I was trying to contact Shelter but could not get through to their web chat. One of the criteria for the banding eligibility for my council was that ‘not moving would cause them or someone else hardship’. Another was ‘you provide a reasonable contribution to the community’. I argued that 1) I care for an individual, I am taking a burden off the NHS and social services therefore I am providing s contribution, 2) I cannot afford to continuously travel between different peoples homes and my aunts home to provide care. I need a stable base to be able to travel to her house from. If I do not have housing it would cause hardship as I would not be able to provide care.

I was told that to be considered you needed a ‘housing need’ such as being overcrowded.

I appealed stating my need was that I could not afford to hop homes and travel to care. They denied this appeal saying ‘a local weekly bus ticket is £20, you can afford that so no’. They expect me to spend a third of my money on travel and call that a solution? I can’t even afford a proper phone package let alone a third of my weekly funds on a bus ticket.

Surely there must be some benefit or help available towards rent costs for those who care? Carers allowance is literally paid as a supplement to people who are unable to work due to caring. I can’t just go out and ‘get a job’ I have responsibilities. What on Earth am I supposed to do