Hove mum's 'fear' after being told she could be 'homeless'

Natalie Holland, 40, is currently living in temporary accommodation but she has been told by Brighton and Hove City Council that she will have to leave her current address on March 31 in line with government guidance.

The mother-of-one has been living in Westbourne Villas in Hove, since September 2020 and said she cannot afford to rent a private property after being made redundant from her job as a fitness instructor last year.

Natalie said: “I do understand that I could go into privately rented accommodation but with the difficulties of work and being self-employed it’s not feasible and I don’t want to be left homeless in six months' time.

“I was absolutely an emotional wreck when I was told I would have to move out.

“I spent the whole weekend crying but then I woke up and thought ‘do you know what, I’m going to fight this as much as I can fight this’ because it’s not right.

“There has been no empathy whatsoever. I have been told I have four weeks to hurry up, pack my stuff and move into a shelter.”

Natalie said she found bed bugs in the accommodation she was living in in Eastbourne

The council said that during the pandemic it has housed a high number of homeless households who would not usually be housed under homelessness legislation, but that this can only continue for the time the government guidance is in place.

But Natalie said that as a “vulnerable” adult, she should be eligible for an exemption.

After splitting up from her husband in 2019, Natalie said she moved between 13 and 14 times in the space of a year. with the stress of not having a home leading her to attempt to take her own life.

After applying for temporary accommodation in May last year, Natalie was initially placed in in Eastbourne before being moved to Hove, after informing the council her housing was infested with “cockroaches and bed bugs.”

Natalie said that despite sending a doctor’s letter to the council, confirming that she tried to kill herself, and that she suffers from anxiety and depression, she has been told that she is still expected to leave her accommodation at the end of March.

She fears that if she is once again without a stable home, her mental health will begin to spiral downwards as it did before.

Natalie said: “There has been no empathy whatsoever. I have been told I have four weeks to hurry up, pack my stuff and move into a shelter.

“How can they just put all these people in emergency accommodation and then just take it away?”

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“I am now in emergency accommodation, and yes it isn’t permanent, but I feel settled – I’m not sleeping in people’s houses or sleeping in a car.

“I can see my son three nights a week and it works. When I split up with my ex-husband and I was moving around, it was very unsettling and I went into complete breakdown.

“I was a complete mess but now I feel like I have the foundations of being somewhere and I’m starting to build my life up again, I’m worried about what’s going to happen again on March 31.”

A council spokesman said individuals have been urged to work with a specialist team to resolve their homelessness issues.

He said: “It is important that we advise these households that the provision of their accommodation will only continue for the time this guidance is in place, which is yet to be determined.

“We have a specialist team dedicated to supporting these households into longer term private accommodation as soon as possible.

"We would urge individuals to work with this team to resolve their homelessness issues.

“Anyone who disputes a decision made on their homeless application has a statutory right to request a review, which will be considered in the usual way.”