Becoming homeless for my dream job

[ForTidyFinch]

I've been offered and ideal job in the town where I currently live but my short term tenancy is due to end in a couple of weeks. I have tried everything to find a new place to live. There is nothing available in this small town and I have no friends or family living close enough to help. I have decided to start the job and then live in my car. I've reached a desperate point now where I think there is little chance of me being able to rent privately even if something does become available. A run of bad luck has drained my finances and a CCJ was taken out against me without my knowledge (for overstaying in a service station when my car was broken down!) This was taken out while I was living abroad and I have only just found out. So there goes the chance of renting privately. So the choice I see it is being homeless and destitute staying with relatives or living in my car and starting this interesting job opportunity. I think I will live in my car. WWYD

Have you actually read ANY of the OP's threads??? Clearly not!

The car is a right off and doesn't drive! Its not going anywhere but is parked in a cul-de-sac apparently out of view of houses!
What adventures can she go on during the weekend with a broken car???
She has joined the local leisure center to shower/toilet at.
She has blacked out the car windows!

The car doesn't start and needs a new engine 🙈

Missed that. Well that won’t work then will it. Even more reason for plan b

If there is no where else to live, why would you not refuse to leave the flat you are renting? If they have to evict you they will have to take you to court.
shelter recommend staying in place if you have no alternative.

Because i suspect there is no contract and the owner is moving back in. Its all very dramatic.

@TheShiningCarpet

Do you kick puppies for shits & giggles too...

This

live further away and commute?

It's true though, it sounds very chaotic and OP hasn't really engaged with any of the many different options that have been contributed on the thread, so I don't know if that's because they won't work or whether OP is just bouncing from one chaotic situation to the next.

No judgement here; I've been that chaotic person in the past and I was lucky I had people who helped me out so I never had to sleep rough. But it also helped to have someone who told me I was fucking up.

Maybe OP has just been unlucky or maybe it's a pattern. We don't know. It's okay for someone to point out that it looks chaotic from the outside.

She said because the owner is moving back in from abroad. So it is either her being in this horrible situation or putting the owner in that same situation.

You call the council and tell them you are emergency homeless from x date and they will put you in a hostel

People keep saying this. Two different councils told me they wouldn't help as I was deemed "able to survive on the street" - exact quote. The last of these was 10 years ago, so god knows how much worse it is now.

I don't think you're wrong, OP, and congratulations on your new job!

Yes, you need to wrangle a physical address somehow. And you should definitely try to stay in the home you've got now. Wishing you some overdue good luck 🍀

Edit as I've just learned you can't stay put. Kit out your car as best you can, and keep looking for spare rooms!

Back seat bed:
https://www.halfords.com/camping/airbeds-and-sleeping-mats/leisurewize-inflatable-car-mattress-back-seat-281419.html

Although the job you have been offered is one you would like to take, I'm wondering whether it would be better to find a similar job in an area where there aren't such terrible problems with finding accommodation.

I'm not quite sure what kind of job it is, but it must be a job which is done by others in various locations around the UK (unless it's something really so specialised that only a handful of people do it).

It does sounds as though you've had a really tough time of things of late and I wonder whether a move to somewhere completely fresh and new could be the boost you need.

Challenge the ccj or at the very least get together the proof so that any credit check you would be able to show what had happened here. If you liase with the creditors or courts you can get notes added to your credit file. If its paid off it will get that updated on the file to say settled. Until that point the proof would be something to show to companies needing a credit check. You may need a guarantor if that's possible for you? Have you a relative that can do that? I wouldn't live out of your car especially because if people notice and it gets reported to police they'll fo a welfare check and its likely others will find out and it would of course bring about worries that you are not thinking clearly and are possibly having a breakdown. Also it would not be easy to attend your new job looking as tidy and professional as you would wish and of course the stress and conditions would not be good for both your physical and mental health. If need be surely presenting yourself to the homeless section would be preferable and tempirary accommodation and also rehousing isn't just for unemployed people. You seem really worried about the ccj and how this effects your credit which I understandable, but if you were out the country at the time and knew nothing about it then honestly you should be able to have that taken into account and even referred back to court if necessary. Good luck and I hope you get it all sorted as you've clearly had a series of little knocks while also doing well with work and it's now come to a head for you and you are now considering homelessness that is quite extreme, but that's not to be dramatic or anything its your way of ensuring you take the new job opportunity and you are pressured because of accommodation being very popular where you are and you feel you won't secure any in time because of the ccj. Please consult your local council and their homeless section for advice as I'm sure they can help you xxx

I agree with much of what SultanOfSwing has suggested above.
You really need to be in a job to get through this.

But sleeping in a permanently stationary vehicle makes you very vulnerable, so you need to do that for as short a time as possible, so you hopefully don't get noticed.
When I was homeless, I sometimes slept in parked up trains, semi derelict buildings, lobbies of flats and squats, but that was a long time ago and I don't know if these are available now. There was also the mixed blessing of other homeless people; it was possible to form alliances and friendships, for safety in numbers, but many were untrustworthy and made it worse.

If you can save, maybe get a loan or an advance, and manage to buy a cheap old (mobile) van with a long MOT, you are already in a better position. You will be more comfortable sleeping and less exposed.
You can move around and park unobtrusively in different locations, plus drive to the leisure centre for your ablutions.
It doesn't have to be large, something the size of a Kangoo or Belingo works, depending on how tall you are. (You can sleep diagonally)

Always park so that you can drive straight out of wherever you are, without having to reverse, for a quick exit when you need one. It helps if you can get to the driver's seat from the back. I found that ordinary streets with shops and houses, but away from pubs, were safe areas rather than parking in leafy suburbs with Neighbourhood Watch, or isolated car parks.

As a lone woman stealth camping in a van, I found it safer to settle in for the night earlier than to go to my van late at night, much less noticeable. (I could have some led lights on, unseen, to read)
Waking earlier, especially when it was colder, meant I could move the van before most people started going to school or work.
Finding an early opening cafe to get warmed up with tea and unstiffened before most people started the day helped, too.

I would say that one of those travel wee containers is an essential item, so you don’t have to exit the vehicle in the middle of the night.
Good luck

Maybe your unhelpful post deserved a snippy answer. OP asked for advice - not responses from those who simply want to question everything they say.

I agree about a van. It's a bit of a tricky one, as you also want to build up funds for a bricks-and-mortar home, so there's a bit of a balancing act there. But you also need to be safe, have some privacy and a degree of comfort.

A second-hand van is about £150 a month on HP with a £1,500 down payment.

I do like the term 'stealth camping'!

My mate secretly lived in the office for a while without his employer knowing. He just hung around at the end of the day until everyone had gone and got up very early before anyone arrived. It wasn't ideal and quite stressful but he got away with it.

I suspect this is more common than people realise. I had a colleague who did this some years ago until he found his feet. I had wondered if some younger people do this - there are some cars and vans near me which I have my suspicions about. It’s a shame that your car doesn’t work, that does make it very difficult. But I can see that you don’t have other choices for this job opportunity, and it seems like you’ve thought of lots of the practicalities. Although you need an address for most things, it’s so rare to get anything sent by post these days.

OP, I’m sorry you’re getting posts from smug people who think they’re better than you because they’re not in your situation. And their fucking inane suggestions!

How many bedrooms does your current rental have? Have you explained your situation to the owner and asked if you could rent a room until you find somewhere else?

Also, I would also contact your MP and try to book an appointment. They can be really helpful.

You’re not doing OP any favours by not reading her posts and questioning her about basic shit!

Craigslist has been in the UK since 2004!

Just because OP is in a vulnerable position doesn’t mean she has to show slavering gratitude to people’s inane posts.

Why are your suggestions better than anyone else's? If you read the thread you'd see your ideas have been suggested already, along with lots of other ideas. Pp have been really helpful. OP has not responded to many questions so hard to tell if the suggestions made are workable or not.

I’ve not said my ideas are any better. But I’ve read all of OP’s posts and not made any suggestions that she hasn’t responded to already.

Some people have been helpful, others just seem to want to stick the boot in.

Your post hits the nail on the head. I quit care work at Christmas after one insult too many, and went back to teaching. There aren't any teaching jobs available in the very rural area where I live (not UK) so I've had to be resourceful in finding accommodation. (A few years ago I was also evicted from a rented house in the UK, with nowhere to go other than a tatty cheap holiday home in a crap part of a foreign country, and even that makes me pretty fortunate compared to the average evicted tenant.)

The job offer is the only good opportunity the OP has, and she needs to grab it with both hands. The car situation is obviously unsustainable, but if it gets towed there's always the short term possibility of pitching a tent discreetly in woodlands or something. Hopefully the first month's salary will cover the cost of a car that runs, and she can then save towards a van. So many PPs fail to grasp the fact that the OP can only start from where she is, and it's delusional to judge her because she hasn't forced her employer or the council to magick up a free house. That just isn't a thing any more, and it's the reason why I emigrated (and why others have embraced van life).

I say go for the job and figure out the housing as you go. Something will come up.

You might have to save for 6 months of rent upfront though.

Is is possible to do the job remotely sometimes in order that you can sleep inside part-time?

@ForTidyFinch

What kind of job is it, OP, in which sector?

So many PPs fail to grasp the fact that the OP can only start from where she is

I think everyone has grasped that, but the solution is not to encourage a vulnerable woman to live out of a car that she can't even move to safety if needed.