
So we are where we expected to be, back at square one, no repairs that make sense, lots and lots of surveys, no adaptations etc etc.
We will get our day in court.

18th/04/2010
This week has not been all bad
1066 Housing Action has welcomed 44 new members in the last seven days and that is a record for us. When Darren Goodsell from Amicus Horizon laughed at us and told us to take them to court there were less than 30 who had kept in touch from the days of Churchillunited. So a big thank you to Darren for bringing us all together, our vote in this election will count for once.
Please sign our Petition before you leave the site

1066ha. 19th/04/2010.
Booker and Best called out today to adjust the bathroom fan that the council had requested be moved to a better location, having surveyed the fan once again they ordered a part and advised us when they will be back to make adjustments. Amicus have decided that the fan will not be resited.
The point of all this is not to care or improve their housing. All appointments are made for 08.00 in the morning so to be dressed and ready for callers at 08.00 I have to start getting ready at 06.00, once again they actually arrived at 11.30 and as is their policy surveyed an item, I believe that I am right in saying that this year we are close to averaging one survey per week and guess what they have arranged for tomorrow at 08.00 in the morning... A survey! this time it will be the loft for the 9th time in the last six months.
Please Sign our Petition

1066ha. 19th/04/2010

Now heres a surprise. 12.44 knock on our door and it`s Booker and Best who have called out to do a survey on the instructions of a very mischievious Darren Goodsell from Amicus Horizon. Booker and Best living up to their motto: They came, they saw, they`ll be back later, wednesday the 28th to be exact. Tomorrow will be different we have an exciting survey to look forward to, its a bit like Groundhog day, and we have just received a letter stating that we are going to get another survey in the near future.
You can help us put a stop to this unlawful conduct by signing our petition, then perhaps we can force them to leave us alone to enjoy our home.

1066ha. 20th/04/2010.
Once again Booker and Best failed to turn up this morning, thats twice this week and it`s only tuesday, they continue to strive to live up to the motto we awarded them:We came, We saw, We`ll be back later. My solicitors were impressed with the contract issued by Amicus Horizon, at first we thought it was in latin but it was pooor spelling, but the content was very clear and as no one else has been given a similar contract I can assume they think I am a valued tenant.
Add your vote to ours on election day, maybe we can make a difference and get a council that works for the residents rather than a Housing Association.
Please sign our petition before you go.

20th/04/2010. Angela
There is now information that the Home Office have`nt collected national data on disability hate crime this year, because they say they don't want to impose more red tape on the Police! We are advised that they will now only st...art collecting data starting in April '11, and they claim they announced this, but the message seems to have missed all key agencies. It appears that the Home Office are so focussed on Anti-Social behaviour that hate crime has slipped down the agenda. It is critical that real and meaningful information is available about disability hate crime and for such an important issue to be receiving less than the strongest input and support is just not acceptable. We trust that everyone who uses this site will do whatever is in their power to investigate and get this matter rectified through their working networks.
We do our best but the police ay disability discrimination is a non crime... Our landlords act as if it is normal behaviour and the CPS do not prosecute unless it involves physical injury inflicted because of the victims disability and we have that in writing from Lewes police and the CPS.

1066ha.22nd/04/2010
During a recorded visit in our home with Booker and Best yesterday, they arranged to come out at 8 a.m today to install an extractor fan in the kitchen, this is required because of the boiler gas cooker, apparently its a safety issue, we have been waiting since february for this installation, I explained to Booker and Best yesterday that this was the fifth visit for this installation and that the way that they are dealing with it is causing me extreme distress because in order for me to open the door to them at 8.a.m I need to get up before 6.a.m because it takes me that long to get dressed and washed because of my disabilities, Booker and Best laughed and replied. In that case we will see you at 5.a.m how will that suit you? then he left.
They did not turn up at all this morning so at 2.30 p.m I made a recorded call to their offices and explained, the lady instructed me not to go out, they will be their soon she said. At 4 p.m I called them again and this time I was put through to a young man who told me that no job had ever been booked and that they would be out next tuesday. I informed him that I had recorded his employee on the phone to his office arranging installation for today and he said, we`ll be out next tuesday, I told him that I had been told just a short while ago that they would be here shortly he replied we`ll see u next tuesday and we all know what that means

1066ha.22nd/04/2010
Ron Grimmer came out today to survey our washbasin for the the fourth time and he came in took a long look at it (8 seconds to be exact) and advised us: this is cracked (spot on cause he`s thyeir best) I will arrange for Booker and Best (who broke it) to come and fit a replacement.
I tried phoning him at 4.45 (recorded) and I was told that he was in a meeting, I asked for Darren Goodsell but was told that he was in a meeting,so I asked to speak to Steve Madell but apparently he was in a meeting, not wanting to give up, I asked to speak to Jenny Betts but she was in a meeting so I asked to speak to Jane Porter but unfortunately she was in a meeting but that she would call me back on monday.
Sign our Petition and help us put a stop to this.

1066ha.23rd/04/2010.
I did`nt bother putting this up last night because it did`nt seem significant, but following my phone call yesterday to Amicus Horizon where all I got was "they`re in meetings" I received a callback from a Mr Michael Thompson, it was a bit odd coming from Amicus Horizon because he seemed very helpful and (I thought) genuinely interested and concerned, he said that he would arrange for Darren Goodsell and a manager from Booker and Best to call me today, I told him that I thought that was unlikely to happen but he assured me that it would, anyway I received another call from him this morning asking if either had phoned me, I told him that they had not and he said that he would remind them again. The point of this post is that he tried, I never got a phone call from Darren Goodsell or Booker and Best but it seems that it is possible to speak to someone who is reasonable at Amicus Horizon and not only that but someone who does not believe that having a disability makes you fair game for abuse, so he probably won`t thank me for this but if you need a sensible contact at Amicus Horizon my guess is he would be your best bet.
I don`t really care about Darren Goodsell-Ron Grimmer or John Head much anymore and as for Booker and Best they are just acting silly and the reason I say that is because our video`s have now had thousands of hits and we`ve had dozens of enquiries and the work that Booker and Best continue to throw away by the way they are treating us cannot be helping their business or their reputation. I know enough about business to know that if you lose one customer you actually lose dozens because you lose everyone they speak to and that goes on down the line. As for the Darren Goodsells, my solicitor will expose his behaviour in the end so all I need is patience as far as he is concerned, but not just that, I will pass my law exams and when I do this site will change and I will give a completely free service to any local housing association tenant experiencing problems with their landlord and I don`t mean the first hour, the service we will give will be free from start to end, a few more Mr Thompsons at Amicus Horizon would be a very good investment.

1066ha.24th/04/2010.
I have started putting together Rob and Rachels page concerning their house in Beckley, there are a lot of papers and photographs to go through and as you know if this is not your first visit, I like information on this site to be exact, I do not like errors. In order to get the correct feel of what happened with Rob and Rachel I want to build their page in the same way that Amicus Horizon must have built their house so I am going to put it up in segments, so if it appears at first that the roof has gone up before the footings have gone in (assuming there were footings) it will come together as an Amicus home when I am finished, this might mean that I have to rebuild it but at least that will be a fair similarity and when its finished we`ll pop round to Beckley and get some photo`s of the progress that has been made on the repairs.

25th april 2010 re:Disability Discrimination
Dear Graeme,
Thanks you for getting in touch and for sending me the link, which I have looked at.
It's very worrying if there is disability discrimination towards housing tenants. I was also shocked to see the comments about losing playgrounds because the authorities find park benches easier to maintain!
I hope you will come back to me after May 6th and I will try to help.
Best wishes,
Amber
Amber Rudd

1066ha.26th/04/2010.
We have another inspection/survey to put up with today, this time it is Adult Social Care inspecting me, they are not coming out for us, they are coming out because it has been suggested that they should/could have been doing something to help they just need to cover their own backs, and on that subject most of the comments show how all of this makes life so unpleasant for me but it also has a massive impact on Lisa who`s job as a carer is hard and unpleasant enough sometimes without having to face the difficulties of having no toilet or bathing facilities, no bed! Adult Social Care have been happy for her to cope with that for years and they cannot say that they did`nt know.

1066ha.28th/04/2010

Sorry I have`nt done much the last few days but I have been quite ill, I will catch up on everything over the bank holiday. I`ll start another comments page this one is full, and I will contine with Roberts page as well, I have taken some photo`s of the work Booker and Best have done this week and I suppose in a way some of it`s funny, the new fan in the bathroom is a great example of the quality of their work because it only has one fault. Can you guess?
They forgot the on/off switch.
Apart from that and the location of it, its okay. The one in the kitchen that was`nt so funny, anyway look at the photo`s and see what you think.
We just noticed they turned our freezer off yesterday, Cowboys!

Linda Pxxxxxxxxxxxxx 28th/04/2010
hi my name is linda and i have been fighting with my housing for the last 2yrs to fix my driveway it has a tree at the bottom of it and the roots have lifted most of the slabs i have a son who has autism who never feels safe but we can,t put gates on until the council do there job i am so fed up with these people who m...ake promises about doing something and never following up i pay full rent and full council tax so can anyone tell me my rights in this matter thanks linda