Please help, Homeless Brother.

[Lisa_martin]

hi there,

Im hoping someone can give help or advice for my brother.

The situation is this.

He moved from Wales to Devon (where I am) to start a better life in november last year. It hasnt been easy for him but he has found work. he works for a very low income but is gaining experience in a garage as a mechanic.

Since he has been here he has not had a place to live. he has been sleeping on mates sofa's and mine but I cannot let it happen anymore as I am on housing benefit and the rent deposit scheme, if they caught wind of it me and my family would be out on the streets too Also the mate he has been staying with has been told by his landlord that if he left my brother stay in his flat any longer he too would be on the streets. So as of last night he is homless.

I know that the council do not have a duty to house him as he is 20year old single male. but surely there must be something he can do?

Also I forgot to mention he is dyslexic and has learning difficulties.

can anyone help or advise please?

manythanks

Lisa

[gizmo111]

He needs to go to his local hosuing office and present as homeless.
Is there any youth housign in the area?
Has he ever had social work involvement?
Has he applied for the same scheme as yourself?
Contact Shelter for advice and support also.

[Lisa_martin]

Hi there Gizmo,

thanks for gettin back to me sooooo quickly.

Today at 2 o'clock i have arranged for him to attend the local housing office where he will need to oresent himself as homeless.

Unfortunalty there is no youth housing in the area that I can find

He's had no social workers involved as far as i know

he hasnt applied for any scheme because he wasnt eligible at the time.

Just ringin shelter now hoping they can help too

so I guess its wait and see what the local housing office has to say, but they basically told us on the fone this morning not to hold our breaths.

Shame i had no idea the housing authorities were so stretched

Thanks for your reply.

Lisa

[MrShed]

Can he not rent privately?

[Lisa_martin]

no he has no money. if he could i wouldnt be asking for help.

he had his cheque book stolen last week and 25 cheques have been cashed to his account so he has no money

Thanks tho,

Lisa

[Lisa_martin]

so far i have got him to go to a place in torquay which is a hostel, they said something along the lines of, "to stay here u will be interviewd and if u pass the interview u can stay here in the hostel temporary it will cost him £70 a week but he can get help thro to housing benefit, that is his only option,

Ohh god i feel so sick and usless

[MrShed]

But can he not get income support and housing benefit if this is the case? This can go towards private letting also...

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, just trying to cover all bases

[Lisa_martin]

he's been to the hostel, there is nothing they can do for him has the person he needs to see is on holiday.

No im stuck

[Lisa_martin]

He doesnt recieve housing benefit nor income support as he is working. he recieves £120 a week wages half of it is paid by the garage and the other half is paid by a programme A4E that is goverment run and helps people like my brother into work.

so therefore he is not eligible

hmmm I understand what your saying mrshed and i do appriciate your help.

[gizmo111]

Have you tried the Foyer in Torquay

Foyer Federation

What did Shelter say?

[Lisa_martin]

but on the other hand he has no money to go for the deposit of somewhere to stay. and that wouldn't be effective as of today would it? the problem still stands that he has nowhere to go tonight.

Once he finds an address he can then claim housing benefit and they will award up to 50-60 a week, so that is a help. but gettin to that stage is difficult

[Lisa_martin]

shelter were the guys that told us to fone project 58 and factory row, but they said the same, he is not a priority and there isnt much they can do

I'll have a look at the foyer now

thanks for that gizmo

[Jeanjaquessmoothie]

Lisa.. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Why is he not allowed to stay with you, as long as he's only staying as a guest, i.e. for short periods of time, I can't see a problem to be honest?

[Lisa_martin]

thanks for that, tho the foyer cant help brother has he needs to be reffered by torbay housing team which isnt gonna give him a bed for the night.

im fast running out of options

[Lisa_martin]

Hi thanks well, its because he's been staying for a short period of time with me since november. and have been warned by the scheme i'm on not to have him here or I will lose my house

so i have to listen. as u can see, I have had him in a 2 bedroom house there's me and hubby, my daughter and then my brother who was staying here perminantly intill 4 weeks ago when he had to leave because of the circs.

I know what your suggestion is but as u can see I have had him here for too long and now the scheme im on are aware of my brother and could pop by at anytime.

[Jeanjaquessmoothie]

I would ring the scheme and ask them to be sympathetic to yours and your brothers circumstances, until he can find a place of his own.. Tell them all the places you have refered him etc, lay it on with a shovel, see if they'll allow him to stay. I can't see that they'll just say "no, he can sleep on the streets".

Got to be worth a try

[Lisa_martin]

honestly they have, I rung them this morning to see if they could help my brother, the lady on the fone is the lady that helped me and my family and without me saying a word about my circumstances she said. "under any circumstances do not have your brother stay in your house.

so I cant. I just cant. I dontknow what to do now,