Homeless in a few weeks time!

[SleepyTinker]

Hello, we are a family of 4 (couple, 4yr old and an 8 yr old) renting privately a 3 bedroom house in Romford. Recently my LL decided to sell it although we were promised they were looking for some "long term" tenants. Now looking at the horrible housing situation, it's near to impossible to find another 3 bed property or a 2 bed property within £1500 budget in my area. Me n my husband both are working and earning close to 36k and claiming UC but most (almost all) landlords doesn't count benefits as an income or would like to rent to tenants claiming benefits so this is another issue although we've been actively searching for properties to rent. My job and my children's school are based close to my house, so we cannot afford to go too far away from this area. This is the first time that we will be facing homelessness, I am unsure of the process if anyone can guide us (mostly timeframe wise). As soon as we have our eviction notice we'll be contacting our lbbd council, what will be the next step from them?

-If it's a temporary accommodation, any idea how long that's gonna be?

-Will they prioritise us to be closer to our area/job/ children's school?

-what does temporary accommodations actually looks like? B&B ? Hostels?

-how are priority bands alloted?

-Anyone have any personal experience with our borough or neighbouring would be much appreciated.

We have so many questions and are honestly very scared for everything, please be kind as we're already suffering from something we didn't actually called upon ourselves. LL decided to sell out suddenly, we were always paying in rent before due and even the property has been kept in an immaculate condition. Hoping to hear something positive ✨ thanks xx

It is not a silly comment, it is a suggestion that people don't necessarily think of, and it is what I ended up doing myself a few years back. I had to shop around a bit, but I found a mortgage broker that sorted me out with a deal I didn't think was possible. I didn't have a deposit.

Almost all LL use client find a service where the EA finds a tenant and does a credit search on them including asking for proof of income. Very few LL advertise themselves even if they manage the let property themselves, possibly because of all of the immigration checks.

@Autumnleavesss Sorry but what a judgemental load of rubbish. Firstly the OP doesn't state anywhere they work PT, secondly, there are often reasons people work PT that can't be solved overnight, thirdly, since when has it ever been that easy for someone to simply "get a better paid job"? The OP is facing eviction in the next few weeks, applying for new jobs, better paid or not, takes time!

Ridiculous judgemental nonsense.

Op, I don't have any advice I am afraid but I wish you all the best. The world is tough out there and this must be very worrying for you. Sending you all the best. X

I cannot thank you enough for your response here 💖💖💖 My partner is full time and I have just started working this month, I am also a student while juggling house kids etc.

Thank you hon XX 💛

Thank you 💛

@notknowledgeable a house in Romford will likely be £400k+, over 10x their income. They won't get a mortgage for that.

@SleepyTinker are you sure your council is LBBD? If you are in Romford it would be Havering.

I'd suggest checking out the Shelter website, & maybe contacting them directly for advice too.

Can you consider a 2 bedroom flat / maisonette? There are a few on rightmove for under £1500 pcm. If you go via the homelessness route there's no guarantee you'll get a house, and you'll only be entitled to a 2 bedroom anyway (given your children's ages).

In the longer term (as in, over the next few years), maybe have a look into shared ownership if you want to stay in the area. I live locally & have a couple of friends who have bought/are buying this way, as they can't afford it otherwise but wanted to stay local & not have the insecurity of renting.

Yes it's lbbd, we are looking on Rightmove and Zoopla but as soon as they hear we're claiming UC they just don't wanna continue with us. We have immaculate credit history, not a single loan in sight but still facing problems acquiring a rental.

@Autumnleavesss nasty you are. OP is also a student

I do sympathise with the Op, the fact that a family with your income is facing homelessness is a sign of how awful things have become. But (and I’m wording this very carefully, not trying to be an arse) being a mature student is a luxury that takes a lot of financing. If your family is on the brink of homelessness, it doesn’t sound to me like you can afford to be a student at this point. Are you nearing the end of your studies? If not, or if there isn’t a clear pathway to guaranteed good earnings after, I would think very hard about whether studying is a realistic option at this point in your life.

Wish you all the best in sorting things out.

My education has been paid for already, I do not have any loans for it or any extra payments that needs to be paid and also it has almost run it's course now 💛 I am still working 3 days anyways but the issue here is the crashing rental market, where people with UC aren't accepted even with good credits and rental history. We are actively searching for properties in absolutely no way are we pushing ourselves on the council but considering all looks like it will be our last resort hence this chat was put up to see if anyone can relate to my situation and provide with some practical timeline or at least guide us through the process. Fingers crossed we really hope to find a rental on our own 💖

Someone training should be able to find somewhere ri live

Someone whose family income isn't particularly low compared to the national averages should be

Someone who earn less than average should be encouraged to train

Hi I'm I. The same situation although only have one child....so firstly when I contacted the homeless team they put us into gold band for council housing ( in my area there is bronze, silver, gold and platinum ) this was as soon as we received section 21. After a few weeks of bidding and only coming closest at position 35, I contacted them again and said I've still had no luck with private rental side of things as nothing is within our price range ...they asked me to fill out an income and expenditure form and agreed that it would be an issue. They have now put me to platinum ( full duty homeless ) and I am not in temporary accomodation (yet)
Keep at them and try to push for the highest band possible as quickly as possible to try to avoid temporary accomodation. This week is the first time I've bid since being platinum so no idea yet how close I will get but I am hopeful it will be quicker and have the luxury of staying at current property for now ( until bailiff come but that could be 6 months )
Good luck and I hope you get somewhere sorted soon, private rent is just a shambles nowadays....
I should add that I do suffer from severe OCD and had doctors letter but it isn't mentioned in their response to me, to my knowledge it is the budget that has got me moved up.

The OP said that they are both working. There will be childcare issues as well, with the 4 and 8 year olds

I was in homeless hostels at 16 year old, they are hell on earth (filthy, infested, dangerous, no basic working hygiene facilities) and I choose the streets over it. I was also dumped alone in a hostel in another city miles from everything and everyone I knew where I could no longer get to work so lost my only meager income.

However with children you usually qualify for high priority and much better emergency accommodation. In fact I was straight up told by the people running the housing at just 16 year old to 'try and get pregnant' as 'young single homeless mothers' are deemed the highest priority so would jump to the top of the list (which shows how batshit everything is).

They did show me around one of the flats for young teen mothers (I mean it they gave it as genuine advice and where pushing that as my best option) and it was much nicer than a hostel. It was a self contained tiny flat unit in a complex of other young families that seemed decently up kept maintenance wise.

Not sure if its the same for older families but I imagine you will get placed somewhere better than a hostel.