‘I can see how some people could end up on the street’

A TYRONE mother-of-three whose rent rose by almost 40 per-cent last year has said she now understands how ‘some people end up on the streets’.

With only four weeks’ notice from her landlord, the woman, who lives in a ‘small and old’ house, went from paying £400 to £550, forcing her family to subsidise her payments.

“We moved in because it was affordable – it is not big, it is hard to heat, it is out of the way so we have to drive to get anywhere, but the rent was cheap at the start, so that was why we decided to move in initially.”

For the first few years of her tenancy, the woman, who asked not be named, enjoyed a good relationship with her landlord.

“He and I got on well for a couple of years. I always met my payments, and he was always polite and helpful.”

However, things took a turn when the landlord issued a notice stating her monthly rent would be rising an additional £150 ‘from next month on’.

“That increased cost meant that my benefits no longer covered the rent. I had three children to feed and clothe, surging electric bills to pay, and then all the other stuff on top of that.

“I just didn’t have the money to do everything I had to do.”

LAST RESORT

Quickly running out of options and with the next payment approaching, the lady soon arrived at her last resort.

“I never wanted to have to ask my family to bail me out, but I had no other choice.

“Getting a job wasn’t a viable option, so I was stuck.

“To be honest, I am very lucky I have family or else my children and I could have been evicted.

“Honestly, the whole thing has shown me just how easily some people end up on the streets.”

The lady explained that she still resides in the same house, which, despite being beyond her budget, she admits is still cheaper than almost anything else on the market.

“I have looked for other places, but almost everywhere suitable is even more expensive than where we are at the minute,” she said.

Concluding, she queried how other people in her situation are getting by.

“We are in no position to bargain with the landlord. If we don’t pay what he is asking, there will always be somebody else who will.

“I don’t know how other people on benefits are doing it.

“They must be living on payday loans and credit cards.

“Anyway, it looks like we are stuck here for another while, doing what we can to scrape by.”