facing eviction and homelessness

[refmum]

we have separated,i can stay in house for 93 days and will then get an eviction notice (house comes with husband's job)

I have no job,am a mum to 4 boys and one girl (daughter doesn't live with me)

Very scared

Refmum get in touch with women's aid, they will point you in the right direction, they will advise you on where to go etc.

Don't be scared I know that is easier said than done, but a few years back I was in your position, and believe me everything worked out fine.

Apply to the local ( or indeed any) council housing authority.

they will assess you as being homeless. as you have children they have a duty of care to house you.
it may not be an ideal housing solution but it will put a roof over your heads until you are able to move somewhere you would rather be.

Thanks,i have been to council and they have told me to fill out online forms which i will do over the weekend,i am scared that i am jumping out the frying pan into the fire,could stay with husband but was unhappy and he was getting violent,not to me but to objects/doors etc in house,knew i had to change things but if there are no council houses for us where will we end up? feel i am letting my children down

As you are a mother fleeing a violent man you will be a high priority for the local authority's housing department. I appreciate that in your specific circumstances it's not possible to obtain an occupation order and get him out, but you will be housed.

Are you Forces ?

was going to ask same oldraver......but either way,womens aid can help get you onto priority housing list

If you are in married quarters you need to speak to welfare and SSAFA as soon as possible if you haven't already. They should be able to help you. There are 'halfway houses', loans and other help available. It's probably worth posting on the Forces Sweethearts section on here as well.

yes am forces,have been to SSAFA,got to go but be bk tomorrow,thanks to everyone x

Ssafa sent me' to a stepping stone home , was best thing I ever did and got rehoused quickly enough too

did you have children? i have 4 boys with me and 3 of them are settled in school?

The 93 days isn't an absolute. It's 93 from the day your husband tells his admin office that you are separated. This can be extended (as long as housing isn't at a premium in your area) for up to another 93. Thereafter you can be classed as an 'irregular occupant' BUT you will then have to pay the Market rate in rent (which is likely to be 6x more than your DH is paying now)

If you are unable to find anything in the 93 days you could go to the Cotswold Centre, which is like a halfway house (and is lovely) The unit Welfare Officer will have the details.

I know a lot about this, happy for you to PM me and I'll help where I can

yes,had 4 children with me when i left. they have 2 bed flats. well,its 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. separate kitchen or a shared,depending. shared lounge and other good facilities. they had to go to school there. which 7 years on seems not to have affected them,and they all have fond memories of that time

there are 2 stepping stone homes in the country.....south and north.....are you relocating area?

i am going to stay here,i'm in the south west,have applied today for social housing and continueing to look for rentals

Hi refmum

I was also in a situation similar to yours, and had the 90 day notice to find somewhere. I think I have blocked a lot of it out now, but it was hard. I found the forces absolutely no help whatsoever, but the council and local estate agents were like angels sent to look after me. I lived in an area with a high immigrant population, and council housing was not easy to find. To complicate matters I was on the border of two councils so had to go between both. Luckily after being interviewed (in a room with the chairs screwed to the floors as people could become violent and throw them, apparently) the lady who dealt with me was very understanding and said that there was no way I would last a minute in the local hostel, and advised me to look for landlords who would take 'dss'. I can't begin to tell you how hard that was to walk in and say those words, just felt like I was nothing, and most of those I went to just looked at me and said no. I did find one, with a very nice lady, who sort of took me under her wing, found me a lovely house and I moved in just under the 90 days. That was the happiest year of my life, just getting out of it all and doing things on my own - with the kids of course.

You will come out of this. I found that telling the housing officer the whole story (DV) helped them to build a picture, plus the police had been involved too.

Good luck, and if you think of anything you need to know, please come back and keep asking. As I say, a lot has been blocked out, but I may be able to help you, just need a bit of prompting!

Hi refmum

I was also in a situation similar to yours, and had the 90 day notice to find somewhere. I think I have blocked a lot of it out now, but it was hard. I found the forces absolutely no help whatsoever, but the council and local estate agents were like angels sent to look after me. I lived in an area with a high immigrant population, and council housing was not easy to find. To complicate matters I was on the border of two councils so had to go between both. Luckily after being interviewed (in a room with the chairs screwed to the floors as people could become violent and throw them, apparently) the lady who dealt with me was very understanding and said that there was no way I would last a minute in the local hostel, and advised me to look for landlords who would take 'dss'. I can't begin to tell you how hard that was to walk in and say those words, just felt like I was nothing, and most of those I went to just looked at me and said no. I did find one, with a very nice lady, who sort of took me under her wing, found me a lovely house and I moved in just under the 90 days. That was the happiest year of my life, just getting out of it all and doing things on my own - with the kids of course.

You will come out of this. I found that telling the housing officer the whole story (DV) helped them to build a picture, plus the police had been involved too.

Good luck, and if you think of anything you need to know, please come back and keep asking. As I say, a lot has been blocked out, but I may be able to help you, just need a bit of prompting!

sorry about the double post

Once you're in a private rental you are no longer a priority. You do actually need to be officially homeless to be pushed up the priority wait lists.

thanks - cottage frog,thanks for telling me your story,i have been through this before,9 years ago,my first husband was forces too,i was put into temporary accomodation but soon after met my husband (one i'm separated from)

I have forgotten alot too about the whole process.

Really don't know what's best,going for private rental or waiting to be evicted and housed by council,if it ends up being b and b i will lose my dog this is so scary and hard

I think the best thing to do is to talk to CAB if you haven't already been. I don't know whether you are allowed to stay in privately rented indefinately. IIovetiffany makes an important point above. In my case, I wouldn't have wanted to live on the council estate - I would have found it too scary but then I was living on my nerves at the time and just to get as far as I did was bad enough. God, I really do feel for you - I wouldn't wish it on anyone x

thankyou so much for that lsa2