Family living in a car

[BlueBug444]

I hope I've got the wrong end of the stick completely - but I think I need to report this to social services and I don't know where to begin. Do I just ring the council and they will put me through to social services?

I walk my Dog through a park most mornings and afternoons/evenings. On the carpark there's a car that's been there for several weeks. At first I thought it had been abandoned then I saw a dog in it one morning. Having kept an eye on it for the last few weeks it seems there's a couple with a young girl (maybe 10 or 11 years old) living in it + at least two dogs and some birds in a cage. I've seen the girl wandering round the park during the day several times now. Usually on her own - then she goes back to the car. It never seems to leave the carpark or be driven anywhere. I heard the man shouting at the woman the other day that "this was is it now and at least we're not on the streets". I feel awful for them that they have seemingly been driven to such desperate measures

You'd make your child live in car because of some pets? Are you mad???

So why would they house you if you stayed with family and were able to rent privately?

At what point were you "homeless"?

People are mad. Why would you choose that life for you and your pet? Over sending them to a warm safe home?

It's obvious that it's wrong for a child to be living in a car. Please report it. Maybe they can be offered some accommodation.

If the child is not in school, she is at risk.

I rang social services this morning and they are planning to do a welfare check on them asap.

Happy to hear you have done that.

oh thank goodness - right thing OP

I do wonder what people here think SS will provide to anyone who is without accommodation.

No it's not a nice little flat somewhere near the child's school (assuming they were attending). And no it is incredibly unlikely they would be allowed to keep their pets.

It's likely to be the worst sort of cheap hotel room without enough room for more than 1 change of clothes and the toilet and shower and kitchen (if you are lucky) are down the hall and shared with druggies, ex offenders and people with an assortment of mental health issues. Expect to be harassed, offered drugs in exchange for your daughter, and kept up all night be banging and screaming. And expect to be moved every few weeks to something even cheaper and nastier.

Oh and all your possessions which are in your car? Well good luck with them as the car will likely need to be left on the street somewhere and be vandalised and ransacked for anything of value.

You don't like this accommodation? Fine move to a different place and be back down the bottom of a very long list of people in similar situations. Don't forget that you can't apply for jobs, maintain a bank account easily, deal with benefits or even your housing situation as you have no permanent address, no computer, working smart phone or anyway to communicate with those who used to be friends who may have been willing to help in some small way.

No I don't think this family's situation is good in any sense and I hope that calling SS will help.

To be accurate it would be housing needs who would interview the family and if the applicant was eligible, homeless and in priority need provide accommodation, which would quite likely be a pretty rubbish hotel. If the family aren't eligible then they would be offered nothing, but I did do referrals to social services in that case. Occasionally they would find a short time in a hotel to enable the person try to rectify the situation.

💐

Well
it strikes me that a hotel room with heating and a loo and kettle is a step up from a car

you've done the right thing OP and thanks for updating us

Try Streetlink the charity. They will be able to advised you.

I’d get the reg number and report to police via 101. They can do a welfare check and refer to
social services if they feel it necessary.

Oops didn’t read the whole
thread. Well done OP
you have done the right thing.

Well done.

Let's hope that they get themselves sorted with some help.

Because I was sleeping in a relatives living room for half a year with a newborn and family helped with deposit. Why shouldn't they help?

@Ballycastle so you weren’t homeless. If your family refused to help you then the council would’ve had a duty to house you and your newborn. Yes, you didn’t have your own place and it’s less than ideal but as far as the council know you are staying with family. If that family had stated that they could no longer have you in their living room, you would have 100% be put in emergency accommodation by the council (which is likely to have been much worse than your family’s living room) and been put into a higher council housing / association banding.

Because you had somewhere safe to live and people giving you money so you can live on your own...

This isn’t the sort of thing you can just turn a blind eye too - not with a little girl involved.

Did you miss the part where I was initially sofa surfing with a newborn?? 🤔

Even though sofa surfing isn't ideal you still had a roof over your head. If you were living on the streets you'd be ho.eless.

@Ballycastle did you go to the council? Why exactly did they reject your homeless application? Like myself and others have said, living in family living room is less than ideal but did you know that many families use the living room as a bedroom and that some families have multi generational family members sleeping in same room and some on bunk beds. Yea, a crappy living situation and not a great quality of life but they’re not homeless.

You didn't need the council to house you... Yes it would have been nice perhaps, and yes, it wasn't ideal with a newborn. But you were housed and safe and with family, who also helped you financially to move to rented accommodation.

I'm not privy to why you had a baby whilst homeless for 7 years, but you clearly didn't need them to house you in all that time either...

You'd put your pet above the welfare of your child?