Family victims of housing shortage (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Family victims of housing shortage

A FAMILY of six who have been told to leave their rented home in Cirencester could be forced into a bed and breakfast in Gloucester because there is nowhere available for them to go.

In just over three weeks Steve and Tina Larkin and their four children, Jamie, two, Jessica, five, Stephanie, seven and eight-year-old Matthew must leave their three bedroom home because their landlord wants to spend two months renovating it.

Their predicament brings into sharp focus the shortage of affordable housing in the Cotswolds.

Last April, Maurice Brennan, Cotswold District Council's departing head of health and environment warned the shortage of affordable housing in the Cotswolds had reached a critical stage.

In the meantime, Steve, 36, and Tina 31, must find alternative accommodation.

For the past five weeks they have been scouring the private lettings list and working with Fosseway Housing Association to find another home.

However, Fosseway is unable to tell the couple when a suitable house will become free.

If they fail to find a home before their eviction date of March 20, Fosseway will arrange to place them in a bed and breakfast in Gloucester.

But as the family shares one car it would make it impossible for them to reach their respective jobs.

The hostel in Victoria Road, Cirencester, which Fosseway uses for homeless families, is also unsuitable because all its rooms are too small for a family of six.

Steve, a sales assistant at Lidl in Cirencester, and Tina, a part-time catering assistant at Ampney Crucis Primary School, are also unable to find a new privately rented home, in some cases because they receive housing benefit.

Tina said: "We are fighting the landlords because a lot of them don't want housing benefit or more than two or three children."

They are so desperate added Mr Larkin, they asked if any caravans were free to rent in Cotswold Hoburne, in Cotswold Water Park, and have been offered four tents by friends.

When they do find a house they can afford to rent they are unable to afford a deposit because the £1,600 downpayment on their current house would not be returned and cleared through their bank for at least a fortnight after they move out, and they have no other savings. In the meantime they ask, where are they supposed to go?

Mrs Larkin says: "We are fighting a losing battle because until we get the money back from this place we can't go anywhere.

"What we want to know is why they Fosseway can't help us and why they want to put us into a bed and breakfast in Gloucester?"

Christine Gibson, Fosseway housing services manager said: "Mr and Mrs Larkin are registered for a three or four bedroom property but due to the shortage of available housing it is not possible to predict how long they may have to wait."

Mrs Gibson also advised the Larkins that if they cannot find a home before their eviction date they should make a homelessness presentation to the association.

One other option open to Mr and Mrs Larkin is to ask their current landlord to pay their deposit directly to their new landlord, if such an agreement can be reached.

However, Mrs Larkin says claiming honelessness could result in court action from the landlord and the risk of losing everything.

"We could be evicted with nothing but the clothes on our back."

A spokesman for Shelter's Gloucestershire Housing Aid Centre said new Government rules from April 1 mean families will only be housed in a bed and breakfast for a maximum six weeks - and only if there is no alternative.

He added: "My advice is that they should sit tight and wait for the proper legal process to take place."

He also said they should seek help from Shelter's advice sessions held every Thursday afternoon at Cirencester Citizen Advice Bureau.