Worried about my son who can’t find anywhere to live.

[justacastle]

(nc for this)
DS finished university and has spent 18 months applying for jobs (450+). A few interviews who say they recruited internally or need someone with more experience (that old chestnut). Most just never reply. We live in London.

He finally gets a job but it’s in Oxfordshire. The company will let him stay at their accommodation (usually for customers) for a maximum of two weeks.

He cannot find any accommodation after this time. He has tried spare room app but when he gets a response people are asking for females only or more often there is no reply. He messages them a couple more times but nothing.

He doesn’t drive but willing to walk/cycle. He does have T1 diabetes so that is a consideration with distance.

He then put an ‘I’m looking for’ ad another site and a woman contacted him to say that, following throat surgery, she would be renting out her 2 bed house and moving in with family. It looked amazing and the woman said that the bills & council tax. A 25 minute walk to work. Paid the holding fee and arranged viewing for Sunday (he starts work on Monday).

DS was excited about job & house finally the months of angst were coming to an end.

So this morning he received an email from the lady saying that the rental company (?) wanted an extra £750 deposit before they would let him view the property. She said that she would pay £500 but he would need to pay another £250.

DS asked who this company was (not found on companies house) and their contact details so he could discuss it with them. She replied that they ’do not speak to prospective tenants’.

She also sent him her passport details by email as proof of her identity. Trouble was that the Passport had a spelling mistake in her name 🙄 🚩

Bank notified & they’re dealing with it.

Big problem is now DS is starting work on Monday but will have nowhere to live by the end of the month. As it’s quite a tourist area the Airbnbs and bed & breakfasts are thousands. He’s on the list at local estate agents but he has no salary history yet. They are really out of his price range but we’ll help him.

Just as an aside UC have paid him nothing for months, just the odd £15 here and there.

He’s desperately worried that he will lose his job.

Any ideas folks?
I’m so sorry for the long post.

So glad he’s started the job and it’s all going well. I hope the viewing goes well too.

If he does need a bike, these people refurbish bikes and sell them in and are based in Witney.

Getting a provisional licence is a pain with T1 and he has an awful lot to deal with right now. Perhaps something to look at when he’s settled in his new accommodation?

Thank you @ExplodingSmittens I have passed that onto him. His company does the cycle to work scheme (discounts and loan for bikes and accessories) but he doesn’t have access to that until December. This would be an affordable option. I think the driving lessons & car will have to wait as we just can’t afford it at the moment.

I get that. It will be expensive for him living away from home. Does he have his provisional licence yet?

Glad its going well for him. Wallingford is a nice town, there is a big free music festival there this weekend.

Yes his work closed early today so they could all attend.

Hope he enjoyed it. It sounds as though all the hard work he put in to get the job is paying off

Hi, just another little update about the scam rental.

The bank have finally come back to him after putting his account on hold for four weeks making life very difficult. They will not refund his £250. I’m not sure exactly why, they haven’t said. He is going to appeal but I don’t hold out a lot of hope. 😞

Your poor DS it seems unfair, he can try the ombudsman, wishing him luck.

Why did he pay a holding fee? You normally just view a property? I’d just go through an above board agency. Anyone can scam you when replying to an ad. Bank should refund money sent to a scammer BUT the get out clause is that he was not sufficiently careful. Some banks are better than others of course. MSE explains some of this.

Can he not find a job somewhere else or I guess not because of the unemployment crisis.

But that's a very bleak and miserable start to all working life for such a young man.

A lodger in a married couple's home in a remote area so that's going to put paid to any social life after work or meeting people. He needs to get to a big city with public transport and some kind of life around him. Hopefully that's doable in the future.

It took him over 18 months to get this job (which he’s enjoying) so he is definitely not going through all that stress again for a while. He's moved from a big city - London just to get work. He had to take rooms where he could for now and is trying to find an affordable flat/room nearer the town. The place he’s living is really lovely as are the people and their dog. He hasn’t got the money to socialise much at the moment anyway.

Oh no! Have they unfrozen the bank account now?

Yes thank goodness!

Awful for people trying to work. One of my DC’s had to take the most awful flat in Glasgow because there was nothing else.

He was applying for flats sS they came up but would be something like ‘number 55’ on the viewing list, if the list was still open.

A new young teacher in my school couldn’t sell her house in time for the September start of term and CAMPED for weeks (Mon-Fri) before she was offered a room locally. That really is above and beyond!

Well done to your DS, OP. It will get easier, you should be really proud of him.