Being Evicted by council any advice would be. so appreciated

[helloall22]

So i have had some rent arrears and as the past year has been horrible i’ve missed the repayment plan
Ive had my life turned upside down and now im going to lose my home.
Ive been attacked in the street badly beaten up and then we lost our baby, had his little funeral, then my son was harassed by his ex girlfriend endlessly and her family she then had our house front door burned by my sons ex partner, then we were burgled, had my husband work van burnt out at night, we have been threatened by these people to drop the court cases as all have been reported to the police
Now my aunt has cancer of the liver
My kids are are scared to leave the house and dropped out of college after my daughter was threatened with a attack
So then i lost my job this week and im
beyond worried

I received a letter for a court date for a possession order by the council i have a secure tenancy.
they said they sent a notice of possesion letter a year ago.
I have misssef a couple of payments this year as i had large stomach operation and had to go on the sick and wasn’t entitled to sick pay after three months
so arrears started again. Then i got back to normal again when i started working
So then on the Beginning of march 26 was contacted to say i needed to start making payments to cover the debt
So by email i contacted the office and said i would
I did make payments for march
Then i made payments for April
and intend to make payments for may in two weeks

however in mid april she applied for the possesion order and now it’s likely i will lose my home and have no where to go plus im worried i am main carer for the person with cancer

I have emailed her over a few things but she hasn’t replied to me and even accused me of stealing housing benefits however i had to get prof from the benefits to prove i wasn’t paid anything and showed her that, that’s when she started to ignore me

can anyone offer advice or if they may have been through this the total arrears are 10months over 10 years that i have missed for different reasons

What condition or disability would her husband have ? To claim PIP?

PIP is an entitlement not a benefit and is not means tested. He would probably be entitled to it. I know you say he's against benefits and fair enough but if it means you lose your home because you're entitled to universal credit top up and him PIP the he needs a good talking to. If you call any support services the first thing they will do is an income maximisation assessment and you could do with it. Any back payments could clear the arrears. Your husband is unreasonable

Have you asked the Council for a Discretionary Housing Payment to clear your arrears?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments

Its now part of the Crisis & Resilience fund but it amounts to the same thing

She doesn't need to do that, she has a home - which she will be helped to keep with the support of her HO if she agrees and continues to engage with, the plan set up when she attends court (or before).

He's had knee surgery and cannot work full time ,because of affect his knee has on his ability to work he would be eligible.

Read the op post

Gently OP, the issues you have going on in your life doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay your rent.

You have had multiple letters to say you’re in arrears and even put on a repayment plan.
There are 2 adults in the home and there’s no excuse to not pay your rent.

I am not judging as I got into arrears when I lost my job but I was 19 and a single parent and it was overwhelming but with 2 grown adults, one of you should have been on the ball.

Why did you not set up a direct debit?
Especially if you had so much else going on.

Dont think you meant to tag me 😂

I didn’t think I had. But she replied anyway. To say that her post had been incorrect and the second girlfriend was all lovely. And everything related to the first.

It’s incredibly unlikely the court will order an outright possession order. Normally you’d be ordered to pay your rent plus x towards the arrears and only if you break that can they reapply to court for an eviction (which inevitably gets stopped under new payment terms at least once before any eviction happens). How much are your arrears?

Its all madness 😂🤯

You need to speak to Shelter, CAB or your local law centre for help.

The council don't really want to evict you, especially if any of your children are under 18 and your property is an appropriate size. However they do need you to pay. Pay what you can urgently, show them that you aren't falling further behind. Get help to ensure you are claiming everything you are entitled to, forget your husband's pride, the important thing is keeping a roof over your heads.

Engage politely with your housing officer, make sure they are aware that you are making payments and trying to pay something towards the arrears too. Tell them of the steps you are taking regarding claiming benefits and anything else that will show they can expect to get some money soon.

The court will most likely be willing to make suspended possession order on the basis that you make payments to the arrears but it is important that you keep up with the payments as the council can go back to court if you don't and they will be less forgiving next time.

How all that shit-show excuses the non-payment?

@helloall22 I’m sorry for the loss of your baby and all the troubles you’ve had, however there’s no excuse not to pay rent

I had a tenant who stopped payment for a year, she promised to pay the arrears but she didn’t, I gave her so many chances and then had to apply for a possession order

It’s cost me a fortune to get her out and get it sorted

This notice that you have been served wouldn’t have come out of nowhere, you would have been given plenty of time to sort yourself out

She said he works but slower and went camping recently. It is highly unlikely he would reach the threshold for claiming PIP.

Are you looking for another job, that's a priority, you could see if you're entitled to keyworker accommodation . It sounds a very difficult situation, do you really want to continue living there with all the issues. Are you your aunts main carer, what's her housing situation.

I am sorry for all your troubles, but to be honest it sounds as though there are a lot of adults in your immediate family who could have and should have stepped in to help you, made sure your rent was paid and that you were keeping on top of things. Why didn’t they?

Most councils will offer help and support to tenants having problems, because it is easier to do that than deal with evictions and rehousing vulnerable people to whom they have a duty of care, but they also have a responsibility to other tenants, and to people on their waiting list, and there comes a point when they can’t ignore tenants getting further into arrears and living in a property for free.

She's renting socially, not privately. The outcome will be entirely different at this stage.

yes I am putting in at least 10 applications per day and have two interviews in the next two weeks so I’m quite confident that I will get the role. I am my aunt’s main carer unfortunately we are all she has

her situation is very different she has a house with approximately 380,000 and she’s paid up about 290,000 so she’s going to sell and get something smaller. That’s a bit more manageable for her and hopefully would get that done before the treatment becomes too gruelling to
manage a move

fingers crossed.

@helloall22 I'm a bit confused. Is the arrears total 10 months' rent, e.g. £5000-£10,000, or are you saying that over the course of the last 10 years you've been in arrears, cleared them, gone back into arrears, cleared them, etc., 10 times? A PP suggested that current rent +£20 can be accepted, but if you're over £5000 in debt that would take 20 years or more to clear.

I’m surprised they’d evict u for 10 months rent

After ten years the judge is highly unlikely to go through with a full order

She should know this tho

Extremely unlikely.

That was me, sorry should have been clearer - we would accept £20pcm if that's all someone could afford (because it would be that or nothing) but this would need to be reviewed periodically with a view to increasing when possible.

I agree.

When I lost my job I got into arrears and did not have much spare money at all.

I had to fill in an income and outgoings form and they worked out that I only had £15 extra a month.
So I only had to pay £15 a month extra on top of my rent to clear which is not a lot but it’s better than nothing.

I did it over direct debit so I didn’t miss any payments, as I accidentally paid my CT late and got a £100 late fee, so it was an expensive mistake to make.

Once I got back on my feet, then I paid more off a month to clear it.

Do not bury your head in the sand over this.
It’s not going away and no matter what else you’ve got going on, this is a priority.
Not sorting it is actually just going to add to your stress.

Ring them today and find out where you stand and what will happen.
You can ring citizens advice for advice too.

Good luck with everything OP, between the (few) judgemental posts, there is some sound advice for you. I hope you secure a new contract asap - can you do agency work in the meantime?

Yes you’ve had a lot going on but why didn’t you pay your rent?
Lots of people have a lot going on similar to you and still pay the rent every month?