Homeless help

[Ilovecustardxx]

Myself, partner and daughter have been made homeless today - our landlords were selling our house - council advised us to stay until the last minute - which we did and we have now been placed in a b&b.
has anyone been in a similar situation? We currently have no cooking facilities and no money right now - as my partner is long term sick and I have taken some time off work due to my mental health with all this stress, so can’t get takeaways and things like that. we are in a pretty run down place with a shared bathroom and some very loud neighbours!
What can I do to cook meals?! How can I take the best of this for my 5 year old? At the moment it’s an adventure for her but I’m in pieces! I have no clue how long we will be here - no family very nearby either. We are also 2 bus rides away from
my daughters school, no car as had to scrap it due to broken gearbox, we’ve had it all thrown at us recently!

Have a look at the too good to go app. It has local takeaways and food shops selling food sometimes a quarter of the price they are normally. Most shops are ready made things too, so sushi at Tesco or sandwiches from greggs.
Hope you get sorted soon!

When I was in b&b with just a kettle, in a similar situation, I lived off cheap noodles, angel delight made with uht milk, cup a soup, tins of custard and rice pudding. Thinking about it now, you could also boil eggs in the kettle. A loaf of bread, butter and some hard cheese would keep ok for a couple of days at room temperature for sandwiches. Easy to prep or no prep fruit. Eventually I got a little gas burner, against their rules, which meant I could have beans and pasta in sauce packet type of things. I was living off £15 a week for everything because I had to pay the b&b for an evening meal they provided but I couldn't eat it as I was veggie, which they didn't understand!

If you're accepted as homeless by the Council hopefully you'll get a priority as you have a child. Depending on the housing pressures in your area, you might get offered something quickly via the Council or they could find you a private rental.

How do you wash up plates etc? No advice, it sounds very hard. We have a local food cupboard where you pick up free food and buy cheap meals.

Instant mash is OK with tinned Sweetcorn. What ever you eat, mix it up or you will get very sick of cous cous very fast. I'd get a microwave, tinned soups and bread to add variety in flavours.

I don’t know! I guess we have to wash them in the bathroom 😢

Couscous, tinned tuna, hard boiled eggs, bread and cheese, fruit.

Community pantries, community kitchens and cafes, or pay as you can restaurants.

Yes, I got one from coffee #1 that was a bacon bap, two different toasties and a cake for £3. All good to eat cold and a change from what you can keep/make without a fridge.

Please do not attempt to sneak in any slow cookers/microwaves etc. This will likely void the agreement between the hotel and the council, leading to the council cancelling their interim duty to house you. As you’ve got a child you will be priority need so will be housed in B&B again under discretionary duty but it’s not worth the risk.

Porridge pots for breakfast and pot snacks for other meals.

Ask your homeless Officer if the council offer kettle packs or can refer you to a food bank for a kettle pack (basically anything you can make with a kettle, different to the other packs food banks will issue).

If you're near a town, get the Too Good To Go app. You have to check frequently, but Greggs, Subway, Costa, Starbucks and other similar places are great for savory things like sandwiches for meals. Toby Carvery is another good one for breakfasts as you pick it up hot and can eat straight away. Plenty of other similar places too.
Hope you get sorted soon and it is short lived for you and your family. The only way is up, things will get better.

Omg, okay - that’s really helpful about the kettle packs thank you!

Do you have a Community Grocery near you? They are often very good with helping out with food packs that people have paid forward.
A lot of them also have somewhere where you can have a coffee and something to eat - often free!
Wiki how has ideas on how to cook with a kettle so you may find some ideas there. I hope you get sorted soon.

You can buy an electric pan like this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091PY1WNB/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWwp13NParams

This one is 36,99£ but you can browse and find a smaller and cheaper one for 15£, I saw it on Amazon a few months ago. Same if you can buy a small fridge it will help.

I wish you all the best in this hard time and remember sooner or later everything will be good for you and your family.

Another one saying consider returning to work if you can. It’s not easy to find work so much easier to keep the job you have. Especially while DC is at school and there’s another adult to look after her. Getting out of the room will probably help your mental health too.
I wish you well and hope this will be just a short term thing.

If you go back to work, do you have a microwave there? If so, at least you can heat up something microwavable for a hot meal (or two) for yourself. Then it's only your partner and child to worry about at home that day.

Thank you I have see these they look good 😊

Just 'bed' then

Sending best wishes to you

I'm sure if OP could have been working she would have been working, no need for all of us to advice it to her! Nobody wants to live on benefits, because is not a nice way of living! Everyone likes to have enough money to pay for food, nice house etc. It's ok, one day she and her husband will be able to go back to work and everything will be ok. Now she needs to live through this hard time.

The OP said they had only taken some time off work. I was suggesting it may make this time easier to get through if there are better cooking facilities than a kettle available.

Thank you 💜

OP I am so sorry, and this is appalling. Please contact Shelter tomorrow and your local MP and get them on the phone. to the local authority. They are supposed to avoid B&Bs for families with children full stop, and the longest you can stay is 6 weeks. They also should not have left you until the last minute as they purposefully put you in an emergency situation. They were under a duty to avoid that.

Shelter have lots of useful information on their website: https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/homelessness_applications/suitability_of_accommodation_for_homeless_applicants/suitability_of_bed_and_breakfast_accommodation#title-1

In any event, it sounds to me like the B&B they have provided is not suitable as it has no cooking facilities so you are unable to make you and your children food. if I were you I would go into their offices tomorrow and insist that they provide something else for you immediately. If they have nothing with cooking facilities they need to place you somewhere that can provide breakfast and an evening meal.

The homelessness code of guidance (this is a statutory code which restates the legislative provisions so must be followed) has a section on suitability, see here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-17-suitability-of-accommodation

The local authority will try to fob you off as they are no doubt very stretched, but please do not let them. Insist that they provide you something with cooking facilities and see if you can get Shelter on their case.

Good luck and big hugs.

It shouldn't be advertised as a b&b if there's no breakfast and cannot charge for that

I did think that weren’t supposed to be in b&b with children especially with shared bathroom facilities. Thank you I will have a look at this tomorrow.

This was exactly what happened to my son and I. We were made homeless due to my landlord selling up last Aug.
We were very lucky and put in a 5* holiday inn, but like you no cooking facilities or fridge. But we did have our own en-suite bathroom. We were there for 9 weeks before being placed in a lovely two bedroom house (where we currently are) it is only a temporary house for about two years, but can bid on council properties.
While in the hotel I lived on pot noodles, crisps and biscuits every single day.
I felt so rough with all the junk I was eating.
But it's not forever.
I hope you're not there long OP

Here is a site which might help you with food ideas using just a kettle.

https://www.patsfood.org/cooking-with-a-kettle/

See this also:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/homelessness/emergency_housing_from_the_council/types_of_emergency_housing