I live in a mouldy flat because other landlords won’t accept me

My house is completely covered in black mould and damp (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Sometimes when I wake up, I don’t want to get out of bed. 

I have one child, I’m pregnant with my second, and my house is completely covered in black mould and damp. 

There are various faults in all the rooms and cracks in the walls and ceilings. My boiler, which is right next to some electrics, is leaking water. 

It took my husband and I a year and at least 10 estate agents before we found a landlord willing to take on tenants who receive benefits as we do.

Some told us flat out they wouldn’t take us, others gave barely veiled excuses about payment dates.

So when our current, two-bedroom home came up in the area we wanted, we went for it and moved in during 2021. 

I can’t cook without the whole room getting smothered in grease and odours (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The house was newly painted and seemed fine. Five years on, it is barely inhabitable.

There is no window in the kitchen, which means I can’t cook without the whole room getting smothered in grease and odours; during the summer, it’s horrible to be in there.

For three months, we lived with a very, very bad smell that became unbearable when it rained; it was only fixed when the landlord sent a plumber. But he did a quick-fix patch-up and re-painted, and we were never given an explanation.

My landlord does send someone when I ring but sometimes it takes weeks – the issue with my boiler has now been going on for a month.

Everything came to a head last November, when I got ill. I have a condition that lowers my immunity and I was unwell for two weeks – for 10 of those days, I couldn’t even speak.

The issue with my boiler has now been going on for a month (Picture: Getty Images)

I knew then that we had to leave but since I started looking last December, I have spoken to around 25 agents and almost every single one told me they don’t take on people on benefits. 

I used to work for a cleaning company but when the pandemic started they couldn’t keep me on. My husband works in construction, but he is self-employed.

When I was made redundant, I said to myself: I will not be on benefits unless I absolutely need it.

Before I had my child, I often worked 18 hour days. But during the pandemic, there was no work for either me or my partner and Universal Credit was my only choice. 

I’ve contacted my local council, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and the answer is always the same: there is nothing anyone can do (Picture: Getty Images)

If I get as far as face-to-face viewings, the agents’ expressions change the moment I mention benefits – they get that look, like: I don’t want to say anything because I don’t want to be rude…

Then they tell me that they have other tenants lined up to see the house and to email them if I want to be considered. I do so, and inevitably, hear nothing back. 

I’ve also been told that I’ll have to find a guarantor who earns three times my salary. There is no one I can ask. I’ve contacted my local council, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and the answer is always the same: there is nothing anyone can do.

When you’re on benefits, people think you are living a dream – that the Government gives you money so you can spend on luxuries and go on holidays. It is just not the reality, which is more often a nightmare. 

All the money I have goes on rent, food and towards the bills. There is nothing left to spend.

My landlord could be doing more to help (Picture: Getty Images)

I have never missed a month’s rent. I have a degree in business management. My daughter is settled in our local school and I have gone back to work as a cleaner. I dream about starting and running my own business, and I’m working on it, but I can’t rely on something if I can’t guarantee it will bring income.  

I believe my reality is the same as thousands of others, people who simply want a bit of comfort, a dry roof, a place to breathe.

My landlord could be doing more to help. It’s frustrating when issues that should be addressed immediately are delayed for weeks. 

Sometimes it feels like he is doing me a favour, whereas the reality is that he rents out the property with the obligation to resolve issues, and I pay rent with the obligation to take care of it.

Often I ask myself: what do people who don’t receive benefits have that makes them better or more worthy than people like me? Aren’t we human beings just the same? And don’t we deserve good, safe homes, too?

I want letting agencies to understand how humiliating it is to be constantly rejected, and to know how scared I feel. How invisible, just because I have to ask for some additional help.

When I go to bed, I think: ‘Maybe tomorrow is going to be better.’ There is no choice but to just keep going. 

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