Please help we are being evicted!

schueys_girl

Hi all,

After having a crummy start to 2008, in September things looked really good for me and my partner. I had a part time job as a lecturer at a college, which turned into a full time job.
Myself and my partner were living with his mom and brothers in a tiny house. We were sharing a single bed, with his brother in the room. We could not afford to rent anywhere properly or look at buying because my partners wage is only £80 a week as he is training at a school to be a teaching assistant.

When i began my fulltime lecturing job, obvously i have better pay. I was also offered the chance to live on sight at the college, in one of the flats as there are students that live on site and some staff act as wardens. So in October we moved into this flat. Very happy and just about got everything sorted in time for Xmas buying cooker and fridge freezer etc.

In Nvember time the college announces it is merging with other colleges.

Yesterday I get a letter, saying the once the short lease is up on the flat, which was 6 months from when we moved in... we need to get out.

Basically the new boses have decided that it is not sustainable and economical for us to live on site anymore, and are slowly going to phase out everyone living on site. We are the first to go.

We have two months to find somwhere else.

Only problem is: what can we do?! We have looked at out budget and we cannot afford to rent; even the lowest rent is out of our league because my partner is still on such a rubbish wage. He has to spend £20 a week just to get to his training and his car insurance is £100 a month because he is just 20 years old. My money is stretched as it is on the rent we paid to live on site.

I have some savings, but not enough to last us to live anywhere for a long time.

I have spoken to local councils. We are not elegible nor a priority despite being technically "homeless" as we do not have a baby or any dependant children.

We do not even qualify for any help with housing benefits because my wage on its own is just above the threshold.

We cannot go back at live at his moms. We just cannot. I cannot function properly living in a 2 bedroom house with 3 other people and sleeping in a single bed. Even with all this explained to the council we are still not a priority.

My parents haveoffered to try and help money wise..but they cannot help too much as they are both retiring this year and have seen their income and pensions drop because of the econonmy in the country now.

Me and my fiance just feel like our world has crumbled. Just as we get a chance and get set up in this little flat, spending a bit of money on some furniture, a freezer and an oven, we have to leave, just as we are settled, and worse still we have no where to go....

I just dont know what to do or where else to go for help and we are both feeling very very lost at the moment.

:-( x

silvercar

Are you getting all your benefits?

Seems odd that your partner only earns £80 a week, yet works full time. If he is a student, is he entitled to any grants.

Also seems strange that your income is too great to get any housing benefit help (or LHA as its now called) but not enough to afford a rental.

Have you thought of looking for a house share? That usually works out cheaper than renting a place of your own.

Worst case scenario is that you apply for council help and they allocate you ato B&B initially. They may well tell you not to leave until you are evicted. Difficult if it is your employer that is your landlord.

If all other evenues are exhausted, could your OH do evening workt o bring in some money? Otherwise maybe he can't afford to train at the moment and would need to find a proper job.

Planner

A terrible story, just when you thought you where getting on your feet!

Normally I would say dont panic, as if this was a standard tenancy agreement i.e. an AST (Assured Shorthold Tenancy), the two month deadline you have been given would have been much more flexiable. Unfortunaltey such work related accomodation and accomodation attached to educational institutions is very rarley leased under an AST (check your paperwork on the off chance it is).

The only suggestion I have is to contact Shelter http://www.shelter.org.uk/ they will advise you further (something doesnt ring true on my mind about what you have been told about being rehoused).

Have you also considered a house share? or other ways to increase your incomes.... part-time evening bar jobs?

You should also be entitled to housing benifit if you are both on such modest wages.

IHS88

Hi Schueys_girl

Don't panic, I'm sure you'll be able to find affordable accommodation.

The guys who have posted above me are right, you need to look into getting a house share.

With a house share, you'll all split the bills, from council tax to gas electricity.

Start your search by using the gumtree.com website.

Have a look at the postings available and perhaps even post a "wanted" post yourself.

Also, have a look in your local newspaper under the section "houses to let" in the classified section.

Best of luck, hope all works out well for you.

ALIBOBSY

Are you sure you don't qualify for working tax credit? Or some kind of student support for your OH?
Worth looking into any benefits you might get to help you.
Without more idea of your total income/situation its hard to be more specific than that really.
Sorry you are having such a bad start to the year, hope you get sorted soon.

good luck

ali x

Catblue

I feel for you.

Can your partner sell his car and get a second hand bike? Could he even get a lift to work from someone? There's no way anybody can afford £100 per month on car insurance alone on a wage of £320 per month. And then another £80 per month just on fuel? Just cannot be done without someone bailing them out.

Agreed about your partner getting a second job in the evenings or weekends. Looks like he'll have to.

In the meantime, I think you might need to swallow your pride and ask your parents for a short-term loan just so that you can get a roof above your heads.

Try not to worry too much, you've overcome difficulties before and you will again.

sparklymessygirl

Have a look at http://www.roombuddies.com/
and http://www.spareroom.co.uk/?urlsession_id=&urlsession_key=&rand=128521231520498

Perhaps you should do an SOA?

Good luck
Sparkly

schueys_girl

My partner is training at a school to be a teaching assistant and yes he is only on £80 he leaves the house at 7.30 and gets home at half 4. He also works a bar job two nights a week (any more and he would be exhausted as he has coursework to do as well). This makes him an additional £50 a week. As I said his petrol to work is £20 a week at the moment and his car insurance is £100...we are hoping this will go down more this year in June!!

My income is good, as a trainee lecturer, my wage is about £1400, but after tax, student loans have caught up with me, i HAVE to pay into a pension I have about £1100, but of course then you take the possible rent off, council tax, food and other bills etc I am not sure it could be done as I run a car also and will have to factor in petrol now as before I was not using my car at all!

I would struggle immensly to take another job, I am doing a PGCE course part time as part of my job, and also the course i teach, i am programme manager, so i am doing all the planning, marking etc with no support at all. The joke is, if i was a trained lecturer already and was then a programme manager i would be on over £35,000 a year!

My wage is too much too allow us to get any help with rent.

Maybe some of you are thinking hold on!!! "You could rent somewhere and pay the bills etc off that wage...i do it" etc if so please tell me if you do i can have some more confidence in myself that maybe we could get by on it if we found somewhere cheap-ish to rent!

I am kind of floundering here as this is al so new to me, i have so much paperwork and stuff to do, and also I am not very well at the moment, undergoing various bloodtests for thyroid, anemia and other problems so my energy is poor...just basically what i needed!!

I appreciate of course that at least both of us have jobs, although i am not entirely sure mine is safe...the new college is very ruthless and cutting jobs here there and everywhere, some of the best lecturers have already been made redundant because of cost cutting and they have been very ruthless with this flat were in...before this new college came in, people have lived in this flat for 40 or more years!!! So i not too hopefully even about my job

My partner cant really leave what he is doing as i doubt he would find a job in anything else at the moment the way things are round here...and also once he is done on the training (max 2 years) hopefully he should get a decent job out of it!

mbga9pgf

I would say not to look a gifthorse in the mouth, that you arent going to like my answer but moving back in with his folks is the solution, or yours, or both with respective parents. It may be a pain, but you cant have everything I am afraid...

Once he is out of college, it will all come into place. Rents will be at a record low, you will have savings and hopefully be able to either rent a nice place or possibly buy your own. If hour OH is a TA he may be eligible to some of the key worker schemes once he qualifies.

gerkin

Cant you just make 5 - 6 babies like the Afgan and Congolese asylum seekers ? You will get a 5 bedroom house and all the benefits. :o

Catblue

It is a worry, isn't it?

However if you both want to carry on with your training (and absolutely you should if that is what you want to do), then you need to have a roof over your heads. That is a necessity. Practically everything else is going to have to go if you are going to make this work.

You really need to get rid of at least one of your cars - preferably both if it is cost-effective to do so.

Speak to your partner tonight and write down all your incomings and outgoings.