Amy is a mother of two boys: Alfie and Jack. The oldest is Alfie and he has low functioning autism. They live in a lovely Dalkeith home along with Amy’s husband/dad and Nico the cat. However, previous to living in this house they had been privately renting a flat close to Edinburgh city centre. The family’s living situation was not ideal: the high rent prices, no central heating, damaged windows, the never-ending dampness in the bathroom and most importantly the limited space available for Alfie to feel comfortable in. Both Amy and her husband decided it was time to move but with her being a full-time carer and him having a full-time job, they did not know what housing options were available to them.
At first, they thought the only option would be to apply for a council house and so they sought help from a charity. It was this charity that referred them to Housing Options Scotland for special guidance on re-homing when someone in the family has a disability and has additional support needs. Amy got in touch with us through email and received a reply within four weeks from Olivia Lindsay – Senior Broker at HOS. After enquiring a little bit more regarding the family’s financial situation and housing specifications, a profile was built with all the available housing options they could pursue. Amy was pleasantly shocked at the various options her family had available and they decided to buy a house through the LIFT scheme. The LIFT scheme was ideal for the family since the cost of buying a new home would be shared 60-40 between the buyers and the Scottish Government respectively. Having made the decision, Olivia got Amy in touch with a financial adviser who helped her through making the deposit of her new house all the way to sorting out the mortgage.
When looking for her new home, Amy knew she wanted a house that would be in a safe and secure area for Alfie to grow up in. To her surprise, she did not have to do much house searching before finding her family’s right house, in the right place. Dalkeith was the right place for them to live in because it is a quiet suburban family area with a local nursery for Jack and primary school for Alfie that supports children with additional learning needs. Their home itself is very commodious with 3-bedrooms, a fenced garden and a spacious upstairs bathroom. As it was their own home, the family adapted a few things in the house including soundproofing Alfie’s room wall shared with the neighbours. The whole family loves the new house: Amy and her husband can now display their impressive collection of film and TV memorabilia, Jack has more space to play with cars and dinosaurs, and even though Nico the cat does get lost sometimes, he loves having the space to roam about.
“It’s nice to know that you’ve got options; you are not always well-informed”
Amy on HOS