No Place Like Home

The swinging 60s.

Brimming with optimism...

And Hurst scores for the third time.

England have won the World Cup.

A new era of music, fashion and technology.

But it wasn't the same for everyone.

In 1966, a BBC drama documentary burst the bubble.

Cathy Come Home told the harrowing story of a young couple's

descent into homelessness.

The director was Ken Loach.

When we made Cathy there was a serious homeless

problem that people didn't recognise.

It was a ground-breaking film.

It looked like a documentary, showing how any one of us could find

ourselves facing homelessness.

You would see the fictional event...

And the next answer we got was, "No children".

No children accepted.

..and then you hear a piece of documentary fact...

Birmingham - 39,000 families on the waiting list.

Leeds - 13,500.

..so that you knew this just wasn't an isolated incident.

This reflected the state of society as a whole.

From the moment Cathy simply gets behind with her rent,

her fate is sealed.

She loses everything - her home, her husband,

even her children.

The film still packs a punch.

Oh, it's the beginning of the end, isn't it?

Raising the rent.

Took the children, walked off with them, and didn't care.

That's pretty much what they said to me.

Cathy Come Home tackles homelessness in a

typically brutal and honest way.

That film was made over 50 years ago.

I want to find out if people are facing the same ordeal today.

I've had a major heart attack.

I've been told by my doctor I'm not supposed to go back to work yet.

Ken Loach has been making controversial

films throughout his long career.

I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

I'm trying to explain to you a situation and you don't care.

His latest - I, Daniel Blake - tells the

story of a man beaten by the benefits system.

I've got about 12 quid in my purse.

Do you know what - you've created a scene, all right?

Jesus Christ! What I supposed to do?

Who's first in this queue? I am.

Do you mind if this young lass signs on first?

No, no, you carry on.

This isn't your concern - I want you to get out as well.

This is Ken Loach's home city of Bath.

It's a tourist magnet, attracting millions of

visitors every year.

They come for the Georgian architecture, the Roman

history and the designer shops.

At the end of their holidays tourists

will pack up and go home, but across the south-west

there are more than 1000 families who have no place of their own.

They're faced with eviction, living in temporary

accommodation, or even sofa surfing with friends and family.

It's just a few days before Christmas, and

Luke's family is facing eviction.

I received an e-mail on the 1st of November,

and with that e-mail there was attached

a section 21 notice,

effectively giving us two months to vacate the property.

Luke's rented this house in Bristol for more than five years.

We've got mine and my wife's room here, with Jack staying with us.

He works full-time but his low wage means he partly

relies on housing benefit.

Having to go and acquire financial assistance

to put a roof over my children's head, I feel like I've failed as

a father, I really do.

The reality being, for me, is that, rightly or wrongly,

if I wasn't working this rent would be paid for me.

But I'm passionate in the fact that I want to set an example for my

children that, no, working does pay.

We've got my two eldest in this room here.

Typical boys' room.

So they share, they've got their own bit of space.

It's just really stressful, you know?

You try and get into the Christmas spirit and me and my wife

just feel flat, cos we know that once all the celebrations are done,

once the turkey's eaten, it's time to pack up.

Not just pack up the Christmas decs - pack up the

wardrobes, pack up everything, out the door.

And it just puts so much stress on us.

You know, we've been snapping at each other, snappy with

the kids, just purely because of the amount of stress

that this has caused us.

My biggest concern is that the stress gets too much and

then me and my wife end up splitting up.

The children then end up growing up with a split family.

I don't want that.

You know, I love my wife, I love my children, I want to be there

for them all the way.

But the stress on this is just something else.

I just want a place where I can bring up

my children, they've got nice, happy memories.

That's what a home is to me.

Memories, experiences, safety, comfort.

This isn't a home any more.

Not at all.

Luke and his family only have three weeks left to find

somewhere to live.

The story of Cathy was a couple who are quite

well set up, the guy's got a job, and the girl's got a job, they have

children.

He gets injured, he can't drive, he's a lorry driver.

One thing leads to another, they move in

with his parents, and it all goes wrong.

What, three months in arrears?

Well, I'll knock his block in.

I mean, who does he think he's talking to?

Just like Cathy's husband, Reg, Imogen lost her job.

She was a manager of a charity shop.

He says here we owe him three months!

Oh, it's the beginning of the end, isn't it?

Arrears on the rent.

Hey, look, I told you once we'll pay you,

if only you'll give us time.

I know your game - you want to get us out so you can

charge someone else key money.

Can you relate to that?

I'll tell you what - I've always been really careful

all my life not to get in that situation.

When Imogen became unemployed, her landlord

increase the rent by ?200 a month, raising it to the maximum

paid by housing benefit.

I'm just a normal person who's lost their job.

I'm lucky I've still got my home.

You know, other people literally would be a lot worse off.

I could have been kicked out of here, if the landlord decided

he didn't want people on benefits.

He could have been the sort of landlord that just goes, oh...

And gives you a month's notice because you've lost your job.

So I was a bit lucky there.

Do you think that's fair, though?

Not fair at all, no, it's taking the Mickey

out of the system.

And me.

It means that when I...

Well, I am genuinely looking for a job, I don't want to

be unemployed.

It means that when I get a job I'm going to be ?200 a

month worse off than I was.

Or I'll still have to go and try and search

for somewhere that's more affordable for me.

Why are you still here if that's happened?

Why I'm still here is because it's actually almost

impossible to be able to afford to move, for me.

You know, you look at anywhere nowadays, it's like you've

got to have ?500 rent, you've got to have a ?500 deposit,

you might have to have agency fees - so you're looking

at probably at least ?1000, just clear, to move house.

Now, I literally haven't had that money.

If I said to you now, what does home look like to you?

It's like a hug around you, it's safe, it's cosy,

it's secure.

I think so many of us just, like...

We don't even know what that is any more.

And I sort of feel like, because I've been here

for a little while, I've "Imified" it, I've put my mark on it,

I've put my art everywhere and blahdy-blah, I've

got all my plants, I've got my door that shuts really well and I can

double bolt it - I feel quite safe and secure here.

But that whole real nurturing feeling of, like, it's home...

No, it's not there yet.

Cathy and her family couldn't pay the rent.

They lose their home and end up living in her mother-in-law's

house.

It doesn't work out.

It's about time you was going.

All right, then I'll go.

You can keep your rotten old flat, I can't stand it anyway.

It's driving me round the bloody bend!

But sofa surfing or sharing someone else's home isn't always possible.

Just a short walk from Bath's designer shops is a hostel.

It's home to 11 people who have nowhere else to go.

People look down on people for being homeless,

but it can happen to the best of us.

Lorna's 36.

She's been living here for six months.

What's it like at Barnabas house?

Because you've got similar people from a similar

background all together.

It's actually a really nice place at

Barnabas house, because we're all in the same position.

Everybody helps each other out, which is really nice.

But, at the same time, it's hard work living in a hostel, when

you haven't got your own place.

I didn't want you guys to film in there today,

because that's my one little space that I've got.

I don't want it on telly.

That's my one little thing for me, really.

But, do you know what?

With Barnabas house, if they hadn't helped us out...

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know where I'd be right now.

Can't you come round and give me a hand?

All right, all right, love.

Watching the film, many of Lorna's neighbours

felt Cathy's desperation when she had nowhere to go.

They're making themselves a tent.

I've thought about that before, especially in the summer.

Sean's not very well either.

Yeah, I considered putting a tent up last summer,

when I was sort of sofa surfing and just all over the shop.

I did, I did consider buying a tent and just going pitching it up

because, you know, I'd not a lot of money at the time and my

relationship had broken down, and I didn't have anywhere to live.

And, yeah, that was quite hard to watch, when they put the tent up.

When we told Cathy's story, I think people were

prepared to be touched.

I think now there's been such a conscious

propaganda against people who are vulnerable, you know -

"skivers against strivers", "benefit cheats".

There's a cynicism and a hardness now in our

culture which turns away from people who are having a hard time.

Do you find that you're constantly judged

even though you're trying to better your life?

Yeah.

Yeah, by society, definitely.

We all have goals in life and it's mainly to basically

lead a normal life, whatever that is, anyway.

Whatever normal is.

But just to break the circle of living

in hostels, getting kicked out, living on the street, trying to get

back in, getting a place, getting kicked out...

And then, as Lorna said, once you've been kicked out of

somewhere the council are like, "You're intentionally homeless".

But there might have been reasons that you've

been kicked out that something that could have been stopped or some sort

of support network that you could have had behind you that could have

maybe lead you in a better direction.

But when you're left to your own devices and you're in this

sort of depressive spiral, going around and round, it's hard to sort

of break that.

The story of Cathy was one that came to us through the

writer Jeremy Sandford.

He'd done research as a journalist and he'd

described situations in which families were broken up

because they had nowhere to live.

And that's shocking, isn't it - to think people can't live together,

the families are destroyed, because they've got nowhere to live?

So we looked into it and we did the research and we made the film.

And the film basically follows the research.

The first two people's houses are ready

for the Minister of Housing, Mr Harold Macmillan, to inspect with

the architect.

Built in 12 weeks for less than ?1000 each, these houses

seem one answer to the housing drive.

In the 60s and 70s, tens of thousands of

council houses were built.

In fact, by the late 70s over one third of the population

rented their homes.

It is my great pleasure to hand that over to you as a little token of...

But, from the 80s, the right to buy scheme meant councils

sold off their properties, leaving fewer available for families

to rent.

It's no solution, but in Bath there is a unique shelter which

gets people off the streets.

It costs ?3 a night.

Wow, this is quite small.

Yeah...

I can touch both sides of the wall.

It's really, really small.

I got offered a pod there, but I took one look at it and burst

into tears.

It was so small.

I was too claustrophobic.

I couldn't do it.

And I spent the night on the streets that night.

I just couldn't be there.

Spending the night on the streets was, yeah, it wasn't good.

I'm not going to lie.

But...

It had to be done, at the end of the day.

Do you remember where you state?

I think I stayed down the Rec, under the seats.

The violent relationships that I had with my bloke

was going through my mind.

I'd lost my kids - that was going through my mind.

I'd lost my home - that was going through my mind.

Everything was going through my mind.

Like Cathy's children, Kai had a very difficult childhood

being moved between family members and taken into care.

We're back in Midsomer Norton in Somerset, where he found himself

on the street when he was just 15.

When you were homeless was there any particular place you used to go to?

No, I just walked up and down.

What does it feel like being back here knowing you were homeless here?

I zoned out of when I got hard times in life because of my past

experiences being at home and the way I grew up.

I think it's just my shield to protect me so I don't get too

emotionally attached to the problem and then have a meltdown

or go into some sort of...

problem that can't be sorted out.

The start of your journey to becoming homeless,

how did that happen?

Me and my dad had a few arguments in the house and he kicked me out.

I went to stay with my sister in Westfield and because she was

pregnant she was getting stressed.

I think things got too chaotic for her and then she kicked me out

and at that time I didn't think I had anyone to call -

I knew I didn't because I had annoyed everyone, and then I came

here on the high street and pretty much had nowhere to go,

didn't know what to do.

People who do suffer family break-ups and being taken into care

have got more hurdles to jump over than most people and

obviously need support.

People are always extraordinary, aren't they?

Who can say how people will turn out but it doesn't help

if your schooling is being changed every year, if you have no permanent

home, if you're cramped, if your mother, parents depend

on food banks...

If you're in that trap, yes, the children become vulnerable

and who knows what problems will come from that?

Eventually Kai was excluded from school.

I was really naughty at school.

I didn't have any guidance, so I think my schooling life

was quite bad but the school didn't quite understand what I was going

through at home so they didn't understand why

I was getting angry and naughty.

At the point you were homeless and these doors were shut

in your face and there was nowhere for you to go,

how did you feel and where was your mindset at the time?

I was quite stressed.

I don't think I coped well.

I became quite ill, I was seeing my doctor regularly

because I had different symptoms for different things

and didn't think I was coping well.

I wasn't going to the toilet properly, I was

bringing up puke quite a lot.

I've had people tell me I'm never going to get anywhere in life,

I'm useless and I'm going to be sleeping on the streets.

Well, I have had to stay on streets until 2am but I've been able to get

back off it and into somewhere, to have a bath and something to eat

because I didn't want to be there.

Do you think you ever had a point where your hope was lost

at some point in your life?

Many times.

I've been to the point where I didn't want to be around anymore,

I felt like I didn't want to be here but I kept thinking,

if I do something at least I'll get somewhere and then I'll be somewhere

and just keep going up from there.

Thus

The impact of Cathy on society was, as a news story, was immense.

The impact of Cathy on society was, as a news story, was immense.

The impact in changes was minimal.

There was one small change in terms of local authorities having to house

the man of the family, they would have to house husbands

so families wouldn't be split up, so that was a good thing

but it was not big, and of course the long-term impact has been pretty

well zero because homelessness is much worse.

We could take your children into care

and turn you out just like that.

Please don't do that.

As Cathy's life continues to spiral out of control, the authorities

tell her what could happen to her children.

It's Luke's worst nightmare.

That is a shocking attitude.

It was, wasn't it?

Mind you, not much has changed because the council said to me

if I refused any of their help, next thing they'll do

is phone social services.

Terrible, isn't it?

Luke's situation is affecting three generations of his family.

It's heartbreaking for them and it's heartbreaking for us

because we can't change that situation for them.

They can come and live here but I have my daughter living

with us and my son in law while they're saving

for their deposit.

We have two bedrooms and a box room and in fact if they came to us,

then they would now be living in a different council area,

moving from Bristol to South Gloucestershire,

therefore with no accountability for them, so you think,

would we be helping?

We wouldn't.

We understand Luke and Sarah are going to have a struggle.

I would hate if my grandchildren had the same struggle my children have.

There's no let up in the house-hunting but private

renting seems to be out of reach.

Your annual salary has to be 30 times the monthly rent,

which the average house price for rent on this side of town,

you're looking at about 900, 950 for a three-bed house.

In an ideal world I'd like a four but that's not going to happen.

I would need to be earning close to ?30,000 a year.

How many people in Lawrence Weston are earning close to ?30,000 a year?

And I would classify myself as on a decent wage.

They looked at private rent and they didn't

make the affordability, so I went guarantor on their rent

but because I worked 40-odd years as a nurse,

had 26 years for the NHS and now I've retired from nursing,

taken my NHS pension, I do a bit of agency to support

that and to top that up, and because I've got a zero-hours

contract they wouldn't accept me as a guarantor for him,

even though we own our house outright, my wife still works

regular but between us we didn't meet the affordability.

I had the assumption before I'd gone through this that people

with housing shortages were people that weren't working,

that were too lazy or bone idle but that's just not true.

There's people like myself that go out to work Monday to Friday,

Saturday, Sunday working, trying to provide for their family,

and your family home gets taken from underneath you.

I knew they'd catch up with us wherever we tried

to bed down for the night.

The most shocking scene of Cathy Come Home is at the end.

She is thrown out of an overcrowded hostel onto the street

and her children are taken away.

You're not having my kids!

You're not having them!

SHE SCREAMS.

How did that make you feel watching that?

I think I got a bit angry because they didn't really care

about her feelings and they didn't do it in a kind manner, they just

took the children and walked away, didn't care and they made her stay,

she couldn't say goodbye properly.

The parade will turn right in threes.

Right, turn.

Kai's found a kind of surrogate family through his involvement

with the Army cadets and it's changed his life.

In your own platoon you get the feel there's a family thing and then

when you go with every other platoon in your company which makes up

the battalion, you get more of cousins or more part

of the family coming in.

I now want to go to see Breen holiday camp.

Tell me the grid reference.

55.

When I joined I wasn't very nice, pleasant or any of that but now

I think I've improved a lot, dramatically, quickly as well,

with the help of cadets.

Whilst it might be legal to serve this notice,

it's not really acceptable or ethical or moral,

so we're here to stand up and show people that

people power can really help.

Just days before Luke's to lose his home, the community gets together

to try to delay the eviction.

They were told they were going to go into emergency

accommodation straightaway.

They couldn't guarantee it would be in this area even though one

of the kids doing his GCSEs, one of them is autistic.

They would be in emergency accommodation for about six weeks.

If they didn't take that urgency accommodation,

if it was in Yeovil or Stroud, they would be wilfully making

themselves homeless and therefore the social services would be

contacted because they owe a duty of care to the children.

ALL: # We are fighting for security and to be treated with dignity...

The aim of the protest was to get an answer for the landlord

to whether they could stay longer because they clearly couldn't be out

on the 1st of January without going into emergency

accommodation, which would be very unsettling for a family of six.

Thank you everybody for coming so far today, and keep up the fight.

The eviction can't be stopped but the protest has

won them some precious time.

They have given us a two-month extension to the eviction notice,

which is just brilliant.

It means we can have our Christmas, we can relax a little,

we have a bit of breathing space.

We still have to be proactive and try and get something sorted

but we have that that breathing space now.

The council are doing all they can.

They have agreed they are going to help us but it gives us that

extra bit of time so we can stay in the place and keep a roof

over our heads over the winter.

It's brilliant news, such a weight off my shoulders.

I recently caught up with Luke to see if anything has changed.

How's the house-hunting going?

It's...

Hit and miss, really.

You've got private rents that just don't match the affordability

and then with the council it's a case of the bidding system,

just waiting for a property to come up within this area.

And how important is it to stay in Lawrence Weston for you?

It's massive, it's hugely important because my family are settled here.

We have a family that live on our doorstep.

And what kind of stress has this had on you personally as the man

of the house and your family?

The stress on me is unreal because you've got the threat of,

you know, you and your family could be homeless within a matter

of months and a family, like the children, we try to

shelter them as best we can and keep it quite positive.

Obviously they are aware of what is going on now but it's

just a case of keeping them, keeping things positive for them

so it doesn't affect them too much, and then my wife is quite stressed

about everything, as you can imagine.

What advice would you give to our contributors of the film?

I'd say to them, be angry.

It's not your fault.

You're in this situation because the system doesn't work.

The system is generating this poverty and this cruelty

and they know it, but the people who get

rich because of it, of course, are in power.

All I'm going for is my children.

I need to make sure that they are safe, they are sound,

they have a roof over their heads.

I will do anything I need to do to make sure they are safe and secure.

One day things may be completely different but at the moment

it's a bit hard to see that.

12 million people watched Cathy Come Home and were shocked

by its devastating portrayal of homelessness.

It showed how an ordinary family could lose their home and

in that sense nothing has changed, plus it was made when

there was a huge housing shortage - again, no change there.

So although it's been over 50 years since Ken Loach's iconic film

was first shown on TV, it seems that Cathy's story

is still being told today.

Laura is now preparing to move out of the hostel

and into a place of her own.

Imogen has a new job and is saving for a deposit on a flat.

And Kai now has his own place to live and he's been working

for the charity which helped him off the streets and back

on his feet, but his future is still far from certain.

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