What happens when we are evicted?

[bubblerunner]

Please help! Our landlord is selling but there is nothing at all on the market that we can afford to rent. We get a small amount of universal credit so that also puts off many landlords. We’ve been looking but it’s hopeless. We live in Surrey so it’s a very expensive part of the world and moving away is not possible due to work. Trust me when I saw we have exhausted all options of renting or buying.

My elderly dad suggested moving in with him but that would mean moving to rural Wales to a place with no jobs and no hope of ever getting our own place.

Does anyone know what happens when we are evicted? We have three children but all older teen / young adults. One is disabled.

I would contact Shelter. They are very good at advice for this sort of thing.

Contact your local authority. Legally they have to give you advice and come up with a plan to assist you.

Have you spoken to the local authority and put yourself on the housing list?

Have you made a homeless application to your local authority housing department? You need to do that and they will advise you. When you have an eviction date essentially you need to prepare by getting some storage and moving most of your belongings (sell or give away anything you don't need) and keep suitcases worth of things. Hopefully you'll be offered emergency accommodation in your local area though you may have to accept somewhere in a neighbouring area. Do you drive? You'll be assessed for what they call 'main duty' which is whether the housing department has a duty to help you find long term accommodation. In the meantime you need to keep looking for somewhere in the private sector. But if you can't, they will help you find long term temporary accommodation or private rental through one of their landlord contacts. They will aim to help you find somewhere in your home area but it can't be guaranteed.

@bubblerunner First of all have you received valid legal notice like a S21? If you haven’t then do nothing. The landlord has to follow the legal processes unless he’s selling with a tenant in situ. If you have received legal notice make a homeless application with your local council. They’ll probably advise to remain in the property until baliffs arrive. After that you’ll be given emergency accommodation with is usually hotel style and unfortunately can be anywhere. You’ll be expected to look for private accommodation if it’s deemed affordable. You could spend years in temporary accommodation. There is no guarantee of social housing. This link explains it well.

assets.ctfassets.net/6sxvmndnpn0s/6lRyIn7E9AgzFX0vtCrvL8/4f9dbc50029cac5e3dc83bd1b17eccaf/Factsheet_-_applying_as_homeless_flowchart_April_2021.pdf

I’m so sorry😥 i’m not up to date with law but I though they can’t reject now because of benefits? Same with pets? I really feel for you, because if it happened to me, I’d be in the same situation. Big hugs

When there are so many applicants they just pick the ‘best’ one.

In my area (London Borough) they would help rehouse you but it would likely be away from here - they send a lot of people to the Mdlands and up north as there are no affordable houses here either and very few council homes.

That said, as the parent of a disabled child (if under 18) you will have higher priority on any available local housing / council & HA properties than many other families.

Long term though, if you can't afford to live where you are, maybe it would be better to establish a new life somewhere you can. Maybe not rural Wales, but you would save a lot of money moving somewhere other than pricey Surrey. Does your industry exist out of London?

Long term though, if you can't afford to live where you are, maybe it would be better to establish a new life somewhere you can. Maybe not rural Wales, but you would save a lot of money moving somewhere other than pricey Surrey. Does your industry exist out of London?

Agreed, nobody is really entitled to housing in an area they "need" to live in. People move entire countries or continents in order to find better lives. Moving to Wales is obviously an answer to the title of the thread. It would also be weird to assume there are "no homes or jobs at all" in Wales, since people live there? Every village has businesses and presumably there's internet as well.

Another obvious option is that the young adult children move out and live on their own? Then you can downsize to a cheaper and smaller place. Same for late teens...if it's 18 or 19 then that's more than old enough to find their own place. (This is excluding the one disabled child obviously)

You can’t afford to live in Surrey, so you need to move. It really is that simple.

The new tenancy law starts from May and not earlier. So benefits in theory won't put off landlords from then.

I doubt housing would help before bailiff stage in the Surrey region.

The local authority may well consider the children separately. If they are all 18+, even if disabled (depending on needs), they won't necessarily see you as needing to be housed together. Brutal as that sounds, the rules around the housing lists are so tight.

The older teens/adults, are they working to contribute?
what job roles are you all in? I do think moving in with dad and all who can work taking on any form of work to collectively save for some time will give more options

I never really understand these posts - you can’t afford where you live therefore you have to move or take on additional work? what other choice do you have? Are you a 2 adult household both working full time and maximising your incomes? (9/10 there is then a reply saying one doesn’t work / one is part time and so on)

One working full time. The other full time carer for our disabled child. Two older children at university. Both of us have “side hussles”. We work so hard we barely have time for anything else. Yet still we can’t afford rent.

That’s actually quite worrying, but good to know so thanks for the heads up on this.

This is really useful advice. Thank you

Yes. They use an estate agent so all done legally. Thanks for the link.

The poster who recommends Shelter on every housing thread 🤣. They are the ones who have caused this! “They’re really very good”. Yeah, at shouting their mouths off whilst providing precisely zero “shelter”.

OP you clearly need to move to wales!

If two are at University can the carer parent temporarily move to Wales with the disabled DC while the FT employed parent stays and rents a small place while looking for work in a cheaper area? The Uni kids will have to stay in Wales during holidays.

Obviously this is not ideal but if you are facing homelessness I think you’ll have to make sacrifices.

Where in Wales? It would make a huge difference. Friends of mine moved both to chepstow (good commute to Bristol and properties so much cheaper) one just outside Cardiff. The only issue with moving in with your dad is the LA will also drag its feet then it would be down to your dad to evict you.
You would be fairly high on the housing list, and a disabled child comes under differing rules and would be considered as part of the household until they are 25years. However after that they would be considered on their own merits, fortunately having family support would be a justified reason to keep them nearby but there would be an individual assessment on your disabled child. The youngsters at uni would have to apply on their own merits but it would be likely no housing duty would be owed. The outlook is pretty grim, and by nature of my work I'm involved a lot with housing matters. A family friend who's relationship with her husband broke up a year ago had two children she had adopted who both have additional needs. She was rehomed quickly. If your homeless you would be expected to accept the first suitable property that becomes available.