Housing advice needed

[Rockandrolldreamscomethrough]

After weeks of searching I have finally found a suitable house that isn’t in the direct area in my price range!! I am thrilled. It looks so perfect for me and my daughter and is in a place he would never think to look or even really know how to get to. Okay so it’s private rented and I am in a council house. Obviously if all went to plan I would get the keys for new house then leave when he went to work one day. With it being private rented though I’d have to sign a tenancy before I moved in but I already have a tenancy with my house I am in at the moment. Obviously I would have to take myself off my current tenancy after I moved out. Can you have two tenancies at once? I also don’t know what I would do about furniture or anything like that as I don’t drive so there’s no way I’d be able to take any furniture to a new house so it would be completely empty when I moved in. I don’t even know anyone with a van and if I managed to hire one and my neighbours saw me moving beds and things out of my current house they would ring his mum straight away and ask if we are moving (one neighbour is particularly nosey) It would get back to him before I’d even left. I realise I’m probably getting a bit ahead of myself as I haven’t even seen the house yet but I am going to arrange a viewing next week when he is out. He will never know. I can ask the estate agents about deposit and first months rent but the other things I’m not sure about. Will the helpline know? Sorry for the rant guys, it may come to nothing but I couldn’t help but get excited about the thought tht I might be able to leave him soon!

[Lisa]

Hi Rockandroll,

Yes, please try the helpline they might be able to advice you but actually Shelter are the housing experts, they have a helpline too so explain your situation and that you are fleeing from domestic abuse and they can talk you through all your options. http://www.shelter.org.uk 0808 800 4444. Your local Women’s Aid group should be able to offer you some advocacy and support too.

Good Luck Rockandroll. Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes,

Lisa
Forum Moderator

[Rockandrolldreamscomethrough]

Thanks Lisa,
I can’t get through to either at the moment but I’ll keep trying when he’s out 🙂
Thanks again! I’ll let you know how I get on.

[Tiffany]

You can definitely have two tenancies at once. You would be liable for your partner’s rent until you got your name off his tenancy (if he didn’t pay it). But I wouldn’t let that put you off getting a new place if it comes together quickly and sorting out to remove your name once you have left. Hope you get through to a helpline soon. Do you have a local branch of women’s aid who you could try?

[Rockandrolldreamscomethrough]

Tiffany, thankyou so much for the info! I’ve been trying both lines all day but can’t get through. I rang the estate agents this morning and they aren’t having viewings till the tenant has moved out completely, (detail removed by moderator). This gives me more time. I have so many questions about how I would possibly pay the admin fees, first months rent and deposit as all that equates to just over a grand 🙁 I just don’t have that kind of money and nor does my family. I was so excited then looked into it and remembered how much it all costs and how hard it will be

[Ariana]

Hi hun…

I am also in a similar situation so have looked into this. There is something called a discretionary housing payment that councils do so in certain circumstances you can apply for this and they give you the deposit and first months rent to get you in a private property. Some will even consider covering moving costs. Contact you’re local housing benefits team they can help. Good luck x*x

[Daisy]

That sounds good, you and your daughter somewhere safely away. You can sign a private rented tenancy, because you are fleeing dv, and that will then be your new main home, so if you are entitled to claim housing benefit you can- but you still are a joint tenant elsewhere , I read this as, now you are equally responsible with him to pay the rent at your former home, and if he doesn’t pay the rent that could leave you in a nasty situation, plus you could be open to financial abuse or pressure to return, so if you intend to end your former joint tenancy, which is best, clean break -you are not just ending your half, you are ending the tenancy so they will then decide if they give him notice to leave or let him stay and that is why you need to speak to shelter or the council of your current address, in secret, for your own knowledge. I hope you don’tlet this put you off getting safe, it’s doable but you need to think of you and your daughter first and not him, something hard for us as we have been conditioned to put them first for so long just to save the aggro.do speak to the helpline or shelter do you know all options, as you could equally get an ouster order so you and your daughter can keep your current home and he has to leave but you are the only one who can decide whether flight or fight is the best route for you x x x

[SunshineRainflower]

Hi Rockandroll just seen this thread about your housing. It sounds like a tricky situation but definitely not impossible.

I agree that ideally you want to get your name off the current tenancy so that he can’t use it to financially abuse you. If you rang the council housing team and asked them they should technically have a policy covering situations involving domestic abuse. If you have a local domestic abuse team also ring them as they will have dealt with it before.

I am thinking that you could sign for a new place and cancel your old place simultaneously or just after you have moved in to keep you free from him and safe.

Could you get a guarantor for the private tenancy? My parents are my guarantors for a private rental, and I found a landlord who was happy to accept housing benefit and a cat. I know other people did things like offer 6 months rent in advance, if landlords were doubtful about renting to them.

You can also ask the council for emergency housing due to domestic abuse. And if you do a google search, you will find websites that list private landlords that don’t go through letting agents, so they don’t charge any fees. Most landlords will negotiate as long as they think you will pay the rent and look after their property.

Sounds like you need to write down all the options, your budget and come up with a plan. I had to find my own place last year so can appreciate how incredibly stressful it is, and I wasn’t even living with my ex. Keep going.

[Rockandrolldreamscomethrough]

Thanks for all your replies and info guys. I got through to the helpline this morning and they put me onto my local women and children’s aid. They did a risk assessment with me over the phone. The overall score was bad enough for them to want to put me and my daughter in a refuge but they said if I was happy to make a plan with them they would go through it all with me until me and my daughter are out and safe. They have made a housing plan with me, tomorrow I need to phone my housing association and see if they can remove me off my tenancy and find me a new property. I feel like a weight has been lifted and that something

[Tiffany]

I am so glad. I hope it all goes well. Keep posting if you need support.

[Author]

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