Great-gran 'rushed' into £2,000 house move

A GREAT-grandmother initially given two weeks to move house by the States has been saddled with four-figure bills.

The 79-year-old, who asked not to be named, lived in her States home for more than 15 years.

She received a letter from the Housing Department at the beginning of September asking her to view a flat in the new Hougue a la Perre estate, Grand Bouet.

Within a week she was asked to accept the tenancy and was expected to move within just 11 days. After relatives stepped in, however, the woman was given three weeks from viewing to moving in.

The department insists it has acted within guidelines.

Nevertheless, the woman's family is outraged. A daughter acting as spokesman said: 'I can understand the Housing Department wanting to free up three-bedroomed properties for families and I am pleased that they have new purpose-built blocks to rehouse people.

'But I just cannot get my head around the way they work the system.'

The States told the OAP she had to buy her own carpets and curtain fittings for the new flat, which cost her £2,000, and remove floor coverings from her old home.

As a result, the pensioner moved in such a hurry that she did not have time to organise a phone connection.

Her daughter said her mother was lucky to have the support of her family, or the upheaval could have had terrible consequences had she been on her own.

A Housing spokesman said: 'The department writes to the tenant as soon as a suitable property becomes available and invites them to view it.

'The viewing usually takes place within a week. If they accept the property - and there are certain circumstances where they can turn it down - they are given an average of one to two weeks to organise removals etc.