A young family have been left living out of boxes and weeks away from homelessness after being served an eviction notice. Amy Lee, her partner, and two 10-year-old children were served a Section 21 notice (no fault eviction) by their landlord in September. The notice means the landlord has the power to evict tenants within a time stated, in Amy's case this was two months, the current minimum term.
However, despite weeks of searching, the family could be faced with a possession order for refusing to leave their property due to there being no suitable homes available for them where they live in Caerphilly. The soaring price of rental properties and increased demand on the property market mean they fear being forced to leave the area - and their children are begging them not to take them out of their school.
Amy says that their situation has been made worse by the fact her partner claims Universal Credit. Not only does this prohibit them from getting a mortgage, she says many landlords are refusing them.
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Amy says that with just weeks to go until the family are due to leave the stress of the situation is making her ill. "I’m not sleeping at all," she said. "The stress of it all, the worry, I'm feeling snappy, it's awful. The stress is so straining"
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act which will come into force in December 2022 is set to transform the rental market. Estate agents say the impending law is one of the reasons landlords are issuing Section 21 notices at the moment to tenants. As a result of the act, the landlord will have to make a number of changes.
'No-fault' notice periods will be increasing from two months to six months and it will no longer be possible to issue a notice in the first six months, meaning all contract-holders will have a minimum 12 months of security at the start of their tenancy. Landlords will also have to provide a written copy of the occupation contract to the tenant (called the ‘contract-holder’ in the legislation).
Strengthened rules on landlord-maintained properties will be brought in, as will be rules to address the practice of 'retaliatory eviction' (whereby a landlord serves notice on a tenant because they ask for repairs, or complain about poor conditions).
Amy's family have lived in the property for nearly four years. She said that in that time, the private rental market in the area has "completely changed" and they can now no longer afford anything in the area. She says that they have managed to "push" their budget to the maximum of £750 a month, but still cannot find anywhere suitable.
For a three-bedroom property in their current location between Senghenydd and Trecenydd in Caerphilly, they are paying £525 in rent. They say that with the market changes, they can just about get a one-bedroom flat for that price now. She says that the family are facing homelessness in a matter of weeks if they are served a possession order after the notice is up.
"We've been advised to stay put and wait for a court order as we have nowhere to go. The council housing can't house us in time so we just have to wait here. Obviously facing a court order is stressful. The other issue is, if you're offered a house and you refuse it - even if it isn't suitable - you can be taken off the housing list."
Amy says the family have packed up most of their belonging and are living out of boxes just in case they have to move at a moment's notice. They say that any houses that are suitable are taken off the market in days so they want to be prepared.
"We’re living out of boxes at the moment," she said. "We’re packing so if we need to up and go we can. Both boys are in one room together now so we can use one room for storage."
Amy says that the biggest challenge for the family is finding a house within her children's school catchment area so they would not need to move schools. Amy and her partner have two 10-year-old boys in year six of primary school.
She says the strain of the situation has started to be felt by the boys. "The one thing they’ve asked for is for not to take them out of school," she said.
"They’re constantly asking every day, 'what happens if we don’t find a house in time?', 'will we be living on the streets?'. We can’t answer their questions. No 10-year-old should be worrying about this I wouldnt want any parent to go through this, I wouldn’t want my enemy to."
For Amy, she said that the biggest shock the family has faced is how much the rental market has changed in the four years since they were last looking. "I was really surprised when we first started looking. The prices have gone up dramatically in the last four years. Our rent at the moment for a three bed is £525, you can barely get a one bed for that now.
"Even if you do find something suitable, within 48 hours its gone. We also can't get a mortgage because of universal credit so it’s a vicious cycle. Landlords are also refusing us to rent off them because of the terms and conditions of their mortgage won't allow them to. It's impossible."
"You need more notice than two months. You can't do anything in two months." Amy says that she doesn't feel like she has had enough support from the council in finding somewhere suitable.
"The council don’t seem to care, I feel like I’m dealing with it by myself They said they will communicate once a month, what is that, two conversations? You need more notice than two months. You can't do anything in two months."
A spokesperson for CCBC said “Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, we can confirm that the Council works in accordance with its statutory framework under the Housing Wales Act 2014 and all those who are threatened with or whom are homeless are allocated a Prevention or homeless officer and a support worker if they agree to the referral. A full assessment of housing and support needs are undertaken and housing options are discussed that are prevalent to that individual household which can include an application to our Common Housing Register and also access to private sector accommodation and any financial assistance that we can give to assist in securing this.
“Due to the demand for accommodation in the borough across all sectors we are unable to confirm how long someone may need to wait for accommodation and in view of this any advice given to an applicant is provided in conjunction with our statutory framework , the availability of accommodation within an area of an applicant choice.
“We would further advise that the current living cost crisis, increase in mortgage rates and the pending introduction of Renting Homes (Wales) Act is also placing additional pressures on the housing market and this is being seen across Wales and the UK not just Caerphilly.”
Read next:
- Family face eviction from home they've lived in for 10 years but refuse to leave
- Woman, 85, being kicked out of home she's lived in for 27 years by Presbyterian Church
- Six important things to know as a renter in Wales before new law introduced
- The huge problems facing tenants and landlords in the rental market in Wales
- The growing crisis facing Cardiff's rental market with landlords selling up and 100 people fighting for every property
