Just About To Be Homeless and Going Into Temporary Accommodation

[NicePear]

I live in the South East in a city . My landlord has served me notice to leave as she is selling up . I have lived here for many years with my young son but have battered my credit rating paying £1000 a month rent and having barely enough to live on after . Due to my credit rating I can't find another landlord to take me . Anyway , the council said they can help , but if things go to "plan" we will have to leave on Christmas eve (around 2 weeks after our section 21 ends) , to move into a council bedsit so far away I will have to give up my job and change my son's school .It is taking two years for people classed as "homeless" to be re-housed here . I am so stressed this is making me ill . I have never not worked and my son is doing well at his current school . I just wondered if anyone has any experience of this system ? Many thanks

Sorry, no experience, but just wanted to say how sorry I feel for you and your son. Ridiculous amounts of rent you have to pay. Is there any chance that you could move further north, where your rent would be much, much cheaper? Although obviously finding a new job isn't easy, but long-term it might help?

My experience of being homeless is decades old so I don't know how it is now.

You should be able to apply for a housing association place too. It may or may not be automatic. Housing Association is generally better if you can get it.

Hope someone can give you up to date advice and I wish you luck.

Thanks Surprise .

Moving away wouldn't be so bad as he doesn't see his Dad and my family don't live here . But my job keeps me sane as I rarely go out and I enjoy my job . More importantly my son loves his school and is doing well .

I don't blame my landlord for selling up ; the going rate for a 2 bed in my road is now £1400 pcm .
Would landlords further north still take me with bad credit rating ?

Thankyou Back

Have you been in to see the housing officer in person?

They can offer assistance with:

Negotiating with your landlord or more time
Providing a deposit and helping with guarantors for private letting a
Putting you on the housing list - this usually a bidding process an you should already be on it as you've been served notice.

If you are not on the housing list already, get the paperwork done ASAP and they can increase your banding when you are actually homeless.

By being on it, you should be able to bid on a range of properties in your area (broad radius). You can see immediately where you are placed on the bidding list, or where you would be if you put in a bid. If you're in the top ten, then you have a reasonable chance as there's a secondary grading of the top bidders on a property which may mean you'll be lucky.

Also, phone shelter, visit the CAB and keep phoning the housing office for updates.

This exact thing happened to me and I was told the same as you In the first instance, but I kept pushing and found it wasn't as dramatically awful as they made it sound. Essentially, they want you to fix your housing issue by yourself and horrible as it sounds some housing officers will fob you off if they think you have a chance of getting yourself sorted without their help.

I got my house after just 5 weeks of bidding (before I'd been evicted) and though I had to move 25 miles and get a new job etc., having housing security massively helped.

Best of luck. It's very scary and it made me quite ill with worry ( the last thing I needed as a single parent with a six month old!), but it really did work out in the end.

Pp is right- they will say almost anything to get rid of you, and make you go back into private rented accommodation. You have to see the team that deals with homelessness (usually this is a case of going down there and waiting).
Regarding the section 21; I was told by the Civil Legal Advice people that the time frame for eviction is this:
If you are not out of the property by the end of the section 21 the , landlord can then go to court and get an eviction order. This could happen as quickly as 2 weeks BUTonce you receive the order,you then have 2 weeks to respond to the courts. You do this by filling in the form they send you. At this point you can applay for a 42 day extension of your right of tenancy. Right of tenancy has nothing to do with your contract, it's just a legal term meaning that you currently live there.
Given that you have a child, it is likely the court will grant you the extension.
At the end of the extension, if you are still not out, the landlord will have to go back to the courts and request a bailiffs order. You will then be issued a date that the bailiffs will be coming. Most council, once you have the bailiffs order, will then house you in temp accommodation, but some will do so as soon as you get the eviction order.
It is worth going to the council now anyway and asking to make an application for homelessness. This is separate from the usual housing application. They will try and fob you off, because once you are classed as homeless they have a duty to house you within 3 months (I think).
don't worry, if you just got your section 21, you won't be homeless at Xmas. The landlord might not even go to court right away. Ours waited 3 months after the section 21 had expired.
Google civil legal advice centre. They are a UK government non proprofit. They have dedicated housing advisors and were amazing to me when I felt like you. It took the stress off no end knowing I had more time than I thought.

We are now in temp accommodation, and bidding for permanent places. It's fine, not too far from where we live, so you may be lucky.