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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Homeless with son. Should I live in a tent? Or on a beach somewhere?

219 replies

SwimmingClose · 19/02/2014 00:09

I live in the south of England.

I have one child.

I have a serious chronic illness.

I cannot afford to top-up my housing benefit any more. After one year, my savings are now gone.

I worked for 25 years. My parents worked all their lives.

I will be homeless.

Its seemingly impossible to find a Landlord, Social Housing, etc without a Guarantor. I cannot find anyone unless I have a rent 'Guarantor' (which I don't have).

Any thoughts? Just don't know what to do.

Feel weird about it all too. Not sure what to do. Should I live in a tent, etc? Feel very marginalised and strange situation, horrible really.

OP posts:
fideline · 19/02/2014 10:25

Sillylass there are loose similarities, have a sense of humour .

fideline · 19/02/2014 10:29

Science I remember sitting through some training or briefing session where the prediction was that LHA tenants would flood to the cheapest half of the housing stock in that area.

I don't think anyone expested that effect to be universal, but if what has actually happened is that most people are just taking the excess on the chin...wow.

LeBearPolar · 19/02/2014 10:31

Is it a full moon at the moment? Because I have RL to get on with, you know, and MN has been very distracting for the last 48 hours. The incredibly tight FIL who only gave his son and DIL £24 K, not to mention the mysteriously increasing and decreasing rent/mortgage, salaries, number of jobs was better than a good box set!

FluffySocksAndMarshmallows · 19/02/2014 10:32

On the rare chance that you are still reading, OP, it boils down to this.

If you can't afford your rent anymore and you are about to be made homeless with your son, you can't afford morals.

The Government were very quick to make sure that anyone that they have to rehome doesn't have much left. You can't try and be fair to everyone and leave with your head held high, because you need to have been serviced with a S21 eviction notice.

Luckily, this is well enough publicized that the landlord/letting agent will know what to do, and will just get on with it. They won't take it personally, especially if you explain. It's still rubbish, but it'll get you on the housing list.

Living in a tent or on the beach to be fair to your landlord might seem courageous, or even the only option, but it's not really. What will you do when the next big storm hits? Your son will struggle with school with no known address. Your medical condition will probably worsen, I can't think of any chronic conditions that would be improved by being out in the cold.

It's a horrid thing to have to contemplate, but it's not too bad once you're in it. Take a deep breath, and consider it properly. All the best.

Loopylouu · 19/02/2014 10:32

thescience and that make it even harder to find somewhere to live in the first place. The stigma of receiving housing benefit, landlords not being able to rent to people on HB because if insurance and the fact that they worry about tenants not being able to top up puts people in a very vulnerable position.

I know that most people who claim HB are working households who only claim a small percentage, but even then it's hard to find anyone who will rent to you. My heart always sinks at threads like this, as despite being a working household, if my LL decided to sell up, I'd be facing homelessness too as it took me a year to find anyone to accept even a small amount of HB (to get out of the shutout I was in), despite being in employment.

fideline · 19/02/2014 10:33

Full moon would explain.

Better tear myself away now too.

LeBearPolar · 19/02/2014 10:34

Sillylass -actually, the bitchiness on this thread originated with the OP. She was given a lot of very good, practical advice by people who clearly have knowledge and experience, and she threw it all back in their faces because they weren't saying what she wanted to hear. Unfortunately, before any of us could work out what she wanted to hear, she threw a monumental tantrum and flounced.

TheScience · 19/02/2014 10:34

It's ridiculous fideline - it's not like landlords are falling over themselves to attract tenants on benefits Confused and even less likely that landlords are going to reduce their rents in order to be affordable for tenants claiming LHA. The demand for rented accommodation is increasing in most parts of the country, tenants can't afford to be choosy while landlords can.

Vickiyumyum · 19/02/2014 10:35

I hate to be another bearer or bad news, but if the council deemed hat you knew the property was unaffordable and that savings would run out to pay the shortfall, this too could deem you intentionally homeless.

You really need to seek information on how o go forward from your local authority, CAB and Shelter. Gather as much information as you can.

It is a horrible situation and one I have been in myself. Luckily I managed to find a sympathetic landlord who agreed to rent to me as I was working and receiving top up housing benefit. Look in the freeads, gumtree etc for landlords letting thier own properties, these will be the ones that can act with more discretion than going through an agent. also I you are letting with an agent now, call them, ask if hey know of cheaper properties that might accept you on the basis that you've been a good tenant t this property, paid rent on time etc.

Plateofcrumbs · 19/02/2014 10:41

TheScience - yup, exactly. Or landlords figure that tenants claiming HB aren't worth the risk and the choice for anyone in OPs situation becomes narrower and narrower.

At this stage, realistically the support you'll probably get from the council is a list of local landlords and letting agencies to approach. And you can get your name added to the local housing register (even if chances of getting into to social housing are low, it's better than the zero chance you have if you're not even on the list).

Shelter can provide advice and help you get informed. And if things get serious with the council they can go in guns-blazing. They can't however magic up a house for you. As I said up thread, there is no easy way out but the best thing you can do is empower yourself by getting armed to the teeth with the best understanding of the rules round homelessness.

PeriodFeatures · 19/02/2014 10:43

Hi swimming xxed Is correct. Unfortunately you will have to stay put 'Until' you are evicted in order to be considered a priority.

This as a really bad situation and it must feel terrible to put your guarantor in this position. Housing Law is an ass.

If I were you Id speak to your guarantor and landlord. Explain to landlord you will no longer be paying rent and ask him/her to evict you immediately (he will need to give you a letter of notice).

The exact same thing happened to a friend recently, also a professional managing on p/t wage. they have been given a council house in a lovely area. It could be a positive outcome.

Funnyfoot · 19/02/2014 10:45

Threads still here then?? Thought it would of woooooshed by now what with all the demands and capital letters used by the OP.Grin

Loopylouu · 19/02/2014 10:47

plateofcrumbs getting your name on the social housing just all depends on how long you have lived in the local authority for though..

Op didn't say how long she'd been there. To get on my LA social hosing list you have to have lived in the area for five consecutive years. Given that people move for work etc (or to move to a cheaper area of the country which is a lot of peoples advice) sometimes that makes it impossible.

NigellasDealer · 19/02/2014 10:54

Explain to landlord you will no longer be paying rent and ask him/her to evict you immediately
no do not do that or you will be deemed as 'intentionally homeless'!
it is hard but there are many of us in the same position.

Plateofcrumbs · 19/02/2014 10:55

Good point Loopylouu, it depends where you live - I live in an area that still has an open housing list (anyone can put their name down, even if you're ridiculously low priority) but that's not the case for all local authorities, some now have criteria before you can even get your name on the list.

janey223 · 19/02/2014 11:02

Have you spoken to your landlord? When my savings to top up my rent ran out I got a call from my landlord asking what was going on. I explained I couldn't top it up anymore and 18months later I still pay my local housing allowance amount.

Should he decide he wants to put the full rent he will need to evict me, unfortunate as he is a good landlord mostly, but the only way I will be housed (and indeed the only way I'd get social housing in this area).

specialsubject · 19/02/2014 11:10

'the landlord is in business, you aren't screwing him if you don't pay'.

clearly whoever wrote this is happy to work for free. The OP recognises that not paying rent is theft, so I hope the writer of this post is also happy to be burgled. Making money from renting property is not a crime, same as selling food is not a crime.

OP - please talk to your landlord, your council, shelter (you didn't get pregnant on your own, why isn't he paying?). Plenty of cheaper areas in the country which are still decent places to live with work, schooling, etc.

AgaPanthers · 19/02/2014 11:19

Not paying rent is not theft, any more than not paying your credit card bill or gas bill is.

IneedAwittierNickname · 19/02/2014 11:51

The LHA is deliberately set a percentage lower than the average rent in a particular area - the idea is apparently that it will bring rents down

Really?:( I was told that lha was set at the same rate as average rent for that area, maybe the council lied? I'm going to go and look at rental prices in the paper and see if they match the lha amounts.

fideline · 19/02/2014 11:54

"clearly whoever wrote this is happy to work for free. The OP recognises that not paying rent is theft, so I hope the writer of this post is also happy to be burgled. Making money from renting property is not a crime, same as selling food is not a crime."

What a selfish, ignorant tosser.

Landlording is not a trade or a profession; it is a business, like any other, with risks and wastage and void periods.

You would like vulnerable people, in tenuous housing situations to ignore correct advice about housing law and regs? To risk literal homelessness as a result just so that the landlord doesn't lose out in anyway? It is not the roof over the Landlord's head and the Landlord's children;s heads at risk, is it?

Do fuck off.

ProfYaffle · 19/02/2014 11:58

LHA rates are set by looking at the range of rents in an area and taking the average of the lowest quartile. ie they take the lowest 25% of the range and average that, it's not the average of the whole range.

IneedAwittierNickname · 19/02/2014 12:00

Ah I see that makes sense Prof.
It doesn't seem fair though!

fideline · 19/02/2014 12:03

Prof so in effect if one is in that situation, you either rent in the cheapest octile of the market or you pay a top up? Ghettosiation much?

fideline · 19/02/2014 12:06

Jeez there is going to be mayhem when (if?) Universal Credit comes in.

AgaPanthers · 19/02/2014 12:13

In my area it's relatively easy to find properties under the LHA, because there's a concentration of expensive commuter properties, so the 25th percentile still leaves quite a lot of properties in less desirable areas.

In more homogenous areas it can be trickier.

Another problem of course is that you might be able to FIND the LHA properties, but they won't necessarily rent to you on HB.