As your landlord, we want to do everything we can to make sure you’re safe and supported in your home – safeguarding is at the heart of our commitment.
Recently our Tenancy Services Officer, Rachel, was able to support a vulnerable tenant to leave an unsafe situation, after spotting concerns for his safety and wellbeing.
*Tenants name has been changed for anonymity
Noticing a problem
Mr Jackson’s neighbours made a complaint that there was constant noise coming from his home. People were regularly coming in and out, and they suspected drugs were involved. This report was originally assigned to another member of our Tenancy Services team as anti-social behaviour (ASB); however it was after the case was later reassigned to Rachel that it was identified as a safeguarding concern.
After some further investigation into the issues, Rachel found that Mr Jackson was living in poor conditions and his home had been taken over by strangers he didn’t know, who were using his home to sleep and take drugs. It was then confirmed that Mr Jackson was a victim of cuckooing.
Cuckooing is where vulnerable individuals are being targeted by fraudsters to use their home for criminal activity. You can find more information about cuckooing, here.
How we helped Mr Jackson
Rachel raised an immediate referral so Mr Jackson could be assigned an adult social care worker. They could then do a full care assessment to understand what additional support he would need. Mr Jackson is also a wheelchair user, so we wanted to organise a transfer into a home which was adapted for his needs.
After several visits to Mr Jackson and working closely with social services to safeguard his welfare, we were able to raise a new referral for aids and adaptations support and move Mr Jackson into a new home. This had to be done very carefully so that we didn’t alert the fraudsters, who we believed could cause trouble if they knew they were losing access to his home.
We were able to quickly and quietly move Mr Jackson, so he could live independently - and feel safe and comfortable in his own home again.
Mr Jackson’s reaction
In less than 2 months, Mr Jackson has been able to turn his life around and told us he’s really grateful for the support he received.
“I cannot thank Rachel enough, that she was able to change my life. I can see my family now, they couldn't see me before, and I was missing out on my grandkids growing up, now they come and spend the day with me.”
We’ve since noticed that Mr Jackson’s health has improved and he’s happy and comfortable in his new home, with a new lease of life. Rachel continues to check in on Mr Jackson with regular calls, to make sure he has all the support he needs.
We understand that sometimes these situations can become overwhelming and feel impossible to get out of. We’re here to help so if you have concerns about your own wellbeing, or the wellbeing of any of our tenants, please give us a call on 0345 60 20 540.
