Hi everyone, and thanks again to all of you who have been able to offer advice, I am forever grateful. Here is my update, which in the main is good... I have managed to find a lovely new home (better than the old one actually!) via a very nice indeed (so far anyway...) private landlord. I have been to the local council to see if I can qualify for some LHA (housing benefit) should find out in the next few days, fingers crossed... The biggest problem I have remaining now (assuming that my LHA claim is successful) is that I have not been able so far to find any help with the deposit - a very good friend has loaned me the money, however he will need it back quite soon as he has plans for it, it's a very short term loan. Shelter recommended the Crisis Loan people, I have called them twice spoke to two different staff members and both have insisted that they are not there for situations like this...? Also, went to see the local council 'Strategic Housing' people last Friday, they were supposed to call me earlier this week to discuss - a)they haven't and b)I was told that if they COULD help, max would be £300 which doesn't help hugely really So yeah, in summary, not homeless but still struggling :-| If anyone can suggest anything further, brilliant, and thanks, but if not, many thanks again to all of you for your help so far. All the best, CC08 p.s. I am extremely knowledgable on all things Motor Trade, as soon as my move is completed I promise to return here to try to help people with any problems of that nature - it will be nice to put something back in

Many thanks indeed for the extra help and advice you guys, it is very much appreciated. I have tried to make some progress today but not made a lot so far My local council have played 'phone tennis' with me, i.e. passed me around literally dozens of departments and I'm still not terribly wiser - beacuse of this, I have been trying to call Shelter since around 11am and have heard the 'sorry we are busy right now, please try later' approx. 3 million times I'm not complaining don't get me wrong, I suppose it just reinforces that there are many, many people and families in similar trouble... I'll be back in touch soon, thanks again to everyone who has helped so far, CC.

Thanks again Olives, that all sounds like great advice and I will be sure to follow it - I'll keep you posted. Take good care, CC.

Hi Olives, and many thanks indeed for replying. In recent months I have been unable to pay anything really, or nothing worth discussing anyway, so have pretty much resigned myself to the move out. Thanks for the advice regarding housing officers and Shelter - would I call the local council and ask for the 'Housing Dept.' or similar? With regards getting help with rent, I don't have a lot of options family-wise etc., a heavenly scenario for me (with current circumstances) would be if I could rent somewhere privately, but get a bit of help with the rent from 'the state'. I would just like to say in follow-up to my last suggestion that I have been in almost continuous employment since June 1988 (when I left school), in the one period that I was unemployed for about 7 months I survived on selling belongings etc. and only claimed Jobseekers Allowance for about the last two months or so when I started getting desperate - in other words, I don't make a habit of expecting others to pay my way... (that wasn't supposed to sound snobby or offensive) There seem to be lots of people out there getting their accomodation paid for, unfortunately I am going to need the same for a little while Best wishes and thanks again, CC08

Good morning all, My apologies for joining purely because I need help, I was unaware of the forum previously (unfortunately!). If anyone can offer any help at all I would be truly grateful; I have just received a letter this morning advising me that I will be evicted from my mortgaged property on September 18th. In all fairness, I have no grounds to contest this, I am extremely behind on my mortgage payments and made an arrangement with the mortgage company and a judge last November which I have been unable to adhere to (I have made some payments where possible, but not enough). So, I guess I am not looking for advice on how to fight the evicition, more regarding me finding a new home as I obviously don't want to end up on the streets... Problem is this - as part of getting to this stage, I have ended up with a terrible credit rating (in the last year or two I have been through a divorce, lost my job and started a new business - prior to that my credit rating was excellent, it helped me get into my current mess!). Basically then I have little chance of being able to rent privately, I'm sure any landlord worth his/her salt would run credit checks etc., and also, as I explained I have a new-ish business which I am sure will come good very soon, but at the moment with the 'credit crunch' is struggling a little, and therefore I am not paying myself very much, some months nothing at all... I am male, 36 y.o. and fortunately live alone, no children, pets etc. Would anyone please be able to advise who I need to talk to at the local council, or perhaps housing association or similar who can help me get re-homed, and also if possible who I need to contact to try to get some help with the rent until things pick up? I am of course living below the minimum wage and can prove this. Thanks a million in advance, really appreciate anyone's time or help, CC08.