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

Could you buy a small tent to live on a camp site, that way you have access to toilets and showers? What would you do for a permanent address? You'd need one for work.

I have worked with people that have commuted two hours one way to work

Secondly, your council may have a list of landlords who rent rooms & properties, so suggest contacting them for advice.

Always view properties in person yourself, because there are scammers who advertise property & ask for deposits, when there is no property available.

Also suggest looking on the local community Facebook page for that area for accommodation.

Good luck

Having a job means I can earn money and hopefully lift myself out of this situation over time. It will give me options and a warm comfortable place to spend the day time. It will keep my spirits up give me purpose a nd motivation and money. Don't you think being unemployed and homeless would be worse ?

Four years? why are you staying in this area? there are other jobs.
As for PP saying oh i understand when they owned a mortgage free house; hardly comparable at all.
Stop making poor choices OP, no job or area is worth living in a broken down car.

And where will any future post/letters go to?

Get in touch with CAB or shelter and see if they can offer advice.

@Kelly51 - I understand the awful choice between having no job and no home. It’s really that simple.

I have slept in my car sometimes over a period of two years for a job. Have you?

Well this area is offering me something - a job. It's not offering me much but do you have any suggestions of other areas? My other option is to stay with family who are in an even more rural area with an even worse situation re jobs and could only offer me a sofa to sleep on. The alternative is to stay in a very expensive city on a friend's sofa. This seems to me the best option formthe situation I am in now. I am not clinging to this place I have nowhere obvious to go where the situation would be better long term

What will you do at weekends for water/electricity? It's a long time to spend in a car

I think if you are living in your car, you need to be careful about where you are parked overnight - some car parks, for instance, clamp down on drivers using them for overnight sleeping purposes.

This article is interesting in terms of the requirement to have a home address:

Who Absolutely Needs You to Have Your Address?
DVLA (V5C and Driving Licence)
HMRC (The taxman)
Banks
Credit card companies
Passport Office
Other financial institutions

So if you have any dealings with any of those organisations, you’ll need to have an address that you can collect post from - maybe family?

I was thinking to spend those days at the leisure centre or sometimes travel on the Friday night to spend the weekend with family or friends

You need a postal address, for banks/hmrc/dvla etc. etc.

Do you have a relative who will let you register their home as your address and they scan and send any mail to you?

@ForTidyFinch I’m going to go against the grain here and say that in your shoes I’d go for it and live in your car for a bit.

However, I would also set up a Royal Mail redirection service for a year to send any post to a safe relative (you really do need to have a postal address for work/banking/car stuff etc).

I would also be careful to save every single penny while you’re homeless - try to build up as much as you can in a savings account. Also, shop around for savings accounts because there are quite a few with excellent interest rates (but again, you will need to use your old address so get onto that asap!).

It’s very tough. I’m not going to guess where you are but we go on holiday every year to somewhere that is very as you have described. One of my children actually has the offer of a part time job for two weeks next summer while we’re there on holiday (he’s very young!) because they have trouble getting seasonal staff - mainly because of the issue with the cost of renting.

Maybe from October it might be possible to rent a room? You might find a helpful colleague who has a room to rent? But again, I’d advise spending as little as possible so you can save, save and save a bit more.

It sounds really tough but good on you for getting the job and trying to work around it.

No one has mentioned that you don’t have to leave your tenancy if you are about to be made homeless. You stay put. The landlord will have to extend the tenancy in kind or go through an official eviction process.

We stayed in our home 6 months after receiving a section 21. We were honest with the landlords the whole way through. It’s a long process.

Do not leave the property OP. If you’re lucky your landlord would rather you explain the situation and extend the tenancy than live in your car. But whatever you do, stay put!

I think live in your car for a bit but dedicate time each week to looking for better conditions.
I know someone who lived with someone with care needs , they had various light evening caring duties like cooking for them both and making sure the person went to bed. In return they paid no rent (though there was an agency fee they had to pay). Perhaps look into something like that?

Does the small town have a library that’s open at the weekends? Those can be a peaceful place to sit and read or work or surf the net, and nobody really bothers you if you’re just sitting there minding your own business.

I live in a city, mind, where the library is open every day for ages, and appreciate there may not even be one in your town!

IKR. You call the council and tell them you are emergency homeless from x date and they will put you in a hostel until something else comes up. (Either you find a room to rent in the area in time - try Nextdoor.co.uk or local churches - there will be someone who has a room who doesn’t want to do Airbnb) Or you decide you need to move to a city where there is more work and more housing.

OP it doesn't look good for your company if their employees are living in cars. I'd approach them for a start.
Also, not everyone will be renting their rooms out on AirBnB. I'd see if anybody local can help.
Your employer needs to solve this issue surely because they need staff... How are they going to hire if people can't find somewhere to live? Even young people born and raised there want their own homes at some point

Shelters phone line is a nightmare, I've had more success using the live chat function on their website.

She said it’s a short term tenancy, in which case she may not have the same rights as long term tenants. It depends what she means by that.

If you’re staying on a friend’s sofa it doesn’t matter if the city is expensive because presumably they won’t be charging you full rent? That sounds like a much better option than homelessness.

It sounds very difficult

if you really can’t get a tenancy then it sounds like staying in the area is unviable?

you def need to get the CCJ sorted out I see you’re onto that but it’s not straightforward I know.

that said have you asked on Facebook for anyone that wants a lodger? I have been a lodger and lodged and never had any questions about CCJs. Lodgings are unlikely to be advertised on Rightmove.

in the short term then I’d be contacting campsites about pitching a tent for the summer.

Your employer is going to need an address OP.

Local facebook pages - ask about renting a room

Slightly left field suggestion but are you in an area with canals? If so, you could ask at a marina if they are aware of any boaters who might like to rent out their boat on a short-term informal basis. I think you can get around the issue with your post by just using a family member’s address as a “care of” address.

Wishing you well OP, what a world we live in where this kind of scenario even exists!