Faced with homelessness

[Lottiesnanny]

I have today received notification that the sale of my house will complete on April Ist

Despite contacting every estate agent with a view to renting a property, I have been unsuccessful ,either They are snapped up really quickly or I have failed the affordability criteria because as soon as I explain to them that I’m a pensioner and do not have a full-time job even though

I will have the equity for my house sale in the bank and I have offered to pay anything up to a year in advance but still with no success .I just don’t tick the appropriate boxes.

I don’t have enough equity to buy another property not even a retirement place

I have applied for shared ownership properties and
again I have failed their strict criteria. It’s soon as I say, I’m a pensioner I fail.

I have been bidding on properties on home link, , as I am a band D which which was se
t by the local housing department of my council ,I am never going to get anywhere on there.
I have no alternative, but to put all my belongings into storage and sleep on my daughters sofa. But there are six adults including me and three children in that house, so they are seriously overcrowded and I am eventually going to outstay my welcome..

I had no choice, but leave my marriage and my home because of my husbands narcissistic, and controlling behaviour, which has left me after several years of torment with post-traumatic stress.
I eventually found the courage to leave, and in my
naivety, I thought that I could rent somewhere but I think I’ve misjudged how competitive the market
is. I can’t go back to work full-time because I care for my mother who has dementia so I am completely stuck. I’m at my wits end with worry.
Do any of you wonderful people have any suggestions?

No advice but just wanted to say you sound lovely and good for you for getting away from the narcissist. I hope you get sorted xx

Would you consider lodging or sharing? You might find someone of a similar age renting a room out and they would most likely have left strict criteria. It could help you in the short term at least?

This sounds stressful, I’m so sorry. could you stay in an air bnb or travelodge rather than your daughter’s sofa if it’s that squashed?
if I were you I would look for a landlord on Facebook and explain your situation : you are far more secure as a tenant than someone who might lose their job . It sounds frustrating and ridiculous that estate agents aren’t more helpful - being a pensioner is a bonus too surely as you might be less likely to throw wild parties!

I have a little bichon dog and all the house shares I have looked at won’t allow pets.
I suppose the sensible thing would be to find somebody to have my dog made, for the interim, but I don’t think I could bear loosing her and she would be beside herself.

If you get within 28 days of actually being homeless it's worth presenting as homeless. That should increase your band and might get your storage funded. They may suggest refuge which might be an option to help you recover. Have you tried places like age UK for support? What is the long term plan for your Mums care? Because if it wasn't for that I would have suggested seeing if you could relocate somewhere cheaper and get a retirement place with any equity that way. But I guess you would be reluctant to relocate your Mum. It may be worth thinking if there is any way to make that work. Lodging temporarily and storage may be a good idea. You might even find someone you really click with

I thought also that I would be quite a safe, bet knowing that I could pay in advance, and how do you say no wild parties it appears not.
I never thought about Airbnb it might be something to look at for the short term.
I did put a ad on Facebook asking for private landlords. I had one reply which turned out to be a scam, which luckily I didn’t fall for, and I went on gumtree and also placed an ad, but I’ve heard nothing from that.

Have you applied to all your local housing associations? Quite a few have properties for people over certain ages which don't have as long a wait.

I have contacted age UK via email a couple of times, but I’ve had no reply, contacted citizens advice who suggested I contact the council again …
I don’t think I could move my mum and it would distress her too much she likes everything to be the same. She doesn’t cope with change too well seems to be fairly common with dementia patients.
She is 84 and other than the dementia. is in quite good health so
I expect my caring responsibilities to be going on for sometime yet.

I think you need to make a pest of yourself. Nothing happens unless you shout loudly. If it were me I’d be contacting my local paper/radio station and say you are literally going to have to sleep on a park bench. Shame these fuckers.

I work in a women’s refuge and would also suggest that you present as homeless to your local authority as they have a duty to assist you, however the housing crisis is so bad at the moment, particularly in London, that we have families leaving our refuge who then spend months in B&Bs or hotels waiting for more suitable properties. We had a woman recently who left her husband of 32 years who we helped to find supported accommodation in an independent retirement community - this might be worth looking into. Anchor Housing is one such provider. If you are separating from your abusive husband now with the sale of your joint house, then refuge may not be appropriate as you are not in danger, but there should be community based services who could support you. If you could give a rough idea of where you’re based I can give you some links to these.

Dogs Trust will help with short-term fostering of your dog until you have a permanent home (some supported housing as mentioned above allow dogs).

Happy to help with further info if it would be useful.

where does your mum live? Can you move in with her?

It’s an option to move in with my mum, but she also only has a tiny one bedroom place so I would still be sleeping on the sofa

You need to make sure the housing dept at your council have knowledge of your full situation, as regardless of your banding you may also separately fall under their criteria of homelessness prevention duty. Housing departments sometimes have other schemes they can put you forward for under this criteria, which are not open to others or particularly publicised. Citizens advice website has excellent guidance on this.
You also need to get advice from a local housing advice specialist - there will probably be support listed in your local council website or ask your GP surgery. A housing specialist will likely be better than Age UK who, though excellent, will not provide you with a housing adviser and this is ideally what you need.

As you're already caring for your Mum, it might make more sense to move in with her right now, rather than squeeze into your DD's overcrowded house. I'm sure she'd understand and you'd be supporting each other.

This would buy you more time to look for a rental - as PP's have said, you'd be an ideal long term tenant, you just need time to find the right place. Good luck.

not sure if someone has said this already as I havent read the whole thread. But the charity Shelter are fantastic - not just for homelessness, but for advice re any housing issue. They really helped me out with landlord issues in the past.

If you will have equity more than allowed £6 000 benefits, council will expect you to rent a room or live with mother. In order to claim benefits you can’t have more than 6k.

It definitely sounds as if staying with your mother is a better option than cramming into your daughter's house. Since you would be sleeping on a sofa in a one-bed you would still be overcrowded.

Has the sale of your existing home been forced by your husband?

Zombie thread!

Have you tried renting a retirement property / sheltered accommodation? not sure where you are in the country, but where I live there are lots of them available to rent. Cheaper then normal market rent, and being retired obviously not an issue. Some of them takes ages to sell, so you may be able to rent one whilst it’s on the market, worth checking with local agents and sheltered accommodation schemes.

I’m on several waiting lists for sheltered housing in my area… lots on rightmove but they are up the other end of the country which isn’t suitable given the care I give to my mother.
I have decided the only option is to move in with my mother and become her full time carer . We are converting her one bed into a two bed in the new year…

That has got to be your fall back position.

Sleeping on a sofa bed must be preferable to sleeping on the streets.

Of course

Have you looked at renting or buying property that is only available to people over a certain age eg 50, 55, 60 etc

I don't know your age, but this could be a solution for you ?

Secondly, have you investigated shared ownership properties to buy or rent ?

Yes, I looked into shared ownership, but you have to earn a certain amount. I’ve only got my pension they don’t take into consideration savings you have, but that would go on the property anyway.
I’ve even thought about buying a caravan, but then pitching fees are quite expensive and you can’t live in it all all year around and there aren’t that many that are residential…
I thought about buying a boat but again, the mooring fees are really expensive and I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to hop on and off boats as my balance isn’t too great …