Evicted Mother & 16 year old Daughter

[Julinda]

A friend of mine was evicted from her temporary home where she had been placed by the council while awaiting a decision by the Homelessness Department as to whether or not it was considered she made herself intentionally Homeless. The decision went against her and i agreed to let herself and her Daughter stay for a few days whilst she got herself sorted out. However it is 4 weeks since and i feel i extended my hospitality more than adequately. I only have a small 1 Bedroom Council Bungalow and i have in this time allowed my Friend & Daughter to use my Bedroom to sleep in, whilo i sleep on my settee in the front room/Lounge. I believe the council are responsible & required by Law to ensure that the 16 yr old Daughter has sutable Accomadation. The situation as it stands is driving me Mad, and i feel that the Mother at least is abusing my hospitality and taking advantage of me knowing that i would not see them out on the street. Whats more, the Daughter, rarely gets out of Bed & simply watches TV all day on her own tv set. Both people have made no effort to find elsewhere either. I recently Typed out a letter for them to take to the council explaining that no matter what, they would have nowhere to sleep as of the end of this week. However, the mother said that nothing could be done until a week the following monday when the staff member for the council returned from leave. I am out of my mind? Please Advise?

[dancealot13]

Julinda, I think you need to put your foot down. The good thing about having an older child is #1 the girl could get a job, and #2 the mother doesn't have to hire a babysitter. So unless the mother is disabled in some way, they both should by trying to get back up on their feet. It only takes 2 weeks to find some type of income. She can't be picky when she's in this type of situation. As far as finding a new place to live, that can be difficult especially because it sounds like they don't have any money saved up. The least they can do though , is make an effort to work and start saving some. Good luck.

[zara 4]

It does look as if the mother is intending NOT to go anywhere,but then she has no need to does she?I know its probably something you really don't want to do but you must tell them it was just temporary and you would like your home back,surely at 16 the girl is old enough for work as dancealot says,does the mother work? Sorry julinda but it DOES seem that you are being taken for a fool,let them see that you're not,if need be seek advice from a solicitor if they don't listen to you,but if these people are real friends they will respect your privacy and life!!!

[Julinda]

Thanking Dancealot13 & Zara 4 for their answers, of which i probably knew but needed telling from someone else. Thanks again.

A further issue which makes it difficult is the fact that the Mother is on Benefits and i don't think she has done any sort of work for at least the last 16 years?

[WendyS]

I'm wondering why this individual and her daughter were evicted from their home in the first place. Was it for anti social behaviour of some kind? I can understand your frustration and the feeling that you are now being taken advantage of. Bluntly I feel you must take the bull by its horns now and give them a date to leave, telling the daughter than in the meantime you expect her to be washed, dressed and out of bed by 8 a.m and out looking for a job. . As part of this "reality wake-up ", I would tell them you intend taking your bedroom back forthwith as your "poor back" will no longer allow you to sleep on the sofa. Also, bring some boxes home from the supermarket so they can pack their things in to ram the message home.
Do you have any friends/relatives you can confide in and get them to come for a couple of nights, so that they simply have to move out? Is there a Salvation Army hostel in the area you could drive them to? I really feel for you. This is a horrible situation in which to find yourself, especially when it has arisen from your kind heartedness. However, I suspect they may by lying to you about no other help being available to them from the council. Why not ring the Council yourself to find out how they deal with such cases. Perhaps they're just too comfortable at your place to have made any effort to resolve their problems. Oh, and by the way, ask for your house key back immediately if they've got one, (just to protect yourself) and to let them know you mean business.

Good luck. Keep us updated.

[WendyS]

Forgot to mention in my previous post, but as you mention that you are a Council tenant yourself, I wonder whether's there's any clause in your tenancy about the number of people who are allowed to live in your bungalow? I assume they're probably not paying you any rent. If they are, are you allowed to sublet? If not, this might give you another convenient get-out clause to asking them to move on.