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!

Freecycle might be helpful with a microwave or slow cooker or hot plate. If there's nothing that works for you then you can do a Wanted listing.
Our local tip also has an electric resale area, where appliances are all about £5.
So sorry you're in this situation. Where in the UK are you?

How are two people that currently aren’t working, going to be able to afford private rental prices? We don’t know much about where the OP was living but would the LHA cover the full rent price of a new place? If not, how would they get that topped up? Many people HAVE to rely on the council so I’m not sure what you expected them to do really

OP was in private rental accommodation.
So based on that it’s a fare comment / question to raise.

It really wasn’t , she already explained they were both unemployed, so living on benefits, you even state you know private rent is expensive, and it’s common knowledge many landlords won’t accept those only on housing benefits. They are homeless as they clearly have no other options and no income.

Close friend went through this. It's v tough but she has a council house now and housing stability finally. She was in a long term temporary house for a few years but the B&B stage was short. Hang on in there!

My God, @AngkorWat - you truly have no idea of the reality of this sort of situation and the advice one is given. And yet you’re trying to lecture the OP on her own actual experience - as if she doesn’t know what happens. Or were you just setting out to shame her for public entertainment?

Sending you strength, @Ilovecustardxx.

This is MN I am allowed to raise a perfectly reasonable or even unreasonable question should I wish to do so.
Theres no police on here….or so I thought

My observation was perfectly reasonable.
Who knows OP may we’ll have spent the time after initial notice looking at alternatives or even thinking of moving somewhere cheaper. We didn’t know at that point as no one had asked. So I did and clearly other MNs agree with the question as I’ve been thanked 6 times so far.

Perfectly sensible question to ask @AngkorWat dont know why that can’t be asked.
My cousin is selling her rental as the mortgage is £500 more than the rent now and the tenants have been sitting on it since last September, she can’t get them out and they can afford rent elsewhere. They’ve been told not to leave it untill the bayliffs throw them out, so they are. So I think it’s reasonable to ask if OP has looked around for anything and yes even moving out of area. We had to as we couldn’t afford to live somewhere I’d been all my life.

Read my post
I asked if OP had looked for alternative accommodation
Thats not lecturing.

Thats questioning……there’s a huge difference!

I see comprehension an issue on this thread…..

Wish councils would stop telling people to make themselves homeless it’s a huge issue all over as emergency accommodation is rarely fit for purpose and people would look elsewhere to rent given the time and reasonable advice which OP wasn’t given as @AngkorWat pointed out.

Councils and citizens advice need to stop this ridiculous advice.

Hope it works out soon for you OP.

Thank you so much x

LHA rates do not cover the rental costs for a 2 bed property in my area (roughly £1500 minimum) the current LHA rate is £815.

so that’s just under half to find. My partner had a heart attack (at 46 years old) and is currently recovering - I took some time off to look after him and our daughter, and as well to look after myself following a ridiculously stressful time.

yes we have had a long time knowing this was happening - of course I’ve looked in to private rental again it’s one of the things the council ask you to do.

it’s pretty impossible to find a private rental - whn they ask you to make anywhere between 4 & 6 times the rental annually.

i wasn’t making this post to ask for advice on how to find a private rental nor to tell peope
what I have done in order to not be in this position I was asking if people had practical advice about cooking with no facilities and any advice on being the best mother I can be to protect my daughter in this shit situation.

Just be aware that some councils (particularly London Boroughs) can offer accommodation all over UK (a friend of mine got moved to Birmingham with her 2 school age dcs)

Homeless charities in your area might provide a hot meal in the day or a local church.

I'm not sure if you realise it, but you do have a black and white attitude regarding mental health issues and homelessness. Do you really think that all people who end up being homeless are there only because they aren't smart enough to weight what's better for them, to work or not? And do it?

No, this isn't what I said at all.

Then please explain what do you mean by "It's about weighing up what is best for you in your situation, what more you may lose by not being in work and comparing against the gains. Work can be a lifesaver when the rest of your life is falling apart."?
When you mean all this about a person who clearly has mental health issues, her GP gave her a sick note because in GP opinion she's not able to carry on working at the moment and as a result of the sick note she's eligible to claim benefits?

Perhaps read what @AngkorWat said.
Posters here are twisting words, there was no lecturing or shaming just a very sensible question which you answered on the previous page.

Posters are being very rude twisting the words of others and it seems very normal on MN attempting to shame someone for doing nothing, it is very rude. I hate this kind of thing.

Thanks for asking.
Hope you find somewhere more suitable soon @Ilovecustardxx

I just wanted to add my best wishes @Ilovecustardxx
i went through this 28 years ago. Such a long time of course but I remember every second.
we were housed by the council after about 4 months. A proper house with a garden. We lived there until 2009 when we were lucky enough to buy our own place. You will be fine, I promise.
Kettle foods will get you through. I lived on instant porridge, sandwiches and bananas 🍌

I was speaking from personal experience with mental illness where I could have easily stayed off work much longer than I did. I was responding to a comment that made the assumption that people were 'ignorant' and did not understand mental illness if they mentioned going back to work. It's my personal experience that going back can help. I would assume that people are replying from their own experience before I would assume they are 'ignorant'.

If you don't have your own place, then being in work can also help. I wasn't properly homeless but sharing a room with my child while living out of suitcases in someone else's home for several months. It helped being somewhere else in the day, I needed that space.

There are some people who physically can't make themselves go back. A friend couldn't manage, and he is in a desperate situation now as a result. Not his fault at all of course.

No one’s twisting any words. The post is there for everyone to read and understand. The only question asked was ‘why do this to yourself’ as if the OP made herself voluntarily homeless. Defend whoever you want but don’t say people are twisting words when they’re not.

Sorry to derail your thread OP. Hope you receive more practical advice. I’ve been homeless but I was in a self contained flat so was able to have my own kitchen. Sending you love x

Clearly you don’t know how the system works.
CA and councils tell everyone to wait to be evicted. It is only when you are literally homeless that the council can help you. No one wants this but it’s the only way to get help.
Yes I know the system. If you leave of your own accord without eviction they cannot give you emergency accommodation, fact!
Its a disgusting and demoralising way to treat people, that’s how our system works!

So I asked one question only in my post ie did OP look for any other accommodation as there is a long period of time after s21 to bayliffs and even longer if the landlord has given them prior written notice. It’s a Reasonable question.

My post was a very simple question to OP who clearly has experienced the process as she’s just been through it.

OP answered a page back,, Thankyou OP and job done.

I know.
This technique needs to be dealt with more seriously

Sigh, you’ve completely missed my point. Of course I know how the system works seeing as I was homeless for just over a year. The only question you asked is ‘why do this to yourself op.’ Everything else was a statement. That’s all from me. Enjoy your day