My friend can't afford her rent. Can anyone help?

[rivery]

My friend is a lone parent to thee children. Boy ages eight, girl aged six, girl aged one.

She has been private renting and the past few years, and her landlord has just put her rent up to an unaffordable amount.

After paying her rent she is now left with only £300 per month to cover everything else, including all bills.

She's been bidding for council homes for a while, but they're like gold dust around here.

Does anyone have any advice at all please? I desperately want to help her.

Was she working before she had the baby? (And if not, why not?)

agree with everyone else that she really does need to work. It’s hard. It really is but we all need to do it.

I think work is her only option I'm afraid, same for many many women who need to work rather than stay home with their kids.

uC will pay 85% of childcare and she may be able to get a loan or discretionary
Payments to get over the initial
Hurdle of paying for childcare up front and waiting on first wage but once she's up and running she'll be far better off!

Funded childcare hours are from 9 months from September for working parents

And she should get 85% of her childcare paid as well

so she does need to look for a job

She can’t just be turfed out on the street so she needs to just pay what she can in rent each month and wait to be evicted and then Made homeless - it could take ages

in her situation though I’d just move to a cheaper area and move schools if she can’t afford it anymore

Could somebody babysit if she got an evening job? Stacking supermarket shelves perhaps or cleaning?

I suggest she contacts her local Citizens Advice to check income is maximised any if there local grants etc
The options are as follows:

1. Go back to work - you're always better off on UC if you work due to 55% income taper and 85% help with childcare costs
2. Claim a DHP to help with rent shortfall. However these aren't guaranteed and are only temporary
3. Move to a cheaper area or smaller property
4. If you end up in rent arrears, make a homelessness application with Council when eviction paperwork received. Council will then potentially offer temporary accommodation. Do NOT leave the property until instructed by Council as they may deem you to be intentionally homeless which ends duty to provide emergency accommodation

Make sure UC know about birth of 3rd child a s there may be more housing element entitlement

Some people don’t have a clue.

The woman has £300 to her name after paying rent. How is she meant to move somewhere cheaper? Where will the bond and deposit come from?

She has three children and left an abusive ex, who contributes fuck all. Unless she is highly skilled, she is likely to go into a minimum wage job. She can’t do any shift work, and even 9-5 will be difficult with having to drop off and collect three children to collect from childcare before it closes. You usually pay childcare upfront and then claim the 85% back, where is the money coming from for the first month for three children?

“Just get a job and move to a cheaper area” is easy enough to say, but as a single parent with no support it is almost impossible to do.

I don’t know what the answer is OP I really don’t, other than cheaper rent through social housing and then being able to get back into work in the long term.

It seems that her best option is staying in her flat and getting a job.

In the meantime, you mention family and friends. Could they help by giving her Tesco vouchers for example until she finds a job? this is an emergency situation and if I had a friend in this position I'd be happy to send her a £50 voucher (for example) every month until she is able to earn an income. If 3-4 people are able to do this she should be able to feed her family.

Otherwise, check food banks. My local council has a 'helping hands' helpline for struggling families.

@LivelyBlake I did wonder what the point of 'family and friends' was. People usually stay near support networks precisely for support. Well OP has posted on MN ... Hmm, nope, doesn't count.

Unfortunately however it doesn't really matter, @DontBiteTheCat is correct about moving costs. But also, most private LL's won't touch her with a bargepole. Not working, 3 kids, not the sort of financial stability they want.

Her only option is temporary accomodation and then council housing. This will bump her higher up the list.

As others have said, apply for discretionary housing payment although this is often only a short term measure, move areas or get a job. Even working a few hours will make her better off due to the Uc work allowance and they will pay 85% towards childcare. Older clearly school aged so only wrap around childcare to pay for. Check whether the council has a household support fund still going for fuel and food vouchers freeing up money for rent.

Could she do any work from home?

Can I ask how you got to £1735 when the OP hasn't given any figures?

Her basic monthly UC award would be £932.93 if she's under 25 or £1014.07 if she's over 25. Plus whatever she gets for housing element. Then £238 child benefit every 4 weeks.

Lol some of this advice is batshit, some of you have clearly never been in this position and it’s fucking obvious and quite irritating actually.

‘Just get a job as a TA’ = yeah you can’t just walk into that, bizarre I know!

‘Just move somewhere cheaper’ & away from all family,friends and her support network as a single mum? OP already said it isn’t a high rent area just her friend is skint so moving won’t help anyway!

She needs to contact the council, tell them her rent has been increased and she can’t afford it. They will either support her to find an affordable private rental or they will tell her to stay put until she receives a section 21, at which point she will have to go down the council again and declare herself and her children as homeless. From there she’ll be put into a b&b/hostel/emergency accommodation. Then she’ll be moved to temporary accommodation and be on the council housing list.

No one can tell her how long, or what she’ll get in the mean time but really it’s her only option. If I were in this position I’d be down the council tomorrow morning.

If family and friends are supportive could they help with childcare to enable her to work?

Yes, I was thinking this too. The OP mentions staying close to friends and family as a reason for not moving to a cheaper area but surely part of the point of staying close to them is having them as a support network.

@LIZS my family are local and supportive (mum, dad and sister) but all work full time. So no 😂 you’re just making up these elderly retired parents with nothing but time in your head!

@LivelyBlake support network doesn’t automatically mean support with childcare.

I googled it . I just thought due to children age she would be over 25 and that’s it showed. But if I’m wrong, I’m sorry.
But the OP has given no area or amount of rent due.

No it doesn't but even if the support network work themselves, they might be willing to babysit the kids of an evening so the mum could do an evening job a few nights a week? I'd do that for my close relatives if they were about to lose their home - because it's an evening, the kids should be in bed for most of the time soot wouldn't be too much of a chore.

she needs to work unfortunately - universal credit will pay upto 85% of all childcare costs, not ideal but it is what it is.

that really is the only way

They pay in arrears.

So how is a woman with £300 to her name after rent supposed to pay the first month of childcare for three children? I imagine if they’re all in full time childcare the bill will be close to £3000.

When she gets a job she can apply to UC to have up to the first 3 months childcare paid upfront with no need to pay it back. This then meant to help her save to take over the payments whilst the 85 percent will be laid-back on arrears. Getting a job is by far her best option.

Sending a hug to your friend.
I get 80% of childcare back from universal credit. It's hard to work it all out but if she can work 22 hours a week she will definitely be better off and it's great for self confidence and sanity! I would be encouraging her to have a look for a part time job.
Its already been mentioned above but a discretionary housing payment or Uc advance would be beneficial to tide her over, good affordable rental property is so hard to find, so if she can stay where she is it will be better.
Keep talking to her and encouraging her, it's never Easy with young children, even harder on your own, but this stage doesn't last forever. Don't forget the value of a chat with a good understanding friend who supports and believed in you. She's lucky to have you.

Can she move to a flat/bedsit?

So how is a woman with £300 to her name after rent supposed to pay the first month of childcare for three children? I imagine if they’re all in full time childcare the bill will be close to £3000.

Utter rubbish. I was a UC work coach until recently when I moved government departments due to the poor/work life balance. By the way I could sleep at night - I know there is hatred for DWP staff on this site. There is a scheme called 'Upfront childcare costs' where UC pay the deposit/retainer etc to the childcare provider. Plus upfront childcare costs. We cover breakfast and after-school clubs too. I was the upfront childcare costs champion in my jobcentre. We asked to see proof of employment (contract or email from employer). We would pay the childcare provider directly. This could be a nursery, childminder, tutoring service etc as long as they were Ofsted registered. When I left they had created a 'buffer' so they paid an additional month. Also, I was on good-terms with all the local childcare providers and an email from my DWP work email would ensure they were good for the money.

Also, there is a flexible support fund - we can pay for haircuts, interview clothes, travel for the first month of employment etc.

Your mate needs to work.

Two are school age.