The Plight of a Homeless Young Man

tesuhoha

My son is 18 and he has for a while now had a group of friends whose custom it is to go round to the flat of two brothers to play poker. Not for money but just for chips. They have a beer or two and a sociable time. The oldest of the 2 brothers is 22 and has the tenancy of the flat. I have a lot of sympathy for him. He has had a tough upbringing and has a tough life. He works does shiftwork and works a lot of hours. His younger brother lives or lived with him. The oldest brother expects the youngest brother to give him all of his jobseekers allowance and treats him as a kind of unpaid servant. In return he lets him live there and buys the food etc.

Will continue on next post as I keep getting logged off.

tesuhoha

Now I suspect that the older brother has been getting a bit fed up with the boys sleeping over. I think he comes home from his shiftwork and finds them there. Also the younger one kept £50 of his allowance back and spent it. The older one found out as he saw his bank statement. He has banned the boys from the flat and thrown the younger one out on the street.

Continuing

tesuhoha

The younger one is 18 and has nowhere to go. He has spent the last 3 bitterly cold nights at the home of his friend and if it wasnt for the kind mother that young man would have slept on the streets. The ban is fair enough but they have tried to talk to the older brother about the boy goi ng back but he is implacable apparently. Apparently the 18 year old has nothing with him but a carrier bag with a few clothes in it as he has had to leave all his things at the flat.

tesuhoha

Another friend of theirs was in care and lives in a bedsit in a hostel and the 18 year old heard that there was a place vacant there. So he went to the council and he was excited about it and had an appointment today but my husband says as hes 18 they wont give it to him. He said that they wont give him anything and this is how people become homeless. I cannot bear the thought of this boy having to sleep rough. I dont know him that well (but I suspect I soon will) but he seems nice, a bit immature but he is not a yob, does not get drunk, does not take drugs. He is just an ordinary white working class lad who is uneducated and unskilled, hasnt got a lot going for him. The parents are out of the picture; separated and he hasnt seen them for years and he doesnt even know where they are.

G-G_4

Take him under your wing, tell him to get a job and pay you rent (if you want to do that).. sounds like he needs help x

tesuhoha

I feel terribly sorry for him and I wont let him go on the streets but we live in an old small three bedroomed house which needs a total renovation. My daughter is coming home from university soon so my husband has gutted her bedroom to do it up for her. Its only a boxroom and in a year or so we want to do the loft extension, once all our debts are paid off, so as you can tell we are not in a situation to really help him. My son has offered him his bedroom floor, which is okay by us short term but I am wondering about what is going to happen to him long term. Letting him sleep rough is not an option but we could not go on for years letting him sleep on the bedroom floor either. I do not know what to do. The other family dont have the room either so I think its just a matter of time before we have our turn. I dont know if there is any help available for him. I think even if he gets a job he wont be able to afford the rent for a flat. Maybe Im being soft but rental places seem so expensive nowadays. Anyway, I just want to help him but dont know what is the best thing I can do. Someone at work says that if I let him sleep on our floor the council will consider that he has a roof over his head and they wont help him.

tesuhoha

I was thinking of maybe taking him along to Shelter next week - or something.

tesuhoha

Incidentally the older brother earns good money and can easily afford to keep the flat himself.

tesuhoha

I think the lad feels very alone and frightened.

duchy

Has this young man spoken to Shelter about his situation ? They are likely to be a helpful resource.
Could he find a living in job anywhere-some large hotels have hostel type accomadation for single employees.
It is entirely possible that the older brother isn't quite the ogre he's been portrayed as. He works long hours-pays the bills and comes home to find younger brother-who doesn't have a work ethic dossing around the flat with his mates all the time. If MY brother was living with me and not earning and I was out working long hours-I'd expect him to do all the housework too. "Unpaid servant" doesn't come into it-more like contributing to the household. Maybe keeping all the JSA was his way of encouraging little bruv to get off his butt and make something of his life by getting a job ? Perhaps the deception with the money was the last straw. We don't know as you have one side of the story and not the other.
Either brother will let him stew for a while (or is maybe waiting for an apology and some assurances from his little brother) or has really had enough. Either way this young man is 18 and needs to be making some effort for himself.instead of expecting everyone else to sort his life out for him. By all means give him advice and support but also try and instill some sense of responsibilty for his own actions-Might be the biggest favour anyone has ever done him !

tesuhoha

Yes I do see the older brother's point of view. I just feel that I cannot stand by without doing something.