To ask what would happen in this scenario?

[greenmint]

I have been asked to advise and I honestly don’t know.

‘Eleanor’ has a baby and is a single mother. The child’s father plays no part whatsoever in her life.

Eleanor has no other family to support her. She works full time in an expensive area of the country and rents a small flat and pays for FT childcare for her baby. She gets no benefits other then CB.

Eleanor owns a property that was left to her as part of an inheritance that is let out. The income from this means she can rent her flat and contributes to her baby’s nursery costs.

Eleanor has now found out her landlord is selling the flat. She is unable te rent anywhere else because of poor credit. Is there any onus on the council to help Eleanor and her baby?

Is there any possibility of getting a similar / related job in the area of the house she owns? Yes it would be a wrench to move from the area she loves, and the wage would be less but her outgoings would be cut a fair bit by not having rent or a mortgage to pay.

She can get a private rental even with 2 ccj's as long as she has a guarantor. Even better if she can pay a substantial amount of rent upfront. She can also try to find a private landlord, who are less likely to do credit checks, rather than through an agency. I had 2 ccj's in the past and have done both these options.

Can she look for a job closer to the house she owns?

How can she outright own a 100,000 property AND have bad credit?

OP you can absolutely find landlords who will accept 6 months upfront. She needs to try landlords direct, not agents who are probably making the decision based on their companies procedures

The landlord takes very little risk, transferring it all onto Eleanor. Why wouldn’t they? It’s actually a dumb thing for Eleanor to do unless essential (which it is here)

Surely Eleanor would think of these things herself before considering the council to act as some kind of property finder for her?

Well yes capri but it’s more than benefits

@BettyDuMonde why would owning a property stop her missing payments?

Eleanor has , Capri.

She has been trying to find accommodation for some time now and is extremely distressed. Hence why she approached me and I am trying to help.

Unfortunately it does look as if leaving her job is the only option.

How many rooms has the property she owns?

Could she relocate to a cheaper area and offset her costs (which would be minus rent) by a lodger?

Does the job have offices in other areas she could relocate to?

Our council (not in London) is housing people with kids in B and B's anyway, so it's not really possible in lots of places to go straight into a flat- let alone if you already own/have a highish wage.

It's a very difficult place for renters at the moment, rent is high, landlords are being very fussy (not wanting people on UC)- the whole system is really creaking. I have sympathy- you can't just walk into a private rental these days, I'm dreading when our lease runs out.

She would be entitled to assistance from the local authority, despite what other posters say, or whether or not it is 'right'.

She has a tenant, to evict that tenant she would have to go through the possession and eviction process. If the then tenant is on a fixed term contract then this process is lengthened considerably. In the meantime if she is homeless/threatened with homelessness then the council are duty bound to assist.

In all likelihood the help would be assistance to get another private tenancy if that is what she wants.

Doubtful. It’s not really a ‘lodger’ sort of place. In any event, even if she did find a lodger it wouldn’t compensate for a nearly £50,000’p/a salary.

That’s interesting town thanks.

So if she was to be evicted from the property and presented herself as homeless at the council - it wouldn’t be ideal but it would act as a stop gap I am guessing?

It would ‘t stop her missing payments on other stuff, but she inherited it so she owns a property with no outstanding mortgage and that gives you masses of points on your credit score!

Just because the Dad isn’t involved. It’s his offspring not just debris from having sex. He should be hunted down and money taken from his salary to help bring up his child. The state shouldn’t ultimately accept the burden. Sorry for the rant but I hear it so much on Mn . Single mums accepting and struggling. It’s not fair on the Mum or the child.

In any event, even if she did find a lodger it wouldn’t compensate for a nearly £50,000’p/a salary

No. But it would go towards any difference in salary from a new job.

So if she was to be evicted from the property and presented herself as homeless at the council - it wouldn’t be ideal but it would act as a stop gap I am guessing?

(A) it depends on the council ruling surrounded owned property and (B) yes, she might be housed in a hostel or B&B nowhere near her work/area.

If she presents herself as homeless to the council then it’s likely she’ll end up in a bedsit or hostel miles from where she is now.

I think Eleanor should do two things a) go and see Shelter and/or the local council and find out exactly what would count as homeless- if she is being evicted, this will count, if she goes early it will not so that makes it very unpleasant but there may be benefits to staying up til the last moment, they will also know about what happens if you own property elsewhere from a legal standpoint/that council's rules and b) start contacting private landlords on Gumtree and elsewhere with an offer of 6 months up front and explain why- I would even say 'poor credit', I'd say history of 2ccjs, paid off etc.

I know someone who rents a council house and owns a house...I have no idea how she gets always with it but don’t have the balls to ask (not a close friend)

OP - how many rooms does the house she rents have?

She could live in it & rent out the spare rooms through spareroom.com & that would give her an income, even if not as much as now. I've had some great lodgers through that & you can specify Mon-Fri only if you wish as that a suits a lot of folks who work away from home.

But it would solve her immediate housing problem & enable her to work,

I got around needing a guarantor because my income was too low by being in a position to pay the first 6 months rent up front, which she could do if she sold the property. Definitely worth discussions with a letting agent/private landlord - the latter may be more sympathetic. I wonder if this is something Citizens Advice could help with?

If she presents herself as homeless to the council then it’s likely she’ll end up in a bedsit or hostel miles from where she is now.

Unfortunately this is likely to be the case.

Her job, nothing similar where her owned property is?

Those saying just sell the property - it has a tenant. There is a good chance they have a contract as most tenants do. It could be a year before that contract ends, and could potentially take months to get them out after that. So that’s not necessarily a quick solution to sell the property anyway.