In thinking that living in a B&B with two kids is going to be a nightmare?

[CharlieUniformNovemberTango]

I know I'm being unreasonable. I know there are people is worse situations but I need to get all of this out in the hope I'll sleep tonight if I offload and maybe even hear something positive from people who have done it before.

I have posted before under a different name (AllShiney) but this name better matches my mood :)

The gist is that I was served notice. I now have 18 days left and I still have not found anywhere to go. It's a combination of private rents being too high, no one taking people who recieve housing benefit, not having a UK based gaurentaur.

I have rung over 100 agencies. I have been in touch with shelter and a local housing charity. It's hopeless :(

I'm on the council list and bidding but I am low band only in need of an extra bedroom as per their assessment at the moment. They have advised that if I leave when my notice is over I am making myself intentionally homeless and they will not prioritise our needs. I basically have to stay and be evicted through the court before I am a priority.

Then I will 'most definately' be put into temporary accommodation which would be a B&B. They 'might' be able to offer me storage for my belongings at a reduced rate. However, they won't know this for certain until the day I approach them with my homeless application. That is the day that the bailiffs will evict me so I would have to leave the furniture behind as opposed to selling it if I had some notice.

Please don't get me wrong, I am gratefull we won't be on the streets but the whole situation is so stressful :(

I have an 11 yo and a 3 yo. The thought of staying in one room for months is daunting. I'm just visualising me sat in the dark from 8pm. Not even sure I'll have MN as I won't have my WiFi.

Also, the council women today said they will try to pu me in a food friendly b&b. When I asked what that meant she said some of the places they use don't allow any hit food in the room. You have to eat out for every meal. I was hoping I could pickup a cheap microwave and use that :(

It's going to be hell isn't it?

good luck

Good luck Charlie, Now you are squatting can you go up to a higher band today?

Good luck Charlie. I'm sure it'll turn out fine for you at some point and you'll have a home to call your own. Not sure how old your kids are but seeing a mother making the most of things and keeping it together and trying to do it with a smile will stand them in good stead for their adult years. I think you're amazing. All the very best.

On the never ending holding que with the LA but just wanted to say thanks everyone!

Hopefully it won't be too much longer. Distracting ds with snack but that only works for so long :)

I too have been in your shoes - was all set to go into a hostel with dh and 3 dcs but was housed with just 3 days before the s21 expired.

The system is hell, having to stay until the bailliffs come, having to "prove" you have nowhere to go and worrying about all the situations where the council can find you have made yourself "intentionally" homeless.

Have you told the council that you are waiting for surgery as this should give you extra priority.

You sound like you are being very pragmatic and please remember that even if you end up in temp accommodation it won't be forever and some of them are rather nice.

Thanks :)

Just been told I'm not even allowed to talk to my allocated housing officer until the bailiffs warrant is issued. That may take a week depending on how quick the landlord files the paper work. I thought I may get to speak to someone but they won't even put me through.

No one will explain anything to me. No one will even give me rough timetables etc. it just feels like we've been abandoned.

I know they are busy but all I wanted was 5 minutes to get some answers about storage and what will actually happen on the day.

I feel stuck now. Almost finished with packing up the house but i can't book a van etc as I have no idea of when. Hoping they will give me enough notice to organise a driver at least :(

I really really hate this not knowing :(

I didn't know where I was going until the day I had to leave too.

I stored my furniture in a relatives house and garage.

It's so horrid not knowing.

((((hugs)))

Got my fingers crossed for you Charlie. I'm feeling so angry towards the LA on your behalf!

Still no news today - not that I was expecting it really. I had thought the agents might be in touch but not yet.

I just wanted to say a very huge thank you to everyone here supporting me. I've had some really lovely pms offering practical help and much needed cuppas too!

I do appreciate it. You have no idea how helpful reading the happy ending stories have been. And just knowing that I am not alone and that people are sending out good vibes has been a great comfort.

I pity the next person to brand MN as a nest of vipers to my face ;)

OMG - they won't talk to you?

If your existing property is through a letting agent they will probably know the timescales for your area. Also ask them to keep you informed as to when the ll files his papers and to let you know as soon as they find out what date the bailliffs are due.

My friend has recently went through this too and she had around 10 days notice of the baillifs coming because the la kept her in the loop which made things run smoother for everyone involved.

Sb- sadly the agents are not interested in helping us out in any way it seems. I've left messages asking if the paperwork has been filed yet but had no answer yet.

I know I have to wait.

I'm resigned to that. I just don't think it would have hurt my allocated officer if he'd spent 5 minutes confirming the rough outline of how things will run. They literally won't talk to me until I have the bailiffs warrant.

But there's no point stressing about that. I can do nothing to change anything right now. I'm just making sure I'm ready to go and keeping calm for the kids. That's all I can do.

If either of my brothers was in your situation, I'd put them up. Not rub it in. How awful of your sister to do that. I was going to ask if you had thought of approaching the landlord, explaining the situation and asking him if he would write you an eviction letter. Someone else said that it could be construed by HA as having become intentionally homeless. What a dreadful Catch 22 - don't pay the rent, get evicted and what LL will want to take you on in future? It's ridiculous. Do you know another single mum that you could share with? Surely there are informal organizations which arrange something like this?

Hi mimi.

It's a difficult situation. My family just think I'll do my usual coping with things and they are always wrapped up in their own lives which is usually fine. But this time I did expect some more support.

I am paying rent though. The LL will be getting every penny owed. It's not down to the agent to write a letter. It has to be a court order now. That is the only way the local authority will give me priority.

I

Just wanted to update that there is no update

Still waiting for the bailiffs warrent to be served.

I think the papers were filed with the court on Tuesday last week. I was told they take about a week to go through so I'm expecting it any day from now really.

Then I will have a maximum of 2 weeks before the council find me somewhere. It will depend on what they have ready.

The house is packed and ready to go. Just needs a good clean. The bags are ready for the possible b&b. Just stuff we are still wearing using to get packed at the last minute. I'm feeling on top of it all now! Could have done with some help with babysitting tbh but I'm proud I've managed this much.

Just fretting about the van and getting one at short notice. Also not sure I will have a driver as the maximum time comes the week of my brothers wedding so my SIL is obviously busy!

Also worrying about moving on the wedding day or the next two days when I'm watching my nephew for them. I won't be able to say its not convenient to the council!

DS is complaining about the boxes. Or more specifically not being allowed to climb on them!

DD is concerned about where we will be in relation to her school and friends but I have no clue so can't reassure her :(

I'm worrying about money too. Being a bridesmaid and getting the kids sorted is costing me a small fortune. I am so looking forward to the wedding but the costs and timings are causing me serious headaches :)

Thanks for the update, its good when the OP keeps letting you know whats going on.

It has come at a bad time hasn't it. We have just moved from one council house to another and we knew it was coming for months, but we were giving a date to move 3 days in advance so we hired out a van with only a days notice and we had no problem there, though as it was me driving we didnt have to find a driver. Have you thought about a removal company? They will be able to do the moving and driving for you, though Im not sure about how much notice you need for those. Also someone else told me that when they were offered their council flat as they were on benefits the council arranged the moving for them, is that an option for you?

Regarding money, are you on benefits? you can get a budgeting loan if you are on certain benefits which you pay back through your benefits. We got one for £500 in order to pay for the van we hired out. Although it took about 3 weeks to get the money once we had applied for it, but we were ok with that as we knew then that it would be a few weeks before we were moving so maybe if you go into the job center it might be able to get through quicker. You can also negotiate how much you pay back when.

These things will work themselves out. they always do, but it is hard not to worry. You should be proud though of all you have achieved up till now. You are ready to just leave which is more than other people I bet so thats something to feel good about.

Good luck over the next couple of days, hope it all works out for you.

I really really hate posting without reading the whole thread in case I cross post but I really dont have time and I wanted to share my experience in case it may help.

When my DCs were 4&5 we were evicted. We were paying our rent but the landlord was not paying his rent IYSWIM (we were stupid and young and did not know he was subletting.)

Anyway the council refused to speak to me until the actual day I was evicted, other than to tell me when I was evicted they would provide a b&b.
On the day before the eviction I found out if I didn't move my things the council would pay for storage (don't know of that still applies)

So bailiffs came, we went to the council to get b&b, I was dreading it.
However I was pleasantly surprised

I was told as my DCs were at school in the area they would find me a place still in this area so as not to disrupt their school.
They also said as they were older, we would get a self contained b&b so basically we had a ground floor flat. The owner used to come by on Monday's with a bag of cereal, milk, eggs, bread and tea (breakfast!) and we had to sign a sheet every day to say we had stayed there.

AFAIK they will make an effort to keep you in the same area for school and also I know a few other people with older DCs who have the self contained option rather than an actual b&b

Just wanted to say it might not be as bad as you think?

fartblossom I am getting all my benefits as far as I can see. It's quite a new claim as I was self employed before.

I'm not sure what we will do about the driver - hopefully the timings will work out.

tantrums. Thanks for the positive story :) they have really helped keep me hopeful through this whole thing.

I hope they try and keep us local but we have a very very good bus system here so I think they will just telle to rely on that tbh.

Today I finally got confirmation from the agent that things are moving ahead. I had expected the warrant to be here today and when it wasn't I asked them to confirm they had filed the paperwork with the court.

They said they had instructed to solicitor to seek possession and that the court would be in touch in the very near future

I k ow it sounds odd but I was relieved to hear that. It's been a bit weird waiting in limbo but at least now I know that we really are nearing the point of the council helping us. I had a little panic that he might have decided to let us stay. It wouldn't be such a bad thing of course but we are all packed and I'd hate for all this stress to be for nothing.

So it shouldn't be long now. Any day really.

DD is away this weekend at a festival with a friend and I was hoping it would be then so she could be spared the upheaval of it and the stress. My dad is visiting from Wednesday next week for the wedding so hopefully he can keep her occupied. He lives abroad and she adores him so the distraction will be great. DS will go to my mum as he's not seen my dad since he was 1 and shy around strangers.

I really have busied myself thinking of all the silly little details to make me feel a bit more in control

not admitting to the lists of meals I can do categorised by the possible kitchen facilities available

I'm not sure if anyone I still reading this but if you are can I just say "AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU FUCKERS!"

I am. What happened?

I am, what happened??

Oh dear, don't like the sound of that! didn't post before as nothing useful to say but was watching/lurking that sounds bad you know what i mean

They are claiming that the initial notice that they issued was wrong.

The have just given me a new one expiring 21 st August.

So, am I happy because I get a few more months or pissed off because it's a few more months of feeling this hanging over me?

Who the hell knows.

I think they threatened the section 21 as a way to test if I would pay more.

All along they kept saying they maybe able to talk the owner around etc etc and when I didn't bite and offer more (because I can't afford it) they let the section 21 stand.

I got in touch yesterday asking if they had gone to court and they confirmed they had.

Then today I'm told no, the solicitor won't take it to court because the date is wrong.

When I ask why they confirmed yesterday they back tracked and said the solicitor had filed with the court but withdrew it once they realised the mistake.

They are just fucking me about!

sorry to hear that, but looking on the bright side at least you wont be expected to move over your sisters wedding.

Id be annoyed at having everything ready so early. Are you going to be living out of boxes then? Id be more annoyed than not, but for now I would just relax for a while, not much more you can do really.

I wish I had something more usefull to say.

My entire house is packed.

I have barely slept over this and held my sobbing daughter more times then I can count and it just seems like all that heartache was for nothing. I just want it over with. I just wanted to be that one step closer to being settles and providing for my children :(