HELP: 6MONTH Pregnant sister and me getting kicked out of flat in 3 weeks

eco21

Hi;
Hopefully someone can point my sister and I in the right direction. My sister last week found out that she is six months pregnant due on the 11th of May. This is great news and she is elated even though the father isn't wanting to do anymore than the bare minimum (at most) to help. My parents are not supportive just now and made worse by the fact that we will be kicked out in three weeks time.

The flat was our friends and we always had good relationship but he got new gf and their buying a house together so need to put ours up for sale due to needing deposit for theirs.

I dont know what we can do as we want to stay together as she has very little support except from me and dont want her living herself in a two bedroom with the new baby. I also am concerned that going to housing we will get split up as shes not my legal guardian so I will just have to find a flat myself which will be hard as I am poor due to studying a PGDE at University.

I hope someone can help or give me advise,

Thanks in advance,

David

Guy_Montag

I thought for a moment you might have been the father, that would have made life awkward.

I believe you are entitled to 2 months notice, but if you share the flat with the owner, you probably are not.

That aside, not much you can do, you might as well start looking for new places, registering with agencies etc. (I prefer to go through small ads & rent direct from landlords.)

silvercar

try the council, homeless pregnant single woman - may get you housed quickly.

if that fails you will be looking at the private rented sector with a possible housing benefit claim.

if you take control of the situation you are more likely to find a place together; relying on the council may see her housed as a priority and you expected to find uni accomadation.

Voyager2002

I am afraid that housing for her from the Council would probably be B and B, and soul-destroying. For you, nothing. So you will just have to find another place to live, but three weeks should be long enough.

Anyway, good luck.

november

I'm not sure from your post if you have a resident landlord (if your friend whose flat it is lives with you).

If its a resident landlord he only needs to give you reasonable notice so 3 weeks would be deemed reasonable.

If he isn't resident then its 2 months notice - a Section 21. However you still don't have to leave then unless and until he takes you to court (obviously this may affect your friendship but if you don't wait it may affect any application your sister may make to the council - see below)

Your sister could make a homeless application with the council as she could be found to be a priority as she is pregnant. However they will expect some proof of the fact that notice has been served and in many areas expect the tenant to stay until the landlord has taken the tenant to court for repossession after the Section 21 expires. If the tenant has left before they have to (ie a court says they must) then they may be found 'intentionally homeless' which means the council does not have a duty to house them as homeless.

If your sister is found priority homeless then she may be in temporary accommodation for a while while awaiting permanent housing through the council. This could involve b&b (should be for a maximum period of 6 weeks) or a mother and baby home etc. From there she could be moved to another form of temporary accommodation before a permanent offer is made.

Again dependant on area she may not get a 2 bed flat particularly if she is housed by the council before the baby is born. It is considered reasonable that a mother and baby can have one bedroom and I have known cases where the offer was a permanent 1 bed flat.

A lot of how you get permanent social housing depends on availability in your area ie. is there a shortage and is also affected by the way housing is allocated e.g. whether there is a choice based lettings system or not. For example I know someone in one area (young, single, no children) who was offered a council flat just because she wanted to leave home. Where I live priority none intentional homeless families are offered temporary accommodation to start with. The difference being where I live there is a lot less social housing than in the other area.

In many areas homeless pregnant women do not get housed quickly. They are however housed temporarily (its not quite the same thing in most people's eyes - b&b/mum & baby home and a house/flat).

As a single person you would not be a priority for the local authority as homeless. Neither would the council have a duty to offer your sister accommodation which would be suitable for her to share with you.

Sorry none of the above is probably what you wanted to hear.

My advice would be to ask at a local housing advice agency - this could be Shelter or ask at the Council for advice if you don't know the social housing situation in your area. Or as you are at Uni ask the Uni student advice service.

You all could, as the OP has said, private rent again. You will propably need a deposit, rent in advance and, if you go through an agency, agency fees (which I'm assuming you may not have before as you rented through a friend).

If you have problems with finding a deposit ask your local council if there is a deposit bond scheme in your area and find out if you would be eligible for their help.

Good luck