Does it scare you how easily you can become homeless

[SarahMajor]

You loose your job, or you suffer mental illness. You can't pay the rent/mortgage. You get evicted. You can't get references, no landlord, letting agency wants to touch you with a barge pole. Even if you have savings, people want to see more than that, they want work references.....

Xmas is a sad time. If you have a spare room, invite someone in.

[caroline7758]

It's true, Sarah, not all homeless people are there through their own fault, not all people on benefits are there because they don't want to work. But try convincing landlords.....it's often a case of one bad apple etc.

[islandgirl]

It is awful for genuine people who end up homeless and we ("the state") should do everything to help them. However my last tenant was fit and well but chose not to work. Instead he pocketed the housing benefit and paid me nothing, ran up debts with BT the electricity board and all other utilities which he had no intention of paying, would work for a couple of weeks then give up his jobs, and was violent with his family. He is one of those "bad apples" and I resent my taxes looking after him - if the state didn't pay him there would be more for the genuine people.

[justaboutsane]

There are also those who WANT to live on the streets. A few years ago my Dad was a local councillor, part of his job was to go out and count the number of homeless people on the street. During that time he spoke to many about why they were there. Some of them told him how they had been set up with council homes and support networks, they were even helped back into work. However, they could not cope and many just walked out of their homes never to return.

I would like to think I help the homeless, we support a charity called Little Brothers who have a shelter and soup runs here and Bristol, and after being contacted by a local agency we have just housed a young lady who was being thrown out of her home. We were able to help as a tenant had unexpectedly left without giving notice. It means that a vulnerable young lady is off the streets and our property is tenanted over Christmas, ok its a gamble but with the amount of support this young lady has we are hoping its a gamble that will pay off.... I guess only time will tell.

[cris/c]

Bravo justaboutsane.

I admire people who speak with action and not words.

There are indeed many people who live on the streets because they choose to.

However, there are an increasing number of vulnerable young people who end up on the streets because they don't fit in with the family unit, often a family unit that is an amalgamation of two families coming together through a second marriage.

A caring social system, such as we are fortunate enough to enjoy in this country, can't do it all.

If you don't want to offer a spare bed to someone this Christmas, then donate some money to the Salvation Army. £9 provides a bed and a meal for somebody at Christmas. If you are feeling generous give more. Make a modest monthly donation, they need money all year round.

I make a monthly donation to the Sally army. I don't send Christmas Cards other than to immediate family anymore, and I donate the cost of cards and stamps to homeless charities. This adds up when you consider that most people send an average of 100 cards and often more.

Most LL's are not hard hearted B.....s as has become very obvious to me since I began using this forum. We make our livings out of renting our properties, and mostly very modest incomes at that. However, I do make a living out of my houses so I give a little bit back.

[caroline7758]

Ah, nice to hear some Christmas spirit going on! Yes, a lot of people do get housed by the council, but it often takes a while, and many people also get turned away by the council, so their only solution is private housing or the street. In areas with high rents and high student populations like mine, it is really hard to find anywhere affordable, and the number of "no DSS" landlords make it even harder. Well done to those of you who are willing to take a risk-now that the government is setting new targets for councils to get more people out of temporary accommodation, they are relying on the private landlords and setting up more schemes which offer support to landlords as well as tenants. Next time you have a vacancy, why not see what your local council can do for you?

[charger]

At times landlords are bounded to think in a negative way about people who live on benefits ; ie: one of my tenants receives money from the father, the mother, + job seeker allowance + benefits for a total of £ 1,700pcm . He just don't want to work and he's proud to show me his monthly effortlessness income .
However these people have also to be understood and somehow welcomed, because even if they look for a job, they will be asked to provide previous job's references, which they don't have, or if they look for a house they will be asked for the previous landlord's references and they lack of those too.
I guess all of us have got something to hide, and all of us try to profit from the system in one way or another.
Christmas time it's a nice occasion to think more about other's needs and less about our pockets