Facing Homelessness & No Guarantor

alotofcoffee

Hi, hopefully someone can help or point me in the right direction.

I am currently staying in my friends spare room but have been asked to vacate ASAP. I have contacted the council but had no assistance as of yet from them in terms of options. I am a single female with no children so I know I am so far down the list of priorities for them.

I have a deposit for a new home and the first months rent, I work full time in a stable job BUT I do not have a guarantor and no way of getting one. I have terrible credit file which I am working to clear (isn't everyone) and on this basis alone I don't think any letting agent would entertain me.

So at the moment I am looking at not having a roof over my head and no way to get past the guarantor issue. Before anyone suggests renting a room this is not something I can do due to my mental health and past experiences.

muhandis

Sorry to hear about your housing problems.

The council is your best bet but unfortunately, you will need to be persistent to get them to do what they are supposed to, especially if it's an inner city one which has a high rate of homelessness and not a lot of money to deal with it. Going there in person (if possible) is recommended.

Please see the Shelter page here on how to go about it.

Depending on where you are, there could be a few charities that run emergency women-only shelters but more often than not they need a referral from the council to consider an application.

Good luck!

alotofcoffee wrote: »

I have contacted the council but had no assistance as of yet from them in terms of options.

comedyseeker123

spareroom.co.uk

FreeBear

muhandis wrote: »

Depending on where you are, there could be a few charities that run emergency women-only shelters but more often than not they need a referral from the council to consider an application.

From what I've heard of some of these shelters, they are far from ideal for anything more than very short term accommodation. For anyone with mental health issues, the MH team (in an ideal world) should be helping, but invariably they can't or won't.

OP - Do not discount another spare room. When one of my two lodgers moved in, she was open and up front with her mental health issues. The quiet environment suits her, and she feels safe here.

pmlindyloo

alotofcoffee wrote: »

Hi, hopefully someone can help or point me in the right direction.

I am currently staying in my friends spare room but have been asked to vacate ASAP. I have contacted the council but had no assistance as of yet from them in terms of options. I am a single female with no children so I know I am so far down the list of priorities for them.

I have a deposit for a new home and the first months rent, I work full time in a stable job BUT I do not have a guarantor and no way of getting one. I have terrible credit file which I am working to clear (isn't everyone) and on this basis alone I don't think any letting agent would entertain me.

So at the moment I am looking at not having a roof over my head and no way to get past the guarantor issue. Before anyone suggests renting a room this is not something I can do due to my mental health and past experiences.

When you say 'terrible credit file' what exactly do you mean?

Most landlords would only be interested in CCJs/bankruptcy.

Have you looked for accommodation in local newspapers/adverts rather than going through letting agents?

What is most important is whether you have done a full financial assessment for yourself to make sure you can pay the rent/council tax/bills/debts etc etc. Have you done this?

sal_III

Any particular reason for not looking at shared houses/flats? Most places like that won't ask/do credit checks etc. and will be happy with a week/month rent in advance.

Also you say you have a job and money for deposit and rent, and your only concern is poor credit file. Have you actually tried to rent a property and failed or just too afraid to even try?

nyc_451

alotofcoffee wrote: »

I have terrible credit file which I am working to clear (isn't everyone)

No?

alotofcoffee wrote: »

So at the moment I am looking at not having a roof over my head and no way to get past the guarantor issue. Before anyone suggests renting a room this is not something I can do due to my mental health and past experiences.

You are ruling out renting a room when you're facing being homeless?? People rely on the council far too much....

letitbe90

sal_III wrote: »

Any particular reason for not looking at shared houses/flats? Most places like that won't ask/do credit checks etc. and will be happy with a week/month rent in advance.

Also you say you have a job and money for deposit and rent, and your only concern is poor credit file. Have you actually tried to rent a property and failed or just too afraid to even try?

blue_mango wrote: »

No?



You are ruling out renting a room when you're facing being homeless?? People rely on the council far too much....

Think you guys missed the fact she has mental health issues which possibly may not be helped living in a HMO.

missprice

Not every shared place is bad. I have a room to rent out and its quiet and the others are quiet, out at work a lot and/or shifts. There are sometimes days when no sounds are heard. If noise is a trigger. Be open about what you need but dont discount rooms out of hand.

hazyjo

letitbe90 wrote: »

Think you guys missed the fact she has mental health issues which possibly may not be helped living in a HMO.

They often have their own facilities and can be self contained. A house share would be different.


I actually agree with FreeBear. It may be an option to be a lodger - not a house share, but with the owner of the property. You would be sharing facilities, but it may be a nice safe environment if you're open to trying? Choose carefully.

TBagpuss

OP, I would suggest that you:

- look at small ads in your local paper, and on places like "spareroom.com" (It isn't just spare rooms, some are lets of a whole property) - basically, options where you are daling with the landlord directly rather than via an gency. They are less likley to do full credit checks and more likely to be open to any explaination if they do do one and your report isn't great.

- get a copy of your credit records to see what shows up, which might be an issue.

- consider HMOs - I understand that you don't want to just rent a room, but in some HMOs you may not have to do so in any meaningful way - for instnace, you are likely to have a door you can lock, and in many cases may also have an en-suite. Could you cope if all you needed to share was a kitchen?

- You mentioned that you are currently renting a room from a friend - would renting as a lodger be something you could consider? Particularly if you were to only other person in the house. Again, i appreciate that you have had bad experiences in the past -is it possible for you to identify to yourself what the specifc problems were so you can avoid them (e.g. gender of previousl landlords / other tentnts being in the house etc)?

- Do you have a support worker or anyone offering help with regard to your health issues? If so, talk to them. they may know of resoueces which would be helpful.

- Is there any chance of you being able to save more before you have to move out? Being able to offer to pay 2 months rent up front as well as your deposit might make the difference between a landlord being willing to rent to you or not, if your credit score is a bit iffy (and it might be worth looking into whether you know anyone who might be prepare dto lend you the extra months rent to do this - it's much less of a risk than standing as a guarantor, which potentially has big and long term finacial consequences)