Nowhere to live over Christmas, advice needed

[Bakewellbits]

I was meant to be completing on my first home this weekend, but the seller pulled out last minute, despite pressuring me for weeks to exchange - there was a legal issue outstanding that took a few weeks for solicitors to resolve, not a big deal, or my fault, but obvs needed sorting. Then at point of exchange the seller decided not to move afterall. I'm devastated.

I've given notice on my rental flat and new tenants are moving in soon. I have nowhere to go now, there are hardly any rentals around that I can afford. Airbnbs costs a bloody fortune. I need to be able to commute to work in London 3-4 days a week. I've spent 20 years saving for my deposit, I can't afford to go throwing several grand away on an Airbnb for several months while I get my shit together finding a new rental or place to buy - then I'll never be able to afford to buy. I have no family left, and no close friends any more so can't stay with anyone.

Any advice? And yes, things could be worse, I could be completely broke and homeless, so at least I'm lucky enough to have some funds.

They can't make you move out of your flat. You have rights.
Talk to Citizens Advice

Oof I had this. I lived in a. Air BnB at £65 a night until I found a house share, all my stuff went into storage till I met my partner and we moved in together three years later. I was left homeless on 17 Dec. I'm sorry.

This is really rubbish and stressful and unfortunately part of parcel of sellers being shitty. Tell your landlord you can no longer move out and rescind your notice. Obviously this causes issues for the new tenants but you are already there and in a bad situation that's not your fault

Don’t leave your current flat. They can’t legally evict you without going through a long process that can take > 6 months. Doesn’t matter that tenents are lined up. Just say you arnt leaving at present.

But it's not fair on the new tenants if I stay? I believe they have a young kid. I'm just me.

They will stay where they are too.

No one needs to be homeless - it'll just take a little longer for everyone to get moved.

You have options
Yes it will cost money but you have an income
You can choose to be "homeless" no roof You are not literally homeless unless you choose it
Put your stuff in storage
Get cheapest airbnb Til you sort something longer term

Look for a housesit/petsit (via local fb group or trustedhousesitters.com) or property guardianship.

What a nightmare. Could you see if anyone needs a house sitter over the holidays which would buy you a few more weeks? Ask colleagues or local Facebook groups.

I'd be looking at renting a static caravan on a site. This time of year, many will be empty and you might get a reasonable rate. DH and were renovating, and lived in 1 in the garden for 2yrs. It didn't have central heating, only single glazing and was tiny, but we coped.

A longer term rental in an Airbnb which isn't right in London might be cheaper too. We briefly rented out our property via AirBNB when living/working abroad for part of the year. I would have dropped the daily rate for someone renting for says 2 weeks, a month etc.

I would aim to get a room in a shared house. Doesn’t have to be anything amazing, just a temporary measure until you figure out the next step.

800-1k for a month to stay in a room in London. Not ideal but if you don’t want to interrupt/ temporarily delay the new tenants moving in you are going to have to spend money.

House sitting sites? I see long term ones.

Good luck. Absolutely shit situation.

What area you are roughly in OP- Essex, Surrey, Kent etc?
Where in London do you need to commute to? We might have other suggestions if we had more geographical info.

That's not necessarily true. Only a tenant or the courts can end a tenancy and as OP has given notice she would have to leave on the date stated. If the landlord had issued a section 21 to ask her to leave you'd be correct. Once notice is given by the tenant there's no going back.

Look on spareroom.com. Well worth a go.

She can rescind her notice. Don’t give bad legal advice. They can’t remove her without going to court. Which again would likely take in excess of 6 months.

If you can stay put do that. Are you in a city with a university? Often universities rent out their student halls over holidays and it used to be cheaper than a hotel. The website is University Rooms.

Oh my goodness OP that's awful.

I have no advice but I hope you find something. I'd be tempted to put all my stuff in storage and find somewhere as a lodger if possible. Should be cheaper than your current rent with any luck.

A legal notice to vacate the property cannot be rescinded. Lots of info on shelter.com

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housingadvice/privateerenting/endingaaperiodictenancy/howwmuchnotice

I'd look for some sort of holiday accommodation that may be empty and willing to do a few months let over the winter. Or a house share in extremis.

Likely at the end of the notice period is when the landlord could only attempt to apply for her eviction.

Evicting tenents is a lengthy process.

It is really terrible luck for this to happen and I hope you find some of the suggestions on here useful and can get some accommodation sorted out.
Too late for you now, but unfortunately it is not uncommon for parties to pull out of the house buying process at the last minute, which is why I'd advise anyone moving from a rental to purchase NOT to give notice to leave before you have actually exchanged contracts, and then have completion a month later or however long the notice period is, otherwise you do run the risk of being homeless.

Thanks. I'm currently near Croydon and need to commute to London Bridge mostly. I was meant to be moving to Caterham/Coulsdon area.

Also I have a long term health condition and get fantastic care from my current hospital and GP surgery, which is not typically the norm, so would like to stay in the area for this reason too.

As you gave notice, you will need to leave or the landlord can charge you double the rent for every day you stay over the end of the tenancy!

https://www.privaterentedservice.co.uk/landlord-library/what-happens-if-a-tenant-gives-notice-but-doesnt-leave/#:~:text=The%20rules%20are%3B,fails%20to%20return%20the%20keys