A 20-year-old mum says she and her young daughter will have nowhere to live because Thanet council is evicting her from temporary accommodation after deciding she made herself ‘intentionally homeless.’
Hollie Tyrrell and her daughter, who is almost two years old, have to leave the accommodation in Margate after May 26.
The termination notice says: “As your licence is excluded, this means we do not have to take court proceedings in order to secure an eviction.”
Hollie says she left her previous flat in Cliftonville due to issues with the property. She said she did not feel it was safe to stay in with mould, plumbing issues and part of the ceiling falling through, particularly as both she and her daughter have been diagnosed with asthma. The circumstances were disputed by the landlord and a council housing inspection concluded the flat was habitable.
Hollie says she handed in her notice because of her concerns and slept on the floor of a relative’s home.
She said: “I left my flat in June 2023 due to major health and safety issues. I moved in with family but then we had to leave because they were moving to a smaller property.
“I was sent to Maidstone then moved into shared housing October 2023. Then in January 2024 I was moved into a two bedroom flat that is temporary accommodation.
“Now I have received an email from the council with a notice saying I have until 26th May to leave.”
Hollie says the notice to ‘terminate her licence’ means she and her daughter will again face sofa-surfing or sleeping on the street as housing benefit does not cover the cost of private rents and after two years of looking she has still had no success in securing a property.
She added: “I have nowhere to go and no-one can help. I’ve tried everything but I can’t afford private (renting).
“I haven’t even got family who can help because they have moved to smaller places.”
Excluded licence
Hollie is not protected under the eviction act because her temporary housing comes under an excluded licence. This means the landlord does not have to give notice and there is no requirement to obtain a possession order from a court to lawfully evict, they can simply take possession of the premises.
People placed in interim accommodation while a local authority is carrying out inquires into their homelessness application will be an excluded occupier.
Thanet council
A Thanet council spokesperson said: “”While we are unable to comment on specific cases for reasons of confidentiality, households that find themselves at risk of homelessness should always contact our Housing Options team as soon as possible.
“When a resident is housed in temporary accommodation, investigations are undertaken to determine the reason for their homelessness, and whether they qualify for longer-term housing.
“A resident may be found to have made themselves intentionally homeless for a number of reasons, such as having turned down suitable housing, non-payment of rent or antisocial behaviour.
“When a resident in temporary accommodation is found to have made themselves intentionally homeless, they will be given reasonable notice to leave the property.
“The resident will then need to source their own accommodation within the private sector. There is also an option to register on the council’s social housing list by signing up to Kent Homechoice.
“We also refer cases involving children to Kent County Council’s Children’s Services team which has an on-going duty of care regarding children’s welfare.”
If the council decides someone is intentionally homeless, there is only be a duty, if they are in priority need, to provide temporary accommodation for a short term period so they can make arrangements to find somewhere else to live.
Challenge a housing decision
To fight a finding of being intentionally homeless you need to ask the housing officer to write down their decision in a decision letter and then ask the council to review.
If this fails you could make an appeal. This is an application to the county court for the court to decide if the decision made by the council about your homelessness application is wrong according to the law. This will require legal help.
Housing register and LHA rates
There are currently 1907 households (as of April 25) on the council’s housing waiting list.
People in receipt of housing benefit will be entitled to help with rent costs, however these are capped at Local Housing Allowance rates.
The monthly LHA rates are:
Shared accommodation £378.95
1 bedroom £576.25
2 bedrooms £747.93
3 bedrooms £897.52
4 bedrooms £1146.86
Although LHA rates were raised in April private rents generally still exceed them.
Get advice on your housing rights
Shelter – You can call Shelter’s free housing advice helpline on: 0808 800 4444. The line is open from 8am-8pm on weekdays and 9am-5pm on weekends, 365 days a year.
Calls are free from UK landlines and all major UK mobile operators. There’s also a webchat service on their website.
Shelter also has advice centres in England where you can go to get personal, face-to-face advice from a housing specialist.
Civil Legal Advice is a service that provides some free legal advice over the phone, funded by the government. To see if you qualify go to https://www.gov.uk/civil-legal-advice
You need to be on a low income with either a small amount or no savings to be entitled to this help.
Citizens Advice – Scroll down their homepage to search for a CAB near you: citizensadvice.org.uk/
