Emergency Housing help!

[Bellabuchanan28]

hi all,

im in a really bad situation and am looking for any advise… I was in temporary accommodation provided by my local council. I was with them for about 3 years when they asked me to move again (4th time). They offered my a property however I was in hospital at the time so was unable to move. The bailiffs then came and I was evicted. The council have since stopped their duty of care as I did not move. So I have since been moving around every night to different hotels. The council have been paying for some night however the amount given does not cover the full amount, and as I am not in universal credit (I am still on income support etc) only certain postcodes are eligible for housing benefit.

So long story short- I don’t have enough money to pay for a private rented apartment and I am now totally out of money to pay for hotels. What can I do?

my son is 6 years old, I have no family and the father is not around.

I am going to have to sell my phone etc but still won’t gwt enough for deposit. Any advice will be hugely appreciated

[Sherinam]

You need to go back  and see the council today to see if you can get  bed and breakfast.

Do you have a relative or friend that you can stay with until this is sorted?

Bailiffs/sherifs do not ususaly chuck people out if there is a small child involved .  Did you contact citizen advice bureau?

[Jason77]

That is shocking, I am not in a position to really offer advice aside from what Sherima has already given… But hope you and your son are ok and it all works out for you.  Keep positive and don’t give up!

[Bellabuchanan28]

Thank you both for replies.

The court did admittedly give me notice that the landlord wanted the property back, so the council did find a new property. And as it went through the court system then the bailiffs had a court order to evict.

I have spoken to the council and they are anything but helpful. As I did not move in time they have stopped their duty of care and have just told me to contact social services.

“<span style=”color: #505a66; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: #f5f5f1;”>Under the new law, we are only required to make ONE offer of private rented accommodation to end our housing duty towards you. The property offered could be located anywhere in the UK, as long as we consider it to be suitable for your household’s needs.”  </span>

the above is copied from the councils website. And as I was unable to move on the date they offered the new accommodation they consider it a refusal.

I obviously am incredibly dubious about contacting  SS.

My father is also absent and my mother unfortunately unable to help.

I am going to call Shelter and see if they can offer any advice.

Does anyone know of any rent deposit loans/schemes?

 

thanks again

[Roses]

Hi Bellabuchanan28

Thanks for sharing your situation on our forum, we hope that others can support you.

It’s good that you’re going to contact Shelter who can help you with in depth housing advice. You can also ring our Single Parent helpline on 0808 802 0925 for support and signposting – our advisers can go through your situation and find out if certain options are available to you – such as a discretionary housing payment. Although please understand they can’t give in depth advice on housing.

You may want to look at this database for local rent deposit schemes.

Gingerbread also has a video about getting money in an emergency 

We hope you find the help you need soon.

Rose

[Author]

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