A DISABLED council tenant who needs round-the-clock care from her sons is set to lose her home because she is “not ill enough”.

Lana Swan, 57, from Plaistow Close, Whitehawk, Brigghton, has been told she must give up her three-bedroom terraced house for a one-bedroom property after housing officers decided her medical condition did not count as “extremely serious”.

Mrs Swan, whose younger son is a registered full-time carer, can only walk short distances due to arthritis and suffers from agoraphobia and chronic anxiety.

But a letter sent by city council letting scheme Homemove and seen by The Argus said she did not meet the criteria for an extra allocation of bedrooms.

The letter, dated January 5, said successful applicants either had to have “severe behavioural issues” or present a “high risk” to other occupants.

Sister Carole Thompson, 54, who is appealing against the decision, said council workers had shown the family “not an ounce of humanity”.

“All they are concerned about is getting this property,” she told The Argus.

“They’re not interested in her health. She can hardly get up out of her chair.

“I feel as if they’re discriminating against her. Mental health is an invisible disability and it should be recognised but they’re not doing that.”

She said her sister had made suicide threats since getting the rejection letter, leaving her son reluctant to leave her alone in the house to go shopping.

Mrs Swan moved into her current house to be with her father but after he died last May the council sent a series of demands for evidence proving she needed 24-hour care.

The family was even asked to prove Mrs Swan’s sons were related to her.

Mrs Thompson says the family complied with the last of these requests in the autumn but didn’t hear their application had failed until this month.

She said they had originally been led to believe the assurances they had provided would be enough.

Mrs Swan used to work as a shop assistant but had to give up her job seven years ago after her mental health deteriorated.

Her sister said: “She’s my best friend and soulmate, and I’m not going to give up on her.”

Kemptown and Peacehaven MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has formally appealed against the council’s proposal.

He said: “There are some issues that the council hasn’t quite taken on board.

“We are working hard to find a solution, whether that means Mrs Swan staying where she is now or moving somewhere better suited.”

A council spokesman said data protection concerns prevented them making any specific comment on Mrs Swan’s case.

He added: “The decisions we take relating to tenancy issues are made on the basis of agreed local policies, such as those detailed in our tenant handbook, as well as national law.

“With regard to medical issues, we take into account all the written medical evidence that is submitted to us.”