Hey guys, after some advice, I live in the south of the UK, and currently in a property that is owned by family members, but feel the need to branch out on my own, as there is increasing pressur to move back into myJehovah witness parents house with my abusive parent, the JWs is a factor here, although I’ve mostly given them the run off for now on the religious mumbo jumbo.
Trouble is due to mental health issues and COVID I’m pretty poor and only working zero hours and part time rn, just bearly scraping by.
Can anyone explain to me how, housing works in the UK? as this was never something I was prepared for being rasied JW.
A friend told me that he got the local council to pay for his rent up front for a year and was able to rent a small room.
I’m thinking I’d have to sell some of my expensive things to raise a deposit. But there’s no way in hell I’m moving back with my parents in my mid 20s.
Some help here would be amazing!!!
7 comments
Lots of local councils offer deposit help schemes for people on a low income, if you call your local council they should be able to advise. There is also a scheme called the ‘nil deposit scheme’ that lots of estate agents use- essentially you don’t pay a deposit up front and just pay towards an insurance policy each month to cover you if you damage anything. Hope this helps!
It is tricky.
You should apply for Universal Credit in order to access some housing cash, but be warned because of your age this will be limited to a certain amount and only for a shared room in a house/flat.
You should contact your local council housing team and see what support they can provide. There is a legal duty to *help* you but not a duty to *house* you unless you met certain criteria.
Find your local citizens advice branch and go and speak to someone. They’re great. They’ll give advice on everything from housing to employment and benefits and all sorts. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Definitely Citizans advice and also the Housing department of the council. If your being made homeless they have to help
If you are in the south of the UK, and are looking for social housing, chances are the application systems are all run through the local authorities, for example Sussex Homefinder or Kent Homechoice. Making an application to these systems is relatively simple, however due to demand for housing it can take a while to be rehoused, even if you are classified as a priority.
I think you should go the domestic abuse route and flee on that basis. If you find a local shelter they can support your immediate housing needs. It sounds like your family have done what they can to make you financially dependent on them and it needs to stop if any progress is tobe made
What sort of income do you have? [https://www.spareroom.co.uk/](https://www.spareroom.co.uk/) may be an option if you can afford around £400/month, at a push you may even get closer to £300/month. Take a look at the details though, some cheaper ones may not be bills included. £400-500 should be enough to get somewhere with bills included pretty easily.
Get something walking/cycling distance from your job, then £600/month should be good enough income for you to afford it, that is just over 63 hours of work per month. If you get on average over 16 hours a week that should be ok.
Ideally you would want more hours so you can start to build up a bit of savings to help cover any problems you may run into.