to think that this is not going to end well

[JoanBias]

Have been trying to support my friend to leave her abusive husband. She is staying with us atm.

She has a friend who is in the UK illegally (visa overstay) who is you could say 'resourceful'.

This woman drives my friend around and so on but it's done on the sort of understanding that there will be some kind of payment in kind, be it petrol money, or something.

I don't think she does anything without ulterior motive.

Anyway, we went together to the Council to talk about Housing Benefit. Said friend had already found a house, half-a-mile away from her abusive husband, but at £200 over the housing benefit limit. She was insistent that the Council would pay but obviously they wouldn't.

Anyway, we left this meeting and this woman seemed a little embarrassed. She came home with us, and I have sorted out JSA, CTC applications for her, and we are looking for private rented accommodation in another larger town, where there are more employment opportunities, etc.

Latest thing now is that the 'resourceful' friend has apparently got a friend of a friend to agree to pay £1200 (!) to cover the HB shortfall for the next six months and then the landlord will take a £200/month rent cut (!) for the following six months.

I have advised her not to touch this situation with a bargepole, that she needs to be independent of others, but she seems determined. Have told her that she can do what she likes, but I'm not going to clean up the mess....

Sounds like your friend is moving from being dependent on one manipulative person, to another.

It doesn't sound good, but I'm not sure what else you can do really.

Is the 'friend of a friend' a man, as I'd be worried what he'd expect in return for giving £1200 to a strange female he knows to be vulnerable?

How much was the deposit ?
Is this £1200 a ruse to manipulate the deposit ?

The friend of a friend is a man.

The deposit is a month's rent so it's just a case of being in hock to this man for the £200 rent.

I suspect the friend (the resourceful woman) will try and move in to my friend's house. But who knows really.

why did you get so involved? separate yourself from this foolish woman who is determined to be so stupid. she will find herself forced into prostitution if she continues in that way. how will she repay the £1200 and the discounted rent, otherwise?

Yeah she is foolish tbh.

Her friend has booked a meeting with the council today, unprompted, to sort out the housing benefit. The friend's friend has, she says, transferred £1200 to the landlord already. And he's (the landlord) coming today with the key, from his home xx miles away.

She (my friend) is immature IMO, I have told her she needs to sort herself out properly but she is interpreting this as me being unfair/harsh to her, and has called her close friend and asked her to be a guarantor because I refused, as if that was urneasonable. Actually this is not true, I said 'I am not going to promise to be a guarantor because you don't have anywhere to stay and I don't know what's involved, so there's no point me promising until there's an actual concrete guarantor's contract I'm being asked to sign'/

Besides which the council said they would do a bond with the landlord so basically the inventory is done by the council's clerk at the beginning and end of the contract and they pay whatever is due. So I am not sure why she is asking me to be a guarantor when nobody has asked for that and it's not required so I'm not going to be one.

So basically as far as I am concerned she is going from one abusive relationship to another.

She is going today to the CAB also to sort out benefits even though I have helped her apply for these several days ago and I met the CAB advisor before and she is IMO useless. So basically she won't listen to anything I say and is just going for what seems 'easy' rather than the harsh realities of her situation.

Yep, she's going to end up being expected to pay it back in kind - spell it out to her that she needs to check what they will want in payment and that she's not prepared to suck a random man's cock for the money - unless of course she is. Use that language. The woman is a grown up, she needs to know that people don't do this sort of favour for nothing. Tell her to find out exactly why they will hand over the money and how she's expected to pay it back.

Then back off and let it fall apart, you've tried.

I'd also be tempted to report her illegal friend, it might be the best thing that could happen to her to have this 'friend' removed.

The illegal friend is (apparently) sueing the government or some such, I don't know.

And the random man is a church member or something, and obviously she (my friend) is the most deserving person in the world to give £1200 to because er, you know, well.

Anyway, I'm leaving her to it now.

Much as I expected, the situation now is:

my friend is living in this house.
she still is essentially dependent on her husband to pay her money (£600/month, and he earns at least £70k/year)
the overstayer friend who set up this deal has now installed her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend in this house (haven't met either party, I assume they are CRB checked NOT)

She obviously doesn't have the guts to turf this daughter and boyfriend out, so I imagine they will be there quite some while.....