Housing for pregnant 17 year old

dedward67

Hi

We have a problem, our 17 year daughter announced a couple of weeks ago she was pregnant by her 21 year old bf of 12 months. It came as an almighty shock to me and wife as you can imagine. Though may be thought old fashioned, they decided they would marry the end of October so the baby could have the same name etc.

Issue is housing!! She currently lives with us, but shares b/room with her 14 year old sister and other 2 rooms occupied by son and us. Clearly no room for daughter + baby in room she shares with sister. Daughter and b/f have both been to council today and we've had to write a letter saying we're asking her to leave by 30th September. Her b/f lives in shared house but is for singles only so he has letter too. He doesn't have a job though been looking for one for sometime, so can't afford to rent privately. Council were v. unhelpful and despite the fact they said they were getting married in October, just offered her single mother's accomodation nearer the birth time (March 09).

Don't know where to go from here??????????

moneysavinmonkey

where do you live? Should be an able 21 year old can find a job fairly quick (even if it just waiting tables) - why has he been looking for sometime.

I would phone the homeless charity - shelter to see if they have any further ideas + they may put a bit of pressure on the council or find a local housing group that can help.

Other than that I'm not sure what can be done, with no income they can't afford anywhere and there is no right to council housing - just have to join the list with everyone else. Is there no room for them at the boyfriends parent's?

PasturesNew

The Council don't have accommodation. There are probably 1000 others just like them ahead of them on the list.

The bf needs to get himself a job so they can rent privately. If you can stump up the deposit and act as guarantor it'd help them. And once the baby's born they'd get all sorts of family/baby benefits.

What work does he do that he's not working?

dedward67

Live in Lincs. B/F has been looking for work for 6 months +. He's a bright lad but has quite a bad stutter which I think hinders his search for work. There used to be a glut of land work this time of year, but our town has become very multicultural (around 1 in 5 are now non UK nationals), so most of these jobs are no longer available. His mum is moving to Manchester in 2 weeks but he already has 2 younger step brothers, so no room there either. I did contact shelter a few weeks back and they said they should both be classed as unintentionally homeless and council should rehouse, but the council seems to have other ideas. Have told her/him to phone shelter themselves today.

pinkshoes

I think she should accept the single mother's accommodation for now, as it's better than nothing.

There's a huge waiting list for council houses, so she could be in for a long wait.

Her b/f needs to get himself a job. Unless he lives remotely and can't drive, then finding a job, ANY JOB, really isn't too hard. That way, he can save up money, and they can use the money to put down a deposit on a privately rented 1 bed flat or something.

No offence to them, but if they're mature enough to be in a s*xual relationship, then they need to accept the consequences and take whatever accomodation they can find, and do whatever they can to support themselves.

Personally I think the single mother's accommodation is a generous offer not to be sniffed at!

dedward67

Work wise, her b/f is prepared to do anything and has sent off loads of applications (50+). He's thinking of doing a plumbing course which Job centre plus will help towards in the hope he can make a career of it, but that would mean taking a career delelopment loan for the remainder of the total cost (around £5.5k total).

dedward67

He does live near the town centre and is prepared to walk/cycle in order to get to a job. He can't drive yet, but has been taking some lessons.

x.x.x.

which town you in? i live in lincs, and can let you know if i hear of any jobs

pinkshoes

dedward67 wrote: »

He does live near the town centre and is prepared to walk/cycle in order to get to a job. He can't drive yet, but has been taking some lessons.

In that case, he should not be picky, and take ANY full time job that he gets offered!!

Walk up and down the streets, go in all shops that have adverts etc...

Has he tried all the supermarkets and restaurants?

Perhaps he should put the plumbing training on hold for a bit if they have a baby on the way? I know it'll help in the future, but perhaps he needs to think more about the immediate future?

Can your daughter not get a job for 6 months too? or is she still at school?

moneysavinmonkey

I'm trying to think of a way that your families could be rearranged so that they could perhaps live at home until they are on their feet to afford their own place, or else be housed by the council.... particular due to their young ages might be helpful to have parents + family around to help them cope with a newborn baby.

the council only has so many places available so can't rehouse everyone who is in need. In fact they have offered hers somewhere and the bf already has somewhere so it's not as bad as all that. not ideal but given the circumstances...

can you ask around for any jobs going for the bf. I think he needs to just get *any job*. Any career aspirations may need to be put on hold as he now has a family to support. What is your daughter doing. Can she work for now?

PasturesNew

Is it rural Lincolnshire?

50 jobs isn't a lot. It's time he forgot about what he wants to do and literally applies for anything and everything just to prove either he can get a job, or that he can't.

A friend of mine abroad just had to apply for 150 jobs in 2 weeks to be able to put a benefits claim in. She was literally applying for everything.

Once he has a job, he can then look for somewhere to live. A 1-bed flat is fine for the first year for a baby in any case, they can move to a bigger one at some future point.

What is your daughter doing at the moment?

They didn't think this through did they? What did they think would happen? Get a free house straight away?