Homeless Dilemma. Help.

[Deleted User]

So I became a single parent in November and my LL gave me notice in December (not related to my new circumstances).
Anyway, he got the first notice wrong and now I was served the second one which finishes in 2 months time.

Since December I am looking everywhere, it is hard to find places in my area for the same rent I am paying now and the cheapest is £100 /month more expensive. I could pay that with a push and sacrifice but no one will take me as I receive LHA to help paying the rent. I work full time in a stable job, have good references but the "no DSS" rule is everywhere.

I already had an interview with the council and they will help if I have no where to go when I am required to vacate the current property but this worries me a lot, all the demand and uncertainty.

I found a private LL who would probably be willing to rent to me, we haven't met yet but I explained my situation through email. My dilemma is, should I move out and pay £100/month more in rent plus transport (I now live walking distance to work and school) with the risk that in six months or one year time the LL will increase the rent or even evict me and I will be back to square 1. Or should I just accept that I am a single parent on low income and let myself go the homeless route?

Poppie68

Have you still not got this sorted!
Extra travel costs will probably still apply if you go the homeless route as the chances of the b&b will be in your current area will be very slim. You won't have a choice of area but if you go the private rental route you can at least control the distance from the school etc. You may end up with higher travel costs plus the amount of rent you will have to pay towards the b&b.

BigAunty

I don't really think anyone can answer the question for you, just highlight the pros and cons. I suspect you already know them.

Virtually all private tenants are somewhere between 2 months and a year from being served notice, with a 6 month tenancy and periodic (rolling) tenancies being the most common. It is very easy for any private landlord to raise the rent.

And while you may secure social housing with the council, you may end up with a 1 year private tenancy as that single offer of accommodation is sufficient for them to discharge their legal homeless obligations.

One pro of proceding with the new landlord is that at least you get a degree of control over deciding if you want to live there unlike the council who will control you. However, finding an extra £100 - is this really feasible?

I suspect deep down you hope to get a council property? That would take away all the insecurity that many private tenants suffer but what is the likelihood of this? This gamble is risky but potentially rewarding.

A more realistic long term plan would be to accept the inevitable - for many years now, the affordability of property in central London is out of the reach of most benefit claimants. Your medium to long term plan would be to move to a cheaper part of the city, or a cheaper part of the country. When you are dependent on the state for the bulk of your income, you get very limited choice - London and the south east are ruinously expensive for accommodation costs.

NYM

You've asked the same question several times.

If this new place suits your circumstances, why wouldn't you want to take it? Near to your child's school and your place of work.

If you wait and go down the 'homeless' route, how likely are you to be offered the type of accommodation in the location that you want ?

I believe you live in London and will just be one of hundred's of other single parents chasing the same virtually non-existent properties.

What if they offer you somewhere in a different part of the Country, would you take it ?

[Deleted User]

Thanks.
Yes I still haven't got this sorted, can't find anyone to accept me.
This new property is not a definite yes. The LL wants to meet me first, probably will want to go through my income and benefits. I don't have guarantors.
So going the homeless route is not even a choice, is lack of choice if I am honest.
I know that everyone thinks I should just move out somewhere BUT I am doing very well at work and I am very lucky to have my job (TA in my daughter's school). Is it the best option that I have to move somewhere totally out of my community and end up unemployed too?
Also my exH won't be able to have as much contact if I move too far away and my daughter will lose out on a relationship with her father. So these are the 2 reasons that makes me wants to stay around here.
Also around where I live there are lots of single parents or even couples with children who do not work and have it all handed to them. They also can't afford to live here but they do. Is it wrong to want the same?

[Deleted User]

And it is not central London. Is already a cheap part of London.

midnight_express

Which part of London is cheap ?

BigAunty

Deleted_User wrote: »

And it is not central London. Is already a cheap part of London.

Apologies, I must have muddled you with another poster, sorry.

[Deleted User]

Cheaper in comparison to other parts, specially central London.

bloolagoon

You are not going to get cheaper in CL! I have friends who work and live in CL and waiting lists for SH is years. One friend has a family placed 125 miles awa in emergency housing from school friends and work.

I think gambling on your Childs education and your employment with odds of getting SH is not wise. Just my opinion.

BigAunty

Deleted_User wrote: »

And it is not central London. Is already a cheap part of London.

I apologise again for mis-remembering your location.

However, London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. The changes to benefits have been made over many years and it has led to an exodus of people who leave the city, either forced out by benefit cuts (HB in particular) or of their own volition to improve the quality of their life.

You have social networks, your child is enrolled in school and you have work locally but every year, hundreds of thousands of households move out of the area they live in for a host of reasons and start new jobs, live in new places, find new friends and new schools. You hold another nationality along with your dual citizenship so you've actually upped and moved from another part of the world - shifting a county or two shouldn't be difficult.

Compared to the others that you think get a free ride at the taxpayers expense, you are a hard worker. However, you work part time in a low paid role. Realistically, London is either not going to be a long-term solution for you or it will continue to be a hardslog. It can be a cruel place for a low paid worker or person dependent on benefits.