Refused temporary accommodation

[BabyMama2025]

so I am currently pregnant I did my homeless application in October and got offered a temporary accommodation on the 7th of November. However I refused it as the room was absolutely tiny literally just fits a bed. Of course I am grateful to be offered the help and roof over my head. But, how would I know how long I was in there not only that it was unsafe front door didn’t lock. Crazy man screaming and shouting in the shared kitchen. Writing on the walls saying theives work here. Google reviews of the place showing mould in the rooms. So yes not safe as I refused I explained to my council why and wasn’t offered anything else I have since been sofa surfing but I am due end of jan. my relief duty is now coming to a end and I’ve had no contact from the council. I have been trying to get private rent with the council but before I say I want it the lady says it’s now under offer 🙄 so she’s not very helpful in helping me find a place. I have been trying myself but I live in London so it’s incredibly hard. Anyway any advice on what may happen when my relief duty has finished ? I’m planning to email my housing officer and ask.but maybe they could dismiss my duty as I refused the temp accommodation. I am still with my partner too who works full time I have already started my mat leave

Did you think being pregnant would help a homeless application and plan that accordingly? Either way, you turned down their provision, and it's not clear what their rules are if you do that.

Plenty of people are forced out of their home towns. Look at the migrants coming in, at least you get to stay safe and get to stay in your own country.

You haven’t answered what you were doing prior to being homeless or where your partner is sleeping.

You do seem a little naïve to have refused a property the council offered you. You really aren’t in a position to be choosy.

I never understand the term 'sofa-surfing' - do people really let their friends live with them for weeks on end, sleeping on the sofa? That's an incredibly selfless thing to do.

That is sadly not true; they're underfunded and sadly, offer whatever they can. Growing up, the council homes I was in were always covered in mould, and sometimes very unsuitable. My sisters council home, came without any flooring or wallpaper, barebones. Unsure for a baby in that situation as they can't crawl on battered cement and splintered wood :(

Why do people keep saying private rent? The OP is trying to private rent, through the housing officer facilitating that through the PR scheme, where they give you a deposit. The problem is there's a severe rental shortage at the moment, and so landlords are not so inclined to take people needing housing benefit, even thought the law does not allow them to discriminate, plus with 30 people going for each flat, the chances of being successful are low.

Private rental is incredibly stretched in most places right now, and the OP and her partner may not be even standing a chance in London, by the time their housing officer finds somewhere, it will have gone.

In the past councils used to run schemes to help landlords rent to tenants on welfare, as well as provide minimum standards for the tenants, like all their gas/electricity checks. Our council does not do these any more. The OP and her partner will have to take their chances on the open market, and even with a housing officer, may not get anything.

OP, you should not have turned down the temp accommodation but you know that now. You could have taken it, and then still sofa surfed for most of the time at your friends.

I don't like the tone of many of these posts, Labour hasn't promised to build over a million homes for fun, and moving is no guarantee of an immediate job, and if there's an issue with one month's rent, they may not find it that easy to move and start up elsewhere.

Do contact Shelter, OP as the law is quite complex around this plus many of the officials involved don't know the law either and will tell you all kinds of things to try to manage the demand and make you go away. You need to know your own rights, and also what is not possible for you now.

If you are both working why can't you rent? Those of us who can't afford central London move where we can afford.

Crazy how many posters are saying private rent. It's highly unlikely they'll find anywhere claiming a benefits top up and with a baby on the way, most landlords don't accept children - this is the same in the North, not just London

OP should contact Shelter.

So many people are going to come to the end of their tenancies at some point and then not be able to find another rental, especially if they have children, animals, or are on benefits or any combination of those things as there is an over-saturated market with high competition for each property.

Labour are bringing in the Conservative's bill for tenant's rights but this isn't going to help the under-supply of rentals in the short term as quite a few are leaving the market and selling, and it's just making rent rises much higher.

Anyone saying 'just private rent' is either in a nice mortgaged house themselves from years ago, or hasn't come to the end of their current rental and doesn't know what it's like out there right now. Don't bother showing links to places the OP could move to, if you try to move there you will find out that most places get snapped up immediately, and anyone with a less than perfect credit score, a temporary job, children, animals, disabilities will struggle because the rental market is the survival of the fittest and isn't able to help those most disadvantaged at all, which is why now the pressure on the councils and the homeless services has ramped up.

Me and my partner were both working full time; but sadly every viewing we went to we got refused as we've never rented before so had no references or a guarantor. We even had deposit ready to go

Where in London are you trying to live? I work full time on a very average wage (low for London) and currently live in zone 5 where private rents are around £1200 for a 1 bed flat and £1500 for a two bed. Very tight for me as a single person but would definitely be manageable if I had a partner who also worked full time…? Especially if you are entitled to UC or whatever in addition.

That’s what was said to me in the email when I refused my accommodation but it says if they are satisfied if it was suitable but It was not.

sounds as if they were satisfied about suitability, you weren't.

We had a close friend stay in our living room (we didnt have a spare bedroom!) for about 4 months after he split with his partner. We didnt charge him anything, but he covered his own food and gave us some money towards additional energy costs. He just needed a few months to get together the deposit for another place which was the equivalent of I think 3 months rent.

id do it again too if he or someone else we are close to needed it, but he can’t have enjoyed it that much. It was literally sleeping on a sofa - not a sofa bed/pull out bed- for a little under 4 months!

Sorry, I work for social care not housing, housing have their own duties, they will often discharge their duty for one reason or another, social care have different duties depending on age and care needs. Adults may need to accommodate someone with care needs even if they are not eligible for council housing, and children’s have a duty to house children

So why have you been unable to find anything to rent privately? Lots of debt? Poor credit? Two of your working full time should be able to afford something, even in London. Or move out of London. Not ideal, but needs must.

Yes I agree, I’m probably being a bit dramatic. I know people who social care have placed in b&bs but normally they have other issues which has caused children’s social care involvement - DV etc.

I should imagine if they know that partner works full time so has income even children’s would tell them to pay for their own temporary accommodation, I just wouldn’t risk putting myself on their radar unless absolutely necessary, but then again I’m coming from a place of privilege and if OP is actually at risk of street homeless then that may be her only option.

I hope you find a suitable solution OP, but you deffo need to find out if their duty to provide temporary accommodation has been discharged

For some reason, I get the feeling that OP is trying to play the system here. She hasn’t answered why she lost her previous accommodation or where her partner is living.

The system in place is ruthless, and hardly protects mothers and their children. If "playing the system" gets her baby a suitable, safe home, then I say do it. However, if she does have the perfect means to get her own place, and is choosing not to, to try and save money. I would say that is cruel to that baby. I am deeply worried why she has left this issue for so long however; I know if I wasn't in temporary accommodation by 12 weeks I'd be getting very anxious!

Next time accept what they offer you.

You can get mould spray and dehumidifier boxes, mould is common in council properties so get used to dealing with it and keeping on top of it. You can clean the place and put posters (carefully) on the wall, mattress topper and nice bedding on the bed and add some home touches and an extra lock on the door.

You may not have been there long and they may have moved you asap once baby arrived, but if you want help you need to play the game no matter how unpleasant it is.

For some reason, I get the feeling that OP is trying to play the system here. She hasn’t answered why she lost her previous accommodation or where her partner is living

If the OP was playing the system, she would have known to take the temporary housing however awful as a stepping stone to further help. Even if she tries to game the system, the chances of getting offered a nice flat in London is fairly low, many people are waiting for many many years to get further up the list. Even in our area, you'd be a year in a Travelodge in one room, no kitchen.

I'm not understanding the sums. You both work full-time. The minimum wage is 11.44 an hour. Based on a 35-hour week, you and your partner combined must have an income of at least 41,600 per year. There are plenty of places to rent for about 800pcm in the outer boroughs like Croydon.

I'm in my mid 60's now and had to move away from the town I grew up in in the 1980, as did many people I knew as there's no way we'd have been given what then we're council houses and we couldn't afford to buy locally.

Same now for my DC and many of their friends.

I live and work in many of the areas they claim to work in. It is really not the answer to just expect people to up sticks and move here. These schemes really aren't working in reality.

Maybe the money isn't the issue? Me and my partner were working full time, with a deposit saved up, but kept getting rejected because we didn't have a reference or a guarantor.