Britain's Homeless Families Panorama


Britain's Homeless Families

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crisis. This is primitive stuff. The children are having to go to the

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toilet in front of each other. It shouldn't happen in this country. We

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meet the homeless families with nowhere to go. If the children

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weren't there, I would have given up a long time ago. It's difficult at

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the minute. If I allow myself to go, I will

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the minute. If I allow myself to go, I probably have a breakdown. That

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won't be good for the kids. Or for the whole situation. A generation

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that can never be sure how long they will have a home. More and more

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families are struggling to keep a roof over their head. We have over

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800,000 children waking up in temporary accommodation. The number

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made homeless by private landlords is on the rise. We are in the

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business to make money. With a chronic shortage of housing, where

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are Britain's vulnerable families going to live? You are trapped

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between an unhealthy house and homelessness? Yes. What does that

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feel like? Rubbish. Vicky is packing up and clearing

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out. She's lived here in Ashford with her two-year-old daughter for

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eight months. Is that the last thing then? She's never been behind with

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the rent and never had a complaint against her. But her landlord has

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decided to evict 200 tenants because they are on housing benefit. I was

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shocked. I kind of thought that if you just, you know, if you treated

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the property well and you paid your rent, I couldn't see what the

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problem would be. I think I deserve better. I'm a good tenant. I think

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this could have been avoided. Like most in the private sector, Vicky

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has no security beyond the end of her short-term tenancy. Last year,

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in England, 53,000 households were accepted as homeless. Many were

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kicked out by private landlords. If you are the ones that are labelled

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as the ones that might not pay their rent, people aren't really going to

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want to rent houses to you and where do you go? It's all a bit of a

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shame, to be honest. Then the eviction notice on 23rd December,

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two days before Christmas. The landlord sees things differently. He

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says evicting 200 tenants on benefits is just economics. We are

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in business to make money. We are not a charity. If we went to the

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other extreme of having 100% of people on benefits we would go pop

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because of the default break. This is a man with nearly 1,000

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properties in his empire. He says rents are rising faster than welfare

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payments and there is now too much risk with tenants on benefits. Do

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you think you have a moral responsibility to these people, or

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is it only profit that matters? We have had a moral responsibility for

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a number of years, but it's just reached such a point that we cannot

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continue. Is it acceptable, do you think, to evict people because they

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are on benefits? In principle, if they have done something wrong...

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No, their tenancy ends, you are a landlord and you don't want benefits

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in your property? An individual private business will make

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commercial decisions and if they decide they don't want to have

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somebody on housing benefit, that is a perfect legitimate thing for them

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to do. So Vicky and her daughter are out. You move into a place and if

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you are not expecting to move every few months, you start to put down

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roots and you start thinking about the school your child will go to. It

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feels so unfair that in this day and age, the rug can be pulled out from

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under your feet in terms of where you live. Vicky has managed to find

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another place to live but many don't. In the past five years, the

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number of households made homeless after leaving private accommodation

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has trebled. Private tenancies being ended is the single biggest cause of

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accepted homelessness cases in England. Most will have been forced

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out by private landlords. England. Most will have been forced

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sign of how the housing market has changed. For the first time since

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the 1960s, there are now more people renting privately than in social

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housing. This is the age of the private landlord. The private rented

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sector has picked up the slack, as people haven't been able to buy,

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people can't get into social housing, so they still need to be

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housed somewhere and the private rented sector has filled the gap

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over the past ten years. It's doubled in size. What that means is

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people who used to go into social housing and can't afford to pay to

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rent have nowhere to go. Many have ended up in temporary accommodation.

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This is Milton Keynes. We are here to meet a family who absolutely

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capture the problem that hundreds of families face. There's a shortage of

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social housing. This family found themselves homeless. They were

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placed in temporary accommodation and months later, they are still

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there. The family used to rent privately, but when their six-month

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tenancy came to an end, they were homeless. Hi, it is Richard Bilton

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from Panorama. Come up. Thanks. The council placed them in this block

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near the centre of town. Hi, Paul, Richard. Come in. This is home?

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Unfortunately for now. It is not a big place, is it? Certainly not.

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This is it? Yeah. A family of four live, eat and sleep in this one

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room. It was supposed to be temporary, but they have lived like

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this for eight months. It is a very big embarrassment when you have

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friends and family come over here and you see effectively my failure

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as a dad to my family. That is how you see it? 100%. Paul and Carla are

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both working. The council says the couple can afford private rented and

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offered to help them find a place and the deposit. But Paul and Carla

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say renting privately is just too expensive and too insecure and what

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they really fear is being made homeless all over again. You have

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got nowhere else to go. This is it. It is here or nothing. So we have to

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take it day-by-day, looking any further than that is very daunting.

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They are holding out for the security that comes with social

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housing. It seems like in a way there is no way out. Just seems like

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we are going to be stuck here forever. Living like this is

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affecting their health. See you later. The couple are both taking

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antidepressants. I have been diagnosed with stress and

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depression. Which is getting to me quite a lot at the minute. The only

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thing that is keeping me going at the minute is the children. There's

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not, you know, if the children weren't there, I would have probably

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given up a long time ago. So they are my key to keeping me going and

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keeping my family together. You know, there's... It is difficult at

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the minute. In England, there are 44,000 families like Paul and Carla

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living in temporary accommodation. The numbers have been rising. What

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we are seeing is more and more families are struggling to keep a

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roof over their head, we have over 80,000 children waking up every

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morning in temporary accommodation. You will be a single room, maybe

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four or five of you, sharing beds, you might be eating food off the

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floor because there is nowhere communal to eat. These are terrible

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circumstances for families. In the past, the obvious answer for many of

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these families would have been social housing, with the security of

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a long-term tenancy. But that model doesn't work like it used to. There

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is not enough social housing to go around. There are 1.8 million

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households in England waiting for social housing and many will be

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waiting forever. The reason is council houses have been sold off

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and successive governments have failed to build enough new homes.

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One of the problems we have got, when we came to Government in 2010,

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is that there was 420,000 less social houses than there was in the

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period 1997, when the Labour Government came to power. Now, we

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have got to address that base. We have to find ways in which we can

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get decent housing for people and one of the solutions actually is

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using the private rental sector. The shortage in some areas is so extreme

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that councils are looking at radical ways of finding homes. This is

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Romford on the outskirts of London. There isn't enough social housing

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here, so the local council has done a deal with the private sector. The

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council here operates like a property agent. They say to the

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landlord we will guarantee you a set rent for two years and we will make

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sure your property is looked after. Then they say to the tenant, you

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don't have to worry about fees or a deposit, we will take care of that.

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You have to cover the rent. For some tenants, it is almost like social

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housing. The council acts as the landlord. They even take care of the

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viewings. This is Marie. She is on benefits and she's been homeless.

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But if she likes this private flat, it is hers. OK, if you would like to

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come through, Marie. Thanks. This feels really swish. Newly-painted

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and new carpets I can see. I have been sofa-surfing with friends and

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family. Effectively, I was homeless, I didn't have anywhere to go. I'm

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not working currently. So I can't prove that I have got an income

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coming in. I didn't have the means for a deposit. And so it would have

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been really hard for me. This place comes with a five-year tenancy,

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virtually unheard of from a private landlord. If you could sign there if

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you are happy with that? That is for the keys? It is. That is your key

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receipt. Thank you, Marie. Thank you for your help. She couldn't afford

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to go into the private sector, the boundaries there were deposits and

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different things. It would have been very difficult for her and she's

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been going from place to place. Hopefully, this has made a real

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difference for Marie. I am over the moon. Over the moon. I feel like I

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have now got a bit of a positive start to turn things around. The

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scheme is self-sufficient, it doesn't touch the council tax

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funding. In the past seven years, it's helped 2,500 people in this

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borough. It can only help a fraction of those trapped outside the private

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system. If you live in an area where rents are a lot higher than

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benefits, it is much harder for councils to help. Come with me.

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Quick then. Krina is facing a crisis. It's 7.50, boys, get a move

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on! Do you remember this jumper? She is a single mum with three boys

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living in South London. Do you remember it? This flat has been

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their home for five years. Come with me. Come with me, please. Now, the

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family is facing eviction. Right. The court has ordered me to be out

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of here. The landlady wants her property back. I can't fight that.

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It's hers. If she wants it back to sell, I can't do much, can I? Krina

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has no idea where she will be living next. Where are your glasses? She is

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on benefits but changes to the welfare system means she's now

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entitled to less money. Her housing benefit has been cut by more than

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?400 a month. She says that means she can no longer afford to rent

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around here. I'm probably looked at as a mum with three children, on

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benefits, right we need to get her off benefits, if she can't afford to

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live in London, she can move out of London. Got everything? I have got

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kids that are in Year 3 at school. My five friends that support me are

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all around here. It is just uprooting. At times, I don't want to

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think about it. At times, I don't want to contemplate it in my head.

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The Government says it's put aside almost ?1 billion to help people

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like Krina and that overall, homelessness figures have started to

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fall. into major new housing projects. We

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have just come out of the deepest recession for over 100 years and we

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put huge amounts of resources in there to make sure the most

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vulnerable in society have the protection there. You have said

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everything the government is trying to do, don't they get moved away

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when you look at the welfare reforms and the welfare cap is one of the

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primary reasons people are being made homeless. There is no evidence

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that is the case. But for Krina things look very different, she will

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be homeless in three weeks. She may be forced to leave London, and if

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she does her boys will have to leave their school. Do you like your

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friends in your class? Yes. How much? 50%! The local council has

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told Krina it will provide her with temporary accommodation but she

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doesn't know where it will be or how she will find somewhere permanent.

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Is that fun? Jump down. If I allow myself to go and just

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keep feeling whatever it is inside that I want to feel and let out, I

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will probably have a break down and that is not going to be good for the

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kids or for the whole situation. It might be good for me for about five

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or ten minutes to get all of the anger and frustration out, but it

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won't get me anywhere, will it? Even if the council

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won't get me anywhere, will it? Even Krina, she may end up with a private

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landlord. Most properties in the private rented sector are fine, the

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problem is homeless families tend to end up at the bottom of the market.

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One of the things we have found is that if you are at the bottom end of

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the market, the quality of the housing you go into is poor. People

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report damp, vermin infestation and huge difficulties in terms of

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getting a landlord to do anything. The situation is pretty dire,

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frankly. Natalie Wood knows The situation is pretty dire,

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that can be like. She lives in Chipping Norton, David Cameron's

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constituency wealthy area, her rented

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can see, if you put anything against can see, if you put anything against

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this wall, black mould appears. That is because that has been on there?

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Yes, because there is no air gap. is because that has been on there?

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Natalie has lived here with her two boys for one year,

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Natalie has lived here with her two privately. An expert has told her

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that the house is so damp she should move out. We cannot put any of the

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clothes in the wardrobes. They are not usable, they stink, they have

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got mould in them so the clothes have got to go on rails. Absolutely

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everywhere has got mauled or damp. The landlord has failed to sort the

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damp out. Natalie says she wants to move but hasn't got the money. To

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make things worse, she is nearly eight months pregnant. What is the

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stress like, knowing there is mould creeping over your children and your

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possessions? It is awful, for the kids more than anything,

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particularly their clothes. I don't want to send them to school smelling

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of mould, or looking like smelly kids. Sorry. They won't do that, but

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is that what it is like? Yes. We are not a dirty family and I don't want

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them to be tarred with that. Natalie says she has been asking the Council

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for social housing for three months but they haven't offered anything.

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So you are trapped between an unhealthy house and homelessness?

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Yes. What does that feel like? Absolutely rubbish. And you have got

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a baby on the way. Yes. For those at the bottom end of the private rental

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market, experiences like Natalie's are all too common. One in three

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private rental properties fail to meet the government's decent homes

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standard and many think the problem is a lack of regulation. You have to

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pass more rules and regulations if you want to setup a whelk stall than

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if you want to rent a property to an individual and that property is

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somebody's home that you are trying to do. It is ludicrous. The controls

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matter because the law in England has been changed and private

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landlords and now at the heart of emergency housing policy. There has

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been a major change in the approach to homelessness from the Government.

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In the past a family that was accepted as homeless could insist on

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social housing, but now the council can effectively forced the family to

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take a property in the private sector. So far, the new power hasn't

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been widely used but one of Britain's top QCs on housing law

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says we should be concerned. There is no problem provided that there

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is, in the private rented sector, reasonable quality accommodation at

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rents that can be afforded by homeless people. The sad reality is

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that there is not. This is at the moment are totally unregulated

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industry. Anybody can let a property of any standard for which they can

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find a tenant. Private landlords have an important role and most do

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it well but even some in the industry accept there is a problem

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at the bottom end of the market. Some landlords are better than

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others and we know there are people out there who exploit the

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vulnerable. What checks do most authorities do with landlords? I

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think it is variable around the country. Some stories we have

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heard, I would question whether many of them do anything at all. The

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National landlords Association says there is virtually no enforcement,

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do you say they are wrong? There is a requirement on local authorities

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to make sure, if they are using public money to house somebody, they

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use our houses. There are some families who just cannot find a

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home. Meet the Millers. They look like a happy family on holiday but

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they are not. Two years ago, this family owned a five bedroom detached

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house in Surrey. Now they live in a camper van. Fora family to go

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through this for so long without any certainty at all is very difficult

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to take. The options are very limited now so whether we stay here

:24:09.:24:14.

for one week, three weeks, it is a complete unknown as it has been all

:24:15.:24:19.

along. After the family home was repossessed they were forced to rent

:24:20.:24:22.

privately but they couldn't afford it and ended up in a camper van.

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They are using the local church as a campsite. We have got electric,

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thank goodness, to make a cup of tea and a fire to keep us warm. That is

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pretty much where we are. The council has offered two properties

:24:47.:24:49.

but the Millers were worried about drug dealing in the area and decided

:24:50.:24:54.

they were better off in the camper van. It is difficult for us but for

:24:55.:24:58.

the children to go through what they have in the last few months, you No,

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waking up in the middle of the night and this is primitive stuff. This is

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what people did in the Victorian times. The children having to go to

:25:10.:25:14.

the toilet in front of each other, leaning over a bucket. It shouldn't

:25:15.:25:29.

happen in this country. What about a private landlord? That is what the

:25:30.:25:33.

council suggested but Dean and debris are on benefits and say most

:25:34.:25:39.

landlords have refused to take them. The agents' fees vary. You could be

:25:40.:25:46.

talking ?5,000 before you even walk through the door and in this area it

:25:47.:25:50.

is almost impossible to get a private rental if you are receiving

:25:51.:26:01.

housing benefit. It is hard to explain to the children when they

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keep asking. Where are we going to live? When are we going to get a

:26:08.:26:13.

house? It is very hard. What do you say? Hopefully soon we will have

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somewhere nice, we can all be a family again. After three months in

:26:21.:26:30.

the camper van, the Millers finally found a private rented house but had

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to borrow from family and friends to cover the ?3000 needed for the

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deposit and fees. Vicki, who was evicted for being on housing

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benefit, is still in her new property but has less than six weeks

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left on the tenancy. Paul and Carla, after months of saying no to private

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rented, finally got a place in social housing. After more than a

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year in a damp home, Natalie was also given social housing. But

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before she was able to move in, she suffered a personal tragedy. Natalie

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lost her baby at nine months. It was horrible, the worst time of my life.

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I don't want to put the blame on anyone. Whatever happened just

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happened, there was nothing anyone could do about it. Obviously stress

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doesn't help. Pregnancy is meant to be a happy time and it wasn't. Krina

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was evicted and moved into temporary accommodation. Her children haven't

:27:46.:27:52.

had to move schools, but the family has been living in this one-bedroom

:27:53.:27:56.

flat for months and they are still waiting. It is everything I asked

:27:57.:28:02.

for, to be honest, but I don't think it is over yet. We cannot sit back

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and relax because through my past experiences, there is always

:28:09.:28:15.

something that's kind of hiccups. Britain is running out of places to

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something that's kind of hiccups. live. There simply isn't the social

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housing for everyone who wants it. live. There simply isn't the social

:28:22.:28:27.

But is the poorly regulated private sector the right place for our most

:28:28.:28:29.

vulnerable families? Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with

:28:30.:28:59.

your 90 Second update. The BBC's learned that

:29:00.:29:01.

a third British man in a holy war recruitment video grew

:29:02.:29:03.

up in Aberdeen. It's believed to be linked to

:29:04.:29:06.

the militant Islamist group, Isis. Two other men shown are

:29:07.:29:09.

from Cardiff.

:29:10.:29:13.

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