The back end of 2018 was a little bit of a slap in the face for my little family and I. In the summer, the landlord which I rented my house from decided that, without any warning, they wanted to gain possession of their house. Myself, as a single parent with no job, who was still paying off debts from the move to the current household less than 1 year previous, was given 2 months to ship out and find somewhere else to live. Now if you've lived in rented accommodation you know that you need a little pot of money behind you to do this. I did not have this. It also came to my attention that even if I could source the money, 90% of the agencies/landlords would not accept me as I was relying on benefits at that time. I was stuck. 8 months on from receiving the letter and we now have a lovely, permanent residence through a housing association but the transition was not easy. However, after spending most of the 6 months I was without a fixed address Googling for advise on everything I thought writing a post about my experience might help someone, somewhere, in some way.
FIRST STEPS
The first step I took was getting in touch with the local council to see what my options were. As I came to understand I had 3 options:
1) Stay at the property - The council advised that they would ask the landlord if I could stay longer and if I couldn't I would be able to refuse to leave until a court order was raised to have me removed. The pro's to this were obviously I could stay in the property for several more months, however the cons of general anxiety, stress and potentially owing money to the courts came with this.
2) Find somewhere else to live - i.e. a family member or friends house. Or various people.
3) Be placed by the council into a B&B and await temporary accommodation to be assigned by the council - This would involve a month or so in a hotel/B&B. It was likely that I would be moved on a weekly basis and it could be anywhere in the council district. This would also not have facilities to cook. I heard various stories around these facilities. Some were placed in Premier Inn's for a short period. Other were in a not so nice environment for a single parent and a 1 year old. After the 28 day period (or whatever your council's period is) I would have been moved to a temporary accommodation in the area. These contain a bedroom and can contain shared or separate bathroom/kitchen facilities. I was also advised that most have visitor policies after a certain time and you are not able to leave for safety.
I was advised that all of these options would not benefit me with a higher banding with the council (although I am not 100% if this is the case as I have heard many a story of "pleading homeless" to get a house quicker). My parents made room for myself and Theo in their study. Theo in his travel cot and me on a blow up bed. It was far from perfect for any of us but I was just grateful to not be in a B&B.
THE MOVE
As I moved in with my parents I was able to cut back on bills and could afford to hire a moving van and a storage facility for my furniture/belongings until we found a new home. Although due to timing and funds available I did have to leave things behind. This was not ideal or easy to do. This was unfortunately deducted from my deposit and left me with next to no money in my savings pot I was relying on to find my next home. I understand that in some cases this won't be possible for people. If this is the case your council should be able to advise on short term loans/grants to help with this. Even though I had storage I still had to cut back to the necessities and sell things that could be replaced. I moved into my parents study with a couple of bags of clothes for both Theo & myself.
THE COUNCIL WAITING GAME
As soon as we became "homeless" we updated the council of my status and my Mum also wrote an email detailing the inconvenience of my living there. How it was overcrowded and that was not ideal as we were sleeping in the place my Dad did his work 50% of the time. I was placed into a Band B with the council which in my district was the highest I could go if I wasn't on the street. My first month of bidding was half hearted until I realised there was always 20-30 people in front of me on the "list". Even when bidding on less than desirable properties there were still a handful of people in front of me. I had been at my parents for almost 3 months and did not seem to be getting any closer to finding a home through the council. I decided that I would have to try and get a private rental so after weighing up options with employment/nursery costs/benefit help I went back to work to try and gain a tick in the employment box with letting agents. Thankfully, I was contacted about a house which I had applied for 4 months earlier! It was in a slightly out of the way area and due to this had more people rejecting the offers which pushed me higher up the list. A week later the housing association offered me the house and after putting down the first weeks rent the keys were ours. 3 weeks before Christmas.
On a side note, don't forget to do a hefty search about affordable rent schemes independent housing associations and different councils you may be allowed to live in due to family connections/working area. This will help to widen your housing choice.
OUR FIRST "COUNCIL HOUSE"
I thought I'd include this as I'm unsure whether others were aware or not. Aside from the bathroom's and kitchen sink the house was completely bare. No oven. No carpets. Nothing. This is usually the case with new and old properties. We paid to have the living room carpeted before Christmas so we could move in comfortably and at least have one room which was "liveable" with a toddler. We also borrowed various off cuts of carpet and old rugs for the bedrooms/hallways. I can confirm that as I write this (March 2019) we now have only 1 bedroom left and we officially have a full house with flooring. We also had to buy an oven (these had always been supplied in previous rentals), a new washing machine (I had to leave mine behind due to the space in storage and inability to disconnect it safely) and a fridge/freezer (the bloody thing packed up 3 days before New Year!). All of this came at a large expense which without the savings has taken us a while to invest in.
And thats it. All in all, the hardest and most stressful time of my life to date. I've tried to write anything which would be a use to others but I will also leave a few links to helpful sources below incase anyone out there find themselves in this situation. I'd like to say that I'm no longer bitter about the situation we were put in but I would be lying. Although I am extremely grateful that we have a roof over our heads, and a very lovely roof at that.
Unfortunately due to the lack of housing and the ever increasing cases of homelessness the housing associations and councils are sometimes a little bit lax on their communication. From experience shouting the loudest does help in some cases.
Turn2Us - Calculates a list of benefits you could be entitled to which if you input the correct information is usually pretty accurate. If you work or have worked in the last tax year you will need the amount you earned in that tax year. It also gives you information on how to get in touch with the particular benefit body.
Citizens Advice - Information regarding homelessness and other laws/regulations/information about housing.
Shelter - Providing further information about private/social renting, homelessness and benefits.
If you need advise or would like to ask further questions please comment and I will try and reply as soon as I can :)
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