The Sunday Times December 19, 2021 11Home
housed in temporary
accommodation to protect
them from the virus, and there
was a stay on evictions. These
measures have now come to
an end, winter is here and so
is a new, highly transmissible
Covid variant.
One 50-year-old woman
called from a hotel in tears,
saying she’d been homeless
for two years. “I’m on a
Zimmer frame. I feel terrible
and I’m all alone. I’ve never
felt so low in my entire life,”
she said. She went to stay
with a friend for a few nights
and when she returned, the
council had taken her
possessions into storage. All
she can do, she says, is keep
leaving the council voicemails
that are never returned.
Another caller, John*, is
seeking advice for his
daughter Katie*, who
moved into
her partner’s
council flat ten
years ago. The
relationship
took an
abusive
turn over
lockdown.
Katie’s partner
has started
breaking things and
being verbally abusive
in front of their son, and he
wants her to move out. John
tells Khan: “I don’t understandF
or most of us, home
has been a safe
place to shelter
from the virus.
For others like
Georgina*, it has been
a live-in nightmare.
Earlier this
year she moved
into the top
two floors of
a house in
north London
with her
family. The
landlord, an
older woman
living on her own
on the ground floor,
assured her they would share
only a front door. Soon it was
apparent her landlord had a
drinking problem. She would
wander into their living space
at all hours to abuse them.
“My mum started to
have panic attacks,” Georgina
says. “She couldn’t sleep. She
was so scared.”
They were evicted with one
week’s notice by text message
for “making noise”, and she
still doesn’t have her full
deposit back. When Georgina
went to collect it, the landlord
attacked her with a hammer,
leaving her with a fractured
eye socket. Even though
Georgina is still in hospital
with her injuries she is
worried about what will
happen to her belongings andshe needs the deposit to find
somewhere else to live.
“I’m so sorry. This should
never have happened to you,”
says Nadeem Khan, a helpline
adviser at the housing
charity Shelter. Over
the phone he
calmly informs
Georgina that
her deposit
should have
been kept in a
government-
approved
protection
scheme, that she
was illegally evicted
and that her landlord
should have had a licence.
Later, Khan is delighted
that one of Shelter’s in-house
lawyers has decided to take on
Georgina’s case — help that
can be provided for in-work
individuals who are not
eligible for legal aid.
He is one of between 25 and
30 telephone advisers taking
calls every day on Shelter’s
emergency housing helpline,
funded by donations and
corporate sponsorship.
Since Covid restrictions
began to lift in June 2020,
Shelter has been receiving
1,000 calls a day from people
in desperate need of
somewhere to stay, or
experiencing harm in their
home. This time last year
rough sleepers were still beingtenants being able to enforce
their own rights, but they face
significant barriers to doing
so,” said Gareth Davies, the
head of the NAO.
This is where Shelter’s
advisers step in. Rob
Shackleton, 37, takes a call
from Rhys*, in south London,
who has been living without
heating or hot water since
February. His landlord
provided a kettle and told
him to fill the bath up for the
duration of the tenancy.
When Rhys complained to the
council, he received a section
21 “no fault” eviction.
This type of notice has
always been an easier option
for private landlords than
trying to prove grounds for
eviction. “And there’s no legal
defence. All we can do is buy
them more time to find
somewhere else to live,”
adviser Jenny Lamb says.
Renting reforms, including
plans to scrap section 21, have
been shelved until 2022.
Advisers have to
explain to callers that
they may face a long
wait for social
housing. “There is a
dire shortage that’s
felt throughout
the country,”
Shackleton says.
That’s why having
a helpline that’s free
and open seven days a
week is so important, says Liz
Clare, one of the operations
managers. Part of her job is
looking after the advisers.
“You’re exposed to a lot of
hidden suffering that
people don’t usually see
and it takes its toll.”
New recruit Lamb has
no regrets. “You have good
days and bad days. But I’m
happy that I’m here trying
to be part of the solution.”*Names have been changed.
Donate to Shelter at
england.shelter.org.uk/donate;
call 0808 800 4444 for help‘I’VE NEVER FELT
SO LOW IN MY LIFE’
Nadeem Khan is an adviser
on Shelter’s emergency
housing hotlineDesperate callers are ringing Shelter’s emergency housing
helpline this Christmas. Melissa York goes behind the scenes
how he can kick her out. When
the council tax bill comes, it’s
addressed to her. In my head
that means they recognise that
she lives there.”
Unfortunately, Khan
explains, she cannot be
added to the tenancy without
her partner’s permission.
However, he does refer John
to domestic abuse services,
describes how to apply for
emergency housing and
suggests that Katie may be able
to get a court order to exclude
her partner from the property
for her own safety.
Since furlough ended the
helpline is getting more calls
from private renters in poor
housing conditions or facing
eviction. Landlords in
financial distress or who are
tired of new rules decided to
sell up during the stamp
duty holiday, and the
result is a shortage
of private
rentals.
This month
a report by
the National
Audit Office
(NAO) showed
that one in
four private
rented homes is a
threat to the health
of the tenant or in a
state of disrepair — more than
any other type of housing.
“The government relies onBRIAN A JACKSON/GETTY IMAGESSince Covid
restrictions began to
lift in June 2020, Shelter
has received 1,000 calls
a day from those in need
of somewhere to stay, or
experiencing harm in
their homeOne 50-year-old
woman called them
from a hotel in tears,
saying she’d been
homeless for two years.
‘I’m on a Zimmer frame.
I feel terrible and I’m
all alone’Rhys* has been
living without
heating or hot water
since February. His
landlord provided a
kettle and told him to
fill the bath