Homelessness at 34 weeks pregnant?

RiaPenido

Let me start off by saying that my situation is not ideal... And that I did not know what board to post this on?

I'm 18 years old and 34 weeks pregnant. My boyfriend works full time and brings home a decent wage. We live at his parents house in outer west London but we are getting kicked out in about a week.

We've made a homeless application to the council that has been accepted. Our housing officer is saying we will be put in Bed and Breakfast accommodation for up to 6 months until they have found us a housing association flat. From my research I've gathered that it is actually illegal for them to put us in the B and B for more than 6 weeks. Is this true?

We've also looked at privately renting but as we are both 18 and haven't got savings or anything really no one sees us as suitable tenants. I don't know how to facilitate getting a place and as it is a lot of effort I've decided to just wait around for the council to help us.

Could they actually leave me and my newborn baby in a bed and breakfast? They always told us they'd find us a temporary place in a hostel or a flat. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Basically I just need some advice... I've tried every possible avenue. We don't claim any benefits either so I'm not sure what we'd be entitled to to help us pay for the b and b?

Thanks x

Mojisola

Have you been in contact with Shelter - http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice

pulliptears

whats wrong with a B&B exactly? Its a roof over you and your childs heads and is better than the situation you are currently in I imagine.

SailorSam

This is the section of the CAB website about homelessness, see if anything on here helps.
Finding accommodation

RiaPenido

Ive not contacted shelter yet, but I will thanks.

And the b and b we have been assigned to is over an hour and a half away from boyfriend's work and the hospital. The room is also on the top floor and I have trouble with stairs. The lack of kitchen and private bathroom worries me as I'm unsure how I will a) afford to feed boyfriend and I on takeaways and b) sterilise his bottles etc?

duchy

Perhaps as B/f is "on a decent wage" he should be the one affording to feed his family rather than you. You don't *have* to live on takeaways -plenty of cold meal options -with summer coming -most supermarkets for example will do a hot whole chicken -serve with sald and potato salad -and then there's cold chicken for sandwiches in say a french stick the next day. If there's no washing up facility use paper plates -and a cool bag for storing overnight.

I'm unsure why you think you'd be in anything but B&B -or why if you were living rent free with his parents you weren't saving for a deposit on a flat earlier. As for living so far from the hospital-there is bound to be one closer than 1.5 hours away so perhaps you should move your maternity care to the closest hospital.

Definitely go and talk with Shelter who will have a better idea of what is available locally -but in London -yes the reality is that often mothers do end up staying in B&B for a while after their babies are born.

You might want to investigate a steam sterilizer or one of the cold water methods -or even consider breastfeeding (better for the baby and more practical if you don't have access to a kitchen)

irishjohn

Is it possible for you and boyfriend to live separately, perhaps he could stay with his parents and you could perhaps stay with someone you know who would be able to provide accommodation? This could allow you to try and save a deposit for a private rental?

Regrettably the current economic woes have led us to the point where nothing can be guaranteed from a benefits perspective and as a society we have to return to the days when families must do more to help themselves and accept difficult circumstances.

If this is not the case then you may have to accept the difficulties the proposed solution has brought with it, they are not life threatening and not permanent, but will be a valuable life experience for you

pulliptears

RiaPenido wrote: »

Ive not contacted shelter yet, but I will thanks.

And the b and b we have been assigned to is over an hour and a half away from boyfriend's work and the hospital. The room is also on the top floor and I have trouble with stairs. The lack of kitchen and private bathroom worries me as I'm unsure how I will a) afford to feed boyfriend and I on takeaways and b) sterilise his bottles etc?

Again, I fail to see the issue. You are being given shelter. It wont come with all the home comforts but its better than nothing.

You dont need to live on takeaways, you can make salads, sandwiches, even invest in a cheap microwave for soups etc. Sterilisers can be steam ones and plug in within your room.

Grab what you are being given with both hands and be thankful for it.

eliviajen

I found myself in a similar situation at 19... 37 weeks pregnant and nowhere to go - my mother decided that she didnt want us and my partners parents had nowhere to fit us (he shared a room with two brothers) so please dont think im being cheeky when i say any of this.

We knew we had a baby coming, so from the moment we found out that i was pregnant at what turned out to be 18weeks we saved what little we could and managed to save over £1000 for baby things but we had to return most things to fund a deposit for our home - a manky one bedroom room in a shared house but it was somewhere to go. we were later rehomed in a council flat when babes was 2 months old.

Because of the situation i chose to try breastfeeding the baby as i was concerned about the cleanliness of the place which saved us enough money to replace the things that we had had to return. in hindsight babies dont need the things that you buy before they arrive only nappies, some clothes and some blankets - oh and a car seat!

Oh and another thing our basic birthing centre is 25 minutes away which cannot deal with emergencies, the proper hospital is 45minutes away on a good day so please dont think 30 minutes will be dangerous for your baby. just re-read and you said 1.5 hours - couldnt you transfer care, people give birth on holiday so im sure it wont be a problem

The temporary accomodation will be just that, its just for the short term until they can find you somewhere - Everything will be ok sweetie, I promise!! x

jane130

you will be ok - My husband and I ended up in B&B with 4 children ( youngest 6 months old) when our landlord sold the house and refused to return our deposit hubby was on a low income but we managed and you will too. On the plus side we were only there for 5 days before they found us temporary housing you you might not have to stay there long .

bigmomma051204

Basically if there is no housing for the council to put you into, then yes, in theory you could be in the b&b until the foreseeable future. I am surprised that if your boyfriend earns a decent wage, they would pay housing benefit. They quite possibly will be only paying a small amount towards the b&b costs therefore, so it would be worth finding out before you move in there.... If he earns a decent wage, then surely the sensible thing to have done for at least the last 30 weeks or so since finding out u were pregnant would have been to have been saving towards a deposit on a private rent. The council do not OWE you a house or flat. Neither do the rest of us deserve to have to pay for you to have a house if you could afford to house yourself! Please keep this in mind - YOU have made the decision to have a child with your boyfriend and nobody has a DUTY to house you.. in reality the rest of us have to sort ourselves out. I am 30 and am married. I have a 7year old. I have to pay £700 per month in rent alone - i dont have the guarantee of social housing for life as i am in a private rental. This means i can only live 6 monthly in security as the landlord could decide to sell up etc.... there isnt much security in life really is there!!?

Why havent you made yourselves more prepared for this situation since finding out you were pregnant, if your boyfriend is earning a decent wage?