Have your say in House of Commons homelessness inquiry

HappyMJ

I'll respond on behalf of my partner....

What were the causes of your homelessness? Rent arrears.
What support was available? Housing options at local council provided "advice"
How effective was it? Not good. It was just advice. No action was taken.
What would have made a difference to your experience? Being offered a temporary emergency home (or at least a room) before waiting for the bailiff to arrive to put me on the street and being unsure of my next step.
What changes should be made to reduce homelessness or to help homeless people find homes? Provide easier to obtain deposit bonds for use in the private rental market. Get letting agents/landlords on board and more willing to accept them. I do not know of any landlord in the local area that accept council backed deposit bonds.

catkins

deannatrois wrote: »

Less automatic gatekeeping by councils once evidence is provided of true vulnerability or homelessness risk. It works all too well.

More protection when in a private rental situation. I will add to this later. LHA that actually meets private rents, don't fool yourself that it actually does cover the lower 30% of private rental costs. When I did a search of assorted areas.., there were hardly any areas where LHA actually covered private rent costs at any percentage. This leads to rent arrears and further homelessness.

The LHA rates where I live are a joke. The rate for a 1 bed place is £550 a month. For a start there are very few 1 bed places to rent but even a bedsit is around £650 a month. A 1 bed flat is more likely around £750 a month but quite a few are between £800 and £950.

JAP160

I was forced into homelessness7 years ago when my housemate bullied me very severely and my home was no longer a safe place to live. Although I did not live on the streets I had no choice of where to go and had to stay with relatives, which was not ideal for me at that time. With regards to your question about reducing homelessness we would need to look at the underlying issues that cause homelessness in the first place to be able to address this. A lot of people that find themselves homeless have suffered with some kind of mental health issue that has caused relationships to break down. I think that in order to address this we would need to integrate society more. I think that if people lived more connected to others then our society would be far less fragmented and people would not fall through the net as easily. The healthy and wealthy should be encouraged to associate with those who are needy and to train/ teach them life skills to help them come out of poverty. We need to get rid of this ‘them and us’ mentality that causes the rich to be afraid of the poor and vice versa and instead learn to show kindness and understanding to those who are different to us. People can be so prejudiced towards others that are different and this causes great gaps in people’s awareness of what is actually real. Often people just need somebody to believe in them- to believe that they can do great things with their life. Many people have no experience at all of what it is like to be around people who are safe or emotionally healthy. I have suffered with mental health issues and when I became homeless this exacerbated these issues. However, what helped me most is that some emotionally healthy people got alongside me and helped me to work through issues. They also modelled what life could be like and encouraged me to keep persevering when I struggled. The impact this has had on my life was huge. It has helped me to overcome underlying problems and move on. I think that charities should be given support from the government to keep going with their work. In my own experience it has been charities and churches that have done the best job in helping me to move forwards in my life, preventing further homelessness. Mercy UK is one of the charities that have helped me the most. They are a world-class charity based in West Yorkshire. The support that they gave me in helping me overcome mental health issues was outstanding.

katdes

What were the causes of your homelessness?
We are a family of 3 children and 2 adults. We were made homeless in February 2016 by a trustee in bankruptcy appointed by the official receiver. My husband was made bankrupt by HMRC a customer refused to pay us £40,000 and HMRC wouldn't negotiate a payment plan and tripled the debt with interest and charges. We were forced to leave our property as it had a small amount of equity in it. We tried to negotiate with the trustee to stay in the property, either by buying the beneficial interest (with the addition of interest) with monthly payments or putting a charging order on the property until our youngest child reached 18. I am sure that when the property is sold the remaining equity will only cover the trustees fees and the HMRC will never see a penny. All the time we paid the mortgage and were never in arrears. Our mortgage was £600 per month, we are now faced with a potential monthly rental cost of £850 per month upwards.

What support was available?
As soon as we were told that the property was to be sold, I contacted the council. I was told to make an appointment to see the Homelessness team. We were then subjected to a lengthy interview, whereby we had to tell them our life history and of how my husband had become bankrupt and also why we hadn't found ourselves private rental accommodation. We told the officer that we couldn't find a landlord who would accept us as tenants as our credit history was so bad (due to the bankruptcy) we would be lucky to find anybody to accept us (I was told this by countless letting agents), even then we would be asked to put up a deposit and 6-12 months' rent up front) We were then told, we would not automatically be accepted as homeless until the case had been referred to the legal dept as we could have possibly have made ourselves intentionally homeless!!! By now I was in floods of tears sat in a cubicle, in a huge public area, surrounded by lots of people. I couldn't believe how I had sunk so low. It was bad enough the shame of bankruptcy and now this. The interview was finished off with "if we do decide that we have a homelessness duty, we will offer you temporary accommodation it might not be very nice, but if at all possible stay with family, as you are not the kind of people who belong there.

A few weeks later we were sent a letter, they had accepted that they had a duty to house us and we would be able to bid on Homechoice. We are bidding for properties at the moment and also trying to find a landlord who will accept with a poor credit rating. We are in the unique position of just about able to afford to rent but no-one will rent to us. I spoke to a letting agent and she told me that it's very hard to rent privately if you have poor credit or are on housing benefit. Even with a good deposit and 12 months rent upfront, a landlord would pick someone who had a perfect credit rating and not on benefits.

How effective was it?
So far it has not been much help. When the possession order was granted, I immediately went to the housing office from the court, only to be told, no-one can see you today, a council employee told me "we have been told they are too busy and they can't come downstairs to see anybody". So I rang them while I was there, only to be told you will have to wait, stay with family or go into temporary accommodation The council has so many people on the list with so few properties available that we are resigned to the fact, it will be a very long wait. Once again I was sat crying in a very public open space.

What would have made a difference to your experience?
Every time I contact the homeless team, it seems that they cannot really offer any help. Their hands are tied, too many people, not enough houses. Also at the initial interview, it was almost assumed that we had deliberately had made ourselves homeless and we had done nothing to help ourselves. I think that the staff need to realise that it is hugely stressful to be made homeless, nobody in their right mind does it intentionally and we need someone to listen and just act like they care.


What changes should be made to reduce homelessness or to help homeless people find homes?

More social housing needs to be built and empty properties brought back into use, this should be done urgently. Not only would you create housing, but jobs could be created to carry out the work. It would benefit the local economy.
Landlords need to persuaded that people on benefits or with poor credit can be good tenants. Councils could work in partnership with landlords putting forward tenants who could afford rents like us, who have jobs and just need someone to trust them. We can't be the only people on the housing list in our position, if we could rent privately it would be one less family on the list. The same goes for people on Housing Benefit, if they could prove that they could pay their way they would probably rent privately as well and that would be more families off the list.


I know we are incredibly lucky to have been accepted on the housing list. A lot of people would say, we don't deserve help. We owed the money and should have paid it. I don't want to appear ungrateful, but this is truly the worst experience I am going through. I am trying to cope with holding down a job, helping to care for my Dad who has dementia, also my brother has bladder cancer and putting on a show of normality for my children.

Trix3y

Although fortunately I have never been homeless, I have in my job worked with people who have become homeless. I would like to ask MP s one question, why has this country allowed so many people to live here in recent years? It is the elephant in the room that no one appears to want to acknowledge. Clearly 300,000 to 400,000 people year on year moving to Britain either legally or illegally,is placing a massive strain on our housing. This was never envisaged in past years for planning purposes. Simply the housing crisis has been caused by too many people and not enough houses. Supply and demand means Landlords can charge what they like when there are so many people needing a roof over their heads.Priority focuses on people with children and it appears refugees and immigrants. Single people are very disadvantaged and have no rights to housing. Surely everyone should be treated as equal when it comes to a roof over their heads. Housing as an essential the same as food and heat. Simply a disgrace that in a so called rich country in the 21st century so many people are out on the streets.

SocialResearcher

Having split up from her husband, my aunt was recently made homeless. For a time she had places to stay with family and friends (this is usually termed 'sofa surfing' in the trade, despite the fact she had a bed) but when the house she was living in (owned by friends) was going to be sold she was given a legal notice to quit and, having lived in her village for many years, she applied to Somerset council for protection under homelessness legislation (she's officially vulnerable in that she is over 65). They told her that although she had been given a legal notice to quit that they would not help her as they judged that she had somewhere to stay ie. in the house she was currently in. The reason they gave: because she could stay there till she was kicked out by bailiffs!!!!!!!! This would not only have involved the owners (my aunt's friends) in expensive legal action but would be likely to lead to my aunt getting a criminal record. They didn't give her any decision letter so she can't appeal. She has had to go the the private rented sector which she cannot afford and is therefore likely to become homeless again in the not too distant future.

cassandraclarkson

I've been homeless twice. Both times I was with my daughter. First time she was a newborn, second time she was 4. Both times I had to literally beg the council for help. The last time I presented us at the police station as homeless, stating that we would be sleeping in the car if we couldn't find somewhere. After the person on the police station front desk spoke to the council for about half an hour they found a room in at hostel. Both times I was a victim of domestic violence, both times I was as terrified. No one should have to beg for a safe place to sleep, no child should have to hear their parent say 'we might have to sleep in the car tonight' or see their parent on their knees begging for a room. We'd already lost our belongings. Now we faced not even a bed to sleep in. We spent 4 months in a hostel room sharing a bed. Then the council put us in a maisonette next door to a known !!!!!phile. It took me 3 years to save up and move out.

George2011

1. I split with my partner after 10 years and we both worked for the same boss, so I ended up losing my job after I found out something was going on between them. The job centre would not help me and the angency refused housing benefit even if I could have got it.
2. At the time I did not know of any supprt that was available. I slept in my car for two months with my dog. I ended up sleeping rough outside, I met a chap who told me about George House Hostel in Plymouth, so I went there to ask if any help was available. I went to the council and get referred into George House.
3. I felt like I had hit rock bottom but everyone I have met that works at George House has been so helpful and they don't look down on you and they treat you very well. It has helped me to get my life back on track, I am now in a brand new BCHA move on house share and I start a full-time job today, but that is only due to the help I have had.
4. At first more understanding from the job centre, but that would have not stopped me being homless. Another this is, if I hadn't of had the support and the help I from everyone I would be in a very different placein my life, so I count myself lucky for the help because it has turned my life around, there is still a way to go but I am very positve now.
5. I think it should become law that an agency should not be able to turn you down because of housing benefit, there should be no difference. There should be more investment in affordable 1 bed flats/bedsits available, even if on a scheme where you have got alot more rules etc, if you want a home enough you will follow the rules

UKParliament

Hi Everyone,

The Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee has asked us to pass on the following message to you all.

On behalf of the whole Committee, I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to contribute to this forum. I have read all your comments with interest and they have been shared with the whole Committee.

We know that being made homeless is an extremely stressful experience and so we appreciate you sharing your views and experiences – statistics and headlines often hide the very personal stories behind them so we want to listen to those who are or have been directly affected by homelessness.

Our inquiry will continue taking evidence in public until mid-June. We will then consider what we have learnt before publishing our recommendations to the Government and local authorities in a report in late July. The Government is then required to respond to our report and outline what actions it intends to take. I want to assure you that the information that you and others have shared with us will be at the heart of our discussions of how we can tackle homelessness in England.

You can see what is happening in our inquiry by following the Committee on twitter at @CommonsCLG or by keeping an eye on our website. All of our evidence sessions can also be watched online on Parliament TV.

Thank you again for taking part in this forum.

Clive Betts MP.
Chair of the Communities & Local Government Committee.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

cassandraclarkson wrote: »

I've been homeless twice. Both times I was with my daughter. First time she was a newborn, second time she was 4. Both times I had to literally beg the council for help. The last time I presented us at the police station as homeless, stating that we would be sleeping in the car if we couldn't find somewhere. After the person on the police station front desk spoke to the council for about half an hour they found a room in at hostel. Both times I was a victim of domestic violence, both times I was as terrified. No one should have to beg for a safe place to sleep, no child should have to hear their parent say 'we might have to sleep in the car tonight' or see their parent on their knees begging for a room. We'd already lost our belongings. Now we faced not even a bed to sleep in. We spent 4 months in a hostel room sharing a bed. Then the council put us in a maisonette next door to a known !!!!!phile. It took me 3 years to save up and move out.

What do you expect? For the council to put you up in a 4 bed mansion?