Being evicted, can't get through to anyone who can help and we're scared

[demonchilde]

Hi all - posting here for traffic, in a bit off a panic at the moment. Quite a long back story to it, I did have a thread in legal about it all, I will try and link to it.

I'm a lone parent of 4 DC's (still at home), currently doing a nursing degree. It's been a bit of a year in general- DS4 (11) has ASD so suffers from quite severe behavioural and sleep problems. DS3 very sadly lost his best friend of 10 years to brain cancer a few weeks ago and this has affected him really badly - he has become very anxious, is having panic attacks, sleeping problems and has been pulling his hair out. DD2 (18) is due to start her a levels next week.

We were served a section 21 in our private rented house of 10 years back in February. I looked everywhere but couldn't find anything at all - rental prices have rocketed round here and as a student with no wage or guarantor no one will rent to us anyway. We went to the council who said they couldn't help us. Went to shelter then CAB who advised us the council were obliged to help us. They are not helpful - almost impossible to get through to, and advised us we have to wait for the landlord to take us to court for possession and then eviction.

The landlord has now done this. We were allocated a hearing to ask for a couple of extra weeks for exceptional circumstances due to my daughter's A- levels. But the hearing was this morning and the judge denied our application for extra time, and granted the landlord possession from tomorrow. They have also said I have to pay a significant amount to him in court costs that I cannot afford. This is so unfair as we are only still here because the council have insisted we stay until the bailiffs arrive.

I have just spoken to the landlord- he has agreed to store our things for 2 weeks if we go voluntarily, meaning we will be saved the cost and the DC's being scared by the bailiffs but the council have said no, if we do that we make ourselves voluntarily homeless and they will have no duty to house us.

So now, he is instructing high court bailiffs who I am told will probably be here within the week. I can't get through to the council. I have nowhere to store our stuff, yet they are saying they do not have to help us with that. We still have our cat here- all the catteries are full up. The council have told us we will be in a b and b indefinitely which could be anywhere within a 30 mile radius. I have no idea how I will get my children to school if we are far away. Really panicking here and I can't get through to anyone.

Can anyone advice me what I should do from here? I'm really panicking.

No advice but I wanted to wish you all the luck. Whereabouts are you? If you're local to me then I will happily foster your cat

The poster who said up thread you need urgent advice from an experienced lawyer was right. With the best will in the world, your case worker is not a lawyer and I wouldnt put all my trust in them being right about timescales. You need urgently to obtain proper legal advice regarding your housing situation. Really you should have done this as soon as you got original notice from your landlord but better late than never.

You mau have already done this but is there any possible source of housing you haven't tried? Anyone on your course who may know someone who has a house or flat to rent? Post something on local pages on Facebook or similar? Can you ask around locally?

Speak to Shelter and a lawyer, they'll be able to advise you appropriately.

www.shelter.org.uk

Please say where in the country you are so that we can see who can offer you storage space and foster your cat for you.

Where are you based op?

Thank you again for the replies.

I am in Medway, Kent. I just had a bit of a moan on Facebook (I know, I know..) but there is someone who may be able to have our cat. Someone else says the council should help us with storage but I don't know if that's true or not? I will also ring the Cats Protection League tomorrow and see if they can help.

I'm hoping if the case worker is right about the eviction still being a couple of weeks away it will just clear DD's A level dates. So unsettling for her though. I will also speak to the school as soon as they are back next week and see if there's anything they can do.

Velvet I would love to speak to a proper lawyer but I can't afford one, and shelter told me I am not entitled to one under legal aid for what at the moment is seen as a straightforward housing matter (apparently). I just don't know - everyone tells me different things and my head is spinning from it all. I really have tried everything to find somewhere else, I have put notices on gumtree etc asking for somewhere to rent, spoken to the Uni, to friends- everything. There is nothing out there. I worked out that rental prices here have actually doubled since I started to private rent 14 years ago. How is anyone supposed to keep up with that?

I've made a list of things to do/ people to phone tomorrow. I just wish it wasn't half term, I've not had a minutes peace all day!

I'd call some specialist Housing solicitors. Many will offer some initial free advice, at least enough to confirm whether you have any legal aid entitlement. Or if they are able to offer any pro bono services - some will in certain circumstances.

You have probably tried this already but what about flats over shops etc? Appreciate these are not always the best but preferable to taking your chances in B&B accommodation which as you say could be anywhere.

Ah - I've just seen Scott's post properly. Thank you and noted- I will add all that to tomorrow's to do list!

Also had the misfortune of seeing Susannahs wanky comment. DFOD. I know people like you love kicking others when they are down, but just have a little bit of decency and don't -OK? Can you really not see that I have enough on my hands at the minute without getting drawn into a petty debate with someone like you? Leave me alone. The problem is a lone parent with 4 DC's who is a student. Really? It isn't the fact that someone who escaped severe domestic violence and worked her arse off to get the qualifications needed to do a VOCATIONAL degree to better herself, increase her prospects and get OFF benefits (whilst working full time on minimum wage despite having a disabled child) has no access to affordable housing because of a housing crisis not helped by some twat thinking it a good idea to sell off all the council houses. I ask again -WHAT would be the point of me going back to a full time minimum wage job with no prospects and therefore no chance of me ever getting off benefits? WHAT would have been the point in me staying in a marriage where I was not, shock horror, a lone parent, financially secure and adequately housed when I would have ended up battered to death? Or would that just have been one less 'benefit scrounger' in the world to people like you? Anyway, please just keep your narrow minded, ill thought out ideas to yourself please, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Fucks sake. THIS is what I say about being made to feel like scum and like I have done something wrong. Constantly being made to feel like I have to defend myself. It seems ironic really that a huge part of my nursing course so far has (rightly) focused on maintaining people's dignity. I do my utmost to adhere to this. So why is it seemingly OK for so many to disregard ours like they are? Why am I pretty much having to beg and plead with the landlord, the council etc for just a roof over our fucking head? I'm not asking for a house for life or any of those cliches, just somewhere we can live for the next two years or so till I can finish my degree and then hopefully get the hell out of the excuse of a country this one has become.

So sorry to hear about your situation OP - does your Uni have a welfare service that may be able to advise?

Is there a possibility of your dd doing A-levels to stay with a school friend until exams are over?

So sorry to hear that...sending you and your kids a big hug.

Please call SHELTER. They will help you, just follow their advise. Stay calm, there are solutions but you need them to know how to proceed properly. You won't be on the street, the council has the obligation to assist you but you need to follow professional advise from the Shelter people.

Best of luck and don't give up OP, you can do it xxxxx

Sorry velvet went off on a bit of a rant there. Shouldn't have, but there you go. It's very easy to blame 'people like me' for being in this situation, but it's simplistic and bloody unfair. Shelter predicted this would happen a few years ago, and here we. I live in an area where you can't walk through most of the parks here as they are full of tents with homeless people living in them. I've seen homeless people in doorways being spat on and told to 'get a job'. Because I doubt they thought of that ffs... 5 people died on the streets round here last winter. No one cared. Only 2 made the papers. It just makes me angry.

Anyway, I realise I need to stay focused and not let the wider situation get to us at the moment. I will try those suggestions but I'll be honest - I'm not hopeful. Shelter said I am not entitled to legal aid at the moment. A large amount and increasing numbers of local families are being made homeless every day, we are just one case of many and they can't fund us all, nor can the council magic up places for us all.

And I really have tried everything- even two bed flats. Even those are snapped up straight away and out of our price range. The average 3 bed house round here is increasing every time I look, it is almost impossible to get one for much below £1000 a month. The LHA rate for one is £660, meaning people on full housing benefit and benefits will have a shortfall of around £80 plus a week to make up from their benefits. Also, we are quite near to London, and so people affected by the same sort of issues there are moving here which is further pushing the rental prices up. London boroughs are also having to house their homeless here meaning there is even less room for local families. It is a dire situation, and I honestly have tried everything I possibly could not to end up where I am now.

I know you are in Kent. I'm from up north and there is quite a bit more availability. Speak to the university and worst case see if you can transfer up north to complete your course.

OP, you are definitely doing the right thing sticking with your course. It would be very short sighted to drop out now given that you're the last year to get a bursary and what you've already achieved.

Are you a member of unison, op? If so, you will be entitled to an hour with a solicitor and they're usually very good at finding you the right solicitor for your issue. At least they could give you the correct legal advice. I'm assuming RCN would be similar. Good luck op. 💐

demonchile I feel awful for you. We were made homeless last year (landlord selling up). Having aggro from the landlord because you can't find anywhere, no's from every avenue you try and then unsympathetic twats can make you feel like shit. Try (ha!) not to let the situation drag you under- the housing crisis is not within your control, and it's certainly not your fault! Some people don't understand the whole concept of having a home. Yes it is the landlord's house, but it is your home! He has many houses, you only have the one home, and you're being turfed out. Made 'homeless'. It's tough, and most people never imagine that they'd ever be in that situation, no one WANTS to be in that situation.

I'm single mum 3 kids…had offers of guarantor (but they didn't fit their exacting criteria as 'too old' or 'not a homeowner'), ex husband contributing financially, had kept up with rent on an expensive property, and STILL nobody would rent a property to me. There is just so much demand for housing that those letting houses/flats can pick and choose who they have, and you can guarantee that single mums are way down the bottom of the desirable tenant list. That doesn't mean that you won't get somewhere privately but my god it's difficult. I was told that if I had 6 months rent up front a landlord would probably take me on , by one letting agent (hahahahahahahaaaaaaahahaa).

I ended up being sorted out by the council. Hopefully that will happen to you too- they will have a duty to sort you out with somewhere if you have kids under 16. This is a shit shit time for you. But you will get through it, and it will get better . You will not end up on the street.

…and although the council say B&B might be up to 30 miles away….it might not. It might be really near. Some things it's best not worrying about until you've actually got something to worry about IYSWIM. Just take each hurdle as it comes.

I agree with sticking with your course. Worst case ask about transferring. Do not whatever you do leave your course.

As a LL who lets to HB tenants (and leaves them alone to enjoy their home) I never use an agent and with the new deposit rules I no longer ask for a deposit. Now I use word of mouth with people approaching me for help finding housing. Before this I used gumtree.

It's also bull that mortgages automatically preclude you as a LL from renting to tenants. My mortgages don't and neither does my insurance. Agents hate HB tenants because they are long term renters who don't move often. I think that's why they steer customers away.

Personally as a fair LL I despair with other LLs who use agents when they live close by. The only time it makes sense to use an agent is when you live abroad. Even then I don't use an agent as I'm better at sorting out issues than them. I also have a handyman on payroll.

I guess with Kent you are also dealing with that awful couple who own lots of rental properties. I remember an article about them not liking to rent to HB receipients or families.

I'm glad to hear about the extra couple of weeks, and the cat. I do hope it clears your DD's exam period.

Can you take some belongings to friends to store? I had a few boxes and suitcases in my garage for a year, when a friend needed to move quickly.

You need to focus OP and stop blaming the people for the circumstances you are in, I don't mean for that to sound harsh, but the reality is you are being evicted from the property, so now you need to put things in motion.

Start packing, box everything that needs to be boxed, as your landlord may say he will keep your belongings, however this may change.

Pack all relevent documentation (birth certificates, passports, utility bills, bank statements etc...)

Pack a bag of non perishable food (as in my experience dealing with evictions families go hungry until rehoused)

Where is the children's father/s family members, friends etc... Can they help? Can they help with storage, even neighbours?

Always keep your phone charged with extra credit on, also have emergency fund money, as you may need to have bus fares, or extra money for petrol, depending where your temporary housing is.

Can your daughter stay and her Dads, family members for the exam period so it's less stress on her?

As much as you say the landlord is horrible this is his property, he is also already at a massive loss in trying to get his property back, it's irrelevant as to why he wants his property back, and I'm not surprised he is using underhand ways to get his property back, as the average cost for an eviction process is around 5-6K.

You need to contact shelter and get independent legal advice.

Bumping for attention - surely one of the indicators of being a functioning government is ensuring our people are housed?

I'm not sure you can be certain that you have a few weeks' grace. Does your dd have any friends she could stay with during exams? You need to put in place a back up plan so that you are in a position to leave quickly. Pack documents, medicines, a few days of clothing etc ready to go , and phone charged with numbers of council , CAB, Shelter to hand. Your dd neds to get her notes and books together. Then sort out and pack your possessions, which could go into storage if needs be.

OP - having read your updates I just wanted to say I am in awe of what you have achieved and how you are coping .

I see you have already spoken to Shelter. If that was some time ago then it may be worth approaching them or a solicitor in a solicitor's firm again as the rights to legal aid only kick in at a certain stage (I'm not an expert so I don't know when).

Just to stop you needing to research a PP suggested a student law clinic. Unfortunately the University of Kent one I found will not be accepting clients at the moment.

Geeklove, without wishing to derail the thread, I doubt a change of government will suddenly stop people becoming homeless. There were thousands in b and bs under the last Labour govt.

OP, I agree you need to prepare for the worst. Hope for a few more weeks, try and get some free legal advice from a qualified lawyer as to whether you have any grounds to challenge or delay the eviction, but in the meantime you do need to be as ready as you can be for the knock on the door.

Is there any scope for you to transfer your course elsewhere in the country, as has been mentioned. I can think of a few reasonably ok areas where rents are around £500 for a 3 bed house, but also the waiting lists for social housing are such shorter. That said, if you can't transfer your course or there are other factors preventing a move to another area, this may be out of the question.

There may not be a few weeks of grace if the high court is used instead so pack everything up and start deciding what should be cleared out/left and what you want to keep as people suggest above.

Prioritise finishing your nursing course - are you in the last year or have a long time to go? Prioritise the daughter's A levels as they will help the family out of poverty and out of the cycle of poverty if she does well - has she applied to university?

Once you are in a nursing job you can start paying back the debts owed to the landlord who is also a victim in this or has housing benefit continued to pay him everything he is due so it is just his court costs that he has lost?

2 bed flat £725 a month Medway Kent www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-35822593.html Once you have your nurse's salary presumably you will not need housing benefit so it will then be much easier to find a landlord whose mortgage company does not prohibit housing benefit claimants and to save up for a deposit. So as long as you can keep up the nursing course things may ultimately go well. If your daughter is about to leave for university that means 3 children at home. What are their ages?