Housing

[Nottodaythanku]

Looking for ideas.
my son who is a teacher is Surrey he can’t find anywhere to live, his landlord is selling the flat he is in now.
he’s applying for everything and everything but keeps been out bid.
house shares, bedsits, studios, key worker accommodation.
he may have to give up his job and not go back in September if he can’t find any where, although this would be breaking his contract
we live in another part of the country so staying with us is not an option.
he’s single so his budget isn’t huge even though he works 3 jobs.
how is this fair!
if anyone has any suggestions I would be so greatful.

Does the pub rent out rooms?

has he tried looking in newsagent windows? He could put a card in the window asking if anyone has a room to rent. (I know it’s old fashioned but I live in Surrey and newsagents do still have cards in windows)

Is he in his first year of teaching then?

As even for a 1 year teacher it's £28,000 which is around £2k a month after tax. That should be enough to live on surely as a single male?!?!

If there's an option to move home, then why not have him teach and live with you? That way he can save up more money, plus teaching salaries increase a lot in the first 8 years if you meet your targets.

Well not really. He'd still have nowhere to live but have a lot less money.

He’s probably going to need to pay £800-£1200 for a room depending where in Surrey he is. Plus car, food etc.

Def send out a whole school staff email asking if anyone has a room to rent or knows of one. Even if it’s only on a week by week basis until he finds somewhere. This happened all the time at my old school and someone was always found to help out.

There are teaching housing associations (specifically for teachers) too, maybe worth asking union if they know abut anything in the area.
At worst,spare room and share for a bit?

Depending on where in Surrey he is, it is entirely possible to get a room in a house share for £650-850 pcm with bills included in some cases. Loads of them on SpareRoom. Plenty of people house share well into their 30s and beyond now as One bed flats are more of a stretch (unless you touch lucky they’re obscenely priced) and bedsits mostly not a thing. It’s an expensive county but then renting pretty much anywhere is now.

As others have said, with him having 3 jobs, is it that he’s NQT and on the lowest wage bracket or does he have loans/debts that are affecting his outgoings/landlord credit checks?

It’s in the op, hes not had any luck finding house shares

Roughly where abouts in Surrey is he and does he drive?

If he is close to the boarders, has he looked in places like Hampshire and Berkshire as well.

Is he being flexible on location? He might need to widen his search area and put up with a longer commute in order to find somewhere.

He needs to have his name down with every local estate agent, and be asking on local social media groups about private rentals. He could register with a housing association but wouldn’t be a priority for them.

I’ve known people stay in caravans while they wait to find somewhere to rent, that might be an option.

I think his best option would be to apply for jobs in lower cost areas of the country. If the government can pay teachers enough to live in the home counties then there are going to be many more unfilled positions.

Poor thing I'm not surprised how depressing .

Spare room is the only option I think to rent a room

Thank you everyone, few ideas we will look at.
he is a NQT, so is finishing his first year of teaching this week.
the problem is there are so many people applying for every rental that there always seems to be offering the landlord a better deal. We are going to lend him money to see if us paying six months rent upfront will help.

On £28k in Surrey he is unlikely to be able to afford a one bed or studio on his own.

Can he get together with colleagues or friends and look for somewhere to share? When I was renting in London as a sharer I and two housemates used to look at three bed places together, so you present the landlord with a ready made solution - three sharers who already get on.

A decent up front deposit may make him a more attractive proposition. He also needs to pay up on his credentials - he is in a decent, trustworthy, safe profession who works regular hours - so more attractive to landlords.