To ask what you’d do in this dire situation?

but if it does average 55-60 hours a week total…. your second job can’t be paying you min wage

if you earn £27k for 60 hours a week op

you aren’t being paid anywhere close to minimum wage

Look at North East. I currently pay £550 for a very large 2 bed flat. Country Durham is even cheaper. Close to Newcastle/Durham/Sunderland for work.
Regarding furniture, scour marketplace and gumtree. I got a lot of furniture for free or very cheap. Only thing I bought new was the dc beds and our mattresses. Van hires you can get rather cheap. I paid £70 for the weekend when I moved earlier this year. All the best 😊

Also- I used bags for life and boxes from local supermarkets. Grab a couple every time you're on the walk home and you'll be grand x

As you WFH can you make your move to a cheaper part of the country straight away. Rents in the north can be easily less than half what they are in the SE so you could presumably drastically reduce your current rent costs? You could even move into a temporary house share to make it even cheaper - even if that is for a short while whilst you save up before moving somewhere longer-term?

Hi Op- go and see the housing team at your local council and explain to them what's going on.
They won't help "house" you but they will have internal funds to prevent homelessness (which you will be because you can't afford the rent) which you may be able to access to help with moving costs etc. They are desperate to keep people in private rented accommodation and off social housing waiting lists (and out of emergency/temporary accommodation/on streets). They will be able to help form a personalised housing plan and may even have details of someone who can help in the south West.

Also- dont worry about furniture or cleaners in. I furnished my entire house nearly for free when i moved in on fb marketplace (and subsequent places) and always cleaned it myself. Super easy 😊
Good luck x

@ReallyStuck2024 …a tip for furniture when you get to Devon (and I know you will, your determination shines through.) There is an amazing place in Axminster called ‘The Recycling Shop.’ Fantastic quality second hand furniture, great value and they deliver too - I don’t know how much they charge distance wise.

There’ll be other places like this, people are always binning perfectly good furniture, and Devon has many auction houses that also deliver.

So don’t worry about furniture, just get yourself there. Longer term rentals on Airbnb, especially at this time of year, have some great discounts. I did this for a few months in France!

Good luck!

in the past I have moved and then used the boxes as stop gap side tables and shelves. To start you need a place to sleep and a table/desk and chair that can be used for eating, working, and anything else.

@worriedhidinginplainsight has given some very sound advice. Also I'd like the council to be aware of what your landlord is doing. Those rises don't sound correct to me - some councils are investigating landlords for fraud and other shortcomings. Think if he's done anything else you think is suspect. He's about to become £1800 a month better off. It's immoral even if not illegal

You can have boxes shipped to your new address too OP
Pickfords seems to do it but I'm sure others do too - then you could pack all your stuff into boxes, and just take a suitcase of essentials on the train?

https://www.pickfords.co.uk/international-baggage-services?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6t-6BhA3EiwAltRFGHseEZZjkKyeUBaaPVWp8VtVKUlHMpGPWx3gZFIWpLjlgrTRObZF7xoCffYQAvD_BwE

and if you despised the “”respected” ha letting agent” so much,,,, why didn’t you leave?

the agent works for you and was advising their client that their property substantially below market value. What you did with that i info was your prerogative

Don't panic!
Has your current landlord put your deposit into a deposit protection scheme or not? Has he told you which scheme he's placed your deposit into?

If so, he will have to pay it back, as long as the place is left clean. This is something you can do yourself (yes, even the oven and the carpet) without it costing too much. Take photos to to prove that it's at least as clean as when you moved in. Remember that he can't charge you for 'reasonable wear and tear'.

If he hasn't followed the rules about using a proper deposit protection scheme, and informing you of the details, he is liable to pay you compensation (and unless he settles before it goes to court, the court costs as well). He won't be able to issue a Section 21 notice to evict you, even if you withhold your rent.

Shelter can explain all of this to you and advise you how to make a claim. See https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_rules

If you have family in Devon, and part of the reason you're moving to that area if for support (for you or for your family members) you may be eligible for help from a local council on bidding for a housing association/ council property, but if not, at least private rented flats may be about half of what you're paying right now. And charity shops and other second-hand furniture places usually offer delivery, for an extra £10-30 depending on the distance.
Good luck!

another way to move stuff is boxes on a pallet ( you can pick them up for free on any trading estate) a standard pallet is 100x120cm and can be packed up to 120 or even higher, this will easily take 12-16 of those big document boxes lawyers and accountants use ( boxes are strong enough for 12-15kg each) pack your stuff in boxes on the day of collection put pallet ready for collection load on boxes wrap in two or three boxes of clingfilm round and round and round then attach courier label it can be upto 500kg and will cost less than £100
you can get an awful lot of stuff into an estate car with seats folded down as well;
hire at 8am load everything by 10 drive there by 1 just empty everything and have it back by 5pm
take video footage make sure date is on it of how clean it is at end of tenancy
good photos of oven etc

OP I think others have suggested it but have you actually looked on spareroom.co.uk, and played around with the search filters? A lot of the rooms are fully furnished, have no deposit required and no minimum term - you can set all the filters to only include what you're looking for.

I'm based in the SW but my work requires me to regularly relocate within the UK for specific projects that might last a couple of months or so, and I've easily found decent places to stay in Woking, Luton and central London through spareroom - none of them required a deposit and all were furnished etc (two even provided clean bedding weekly!) for around £5-700 pcm inclusive of bills. Worth a look as a stopgap until you find yourself something more permanent?

Our very "respected" (ha!) lettings agent said we were undercharging our tenants and that they would tell them the rent was going up by 30% and if they didn't like it could get rid of them and get new tenants in.
I did not hold back in telling them that £150 increase was the maximum i would agree too and if they attempted to turf out the tenants then i would find new agents.
OP, a good tenant is worth their weight to a good landlord. The landlord will end up with all 4 units empty at the same time, which is something they should want to avoid.

I think I’d buy a motor home or rent a caravan

Lots of holiday cottages look for a renter to stay a few months over winter for less rent. They are advertised or asked for on Facebook in my area

I've just searched hotels Surrey for 1st-2nd Jan and set the bar to €0-€50 (I'm in Eurozone).

About 4 travel lodges came back as €30 per night (would be less in sterling) and another 4 in the below €40 bracket.

Yeah but if it's £50 a night that's £1500 a month no bills.
If it's £40 a night it's £1200 no bills etc
No deposit, leave when you want.
Hotels might do lower rates for longer stays.