A single mum is desperate to find a long-term home for her and her three children after being evicted two years ago.
Angela Carruthers had lived in her privately rented home in Solihull for 12 years when the landlord decided to sell up, issuing a Section 21 notice and giving her six months to find a new home.
She warned her local council that she was going to be made homeless – but on the day of eviction she found herself and her children on the street outside, surrounded by their belongings, not knowing where they would spend the night.
In the more than two years since she was evicted in 2023, Angela, 36, has been placed in three different temporary accommodations by Solihull council, making it difficult to get to her full-time job and for her children to get to school.
She was at risk of being moved on yet again after being placed into accommodation she could not afford – but after housing charity Shelter intervened, she’s been given a temporary lifeline.
New figures show single parent families are four times more likely to face homelessness, and Angela is still hoping to find a permanent home for her and her children.
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Discussing the eviction, she explained to Metro: ‘We were there for more than 12 years, it was my first house, I had a good relationship with the landlord.
‘She said she wanted to up the rent, I said that was totally fine, and then a couple of weeks later she said she was selling and gave me a Section 21.
‘Me and the kids were sitting on the front step with all of our stuff, crying, not knowing where we were going to go.
‘I lost all my stuff because the landlord threw my stuff out, I had no furniture, I had nothing.
‘We were great before then, the kids were in schools, I was working, life was good, and then it all just fell apart.
‘A couple of hours passed, the council said we had to go to a hotel which is on the complete opposite side of Birmingham.’
Angela lives with her daughter Paige, 20, 18-year-old Alex, and Blake, who is 10. Two years ago, when they were made homeless, all three of her children were in education.
The whole family faced major disruption when they were placed in temporary accommodation in Harbourne, on the other side of Birmingham.
Angela explained: ‘The council knew my son Blake attended school in Solihull and I work there, and the other kids were in college so we needed to be close, but they moved us so far away.
‘Me and Blake were getting up at 4.45am every day to travel on public transport for two hours to get to work and school, and it was absolutely exhausting.
‘If we were running late I’d have to get a taxi and that could cost up to £25 for a single route. I was getting told off by the schools and my work because we were always late.’
Angela’s family has now been placed in a third temporary accommodation back in Solihull – but she was moved in by the council despite not earning enough to cover the rent.
She says the council didn’t tell her this, meaning she has racked up around £4,000 in arrears which she is now struggling to pay back.
On the day they moved in there was no electricity and the boiler was broken, meaning the family spent five days without heating, hot water, or power until repairs were finally carried out.
This is where Shelter got involved, fighting for Angela to stay in her current property after she was threatened with eviction yet again.
But her future is still uncertain as it’s not clear how long she’ll be able to stay in her current accommodation – or when she’ll be placed in a permanent home of her own.
Her family has been split by the situation, she says, as youngest son Blake must now live with his dad to be closer to school, meaning she only sees him at the weekends.
‘It’s really upsetting, he’s the baby of the family. Blake wants to be with his mum, so it’s upsetting,’ Angela told Metro.
‘The private rented accommodation are asking for guarantors if you don’t own over £37,000 a year – a single parent earning that much is impossible.
‘Both of my parents died, I don’t have any family, there’s no-one I can rely on to stay with or help with the funds. It’s all just unrealistic criteria that landlords want these days, it’s impossible to find anywhere suitable.
The emotional impact of living in temporary accommodation
Angela explained: ‘You’re like a fish out of water, you don’t know where you’re going to go, it’s the first time in my life I’ve had no control over anything that involved me or my children, and it was petrifying.
‘It was heartbreaking because we lost our home, we’d been there such a long time, we lost everything apart from each other.
‘We were eating noodles pretty much every day because I couldn’t afford to feed the kids, it was horrible.
‘Working full time, 40 hours a week and being a single parent is extremely tiring in itself, and to do that while you’re homeless as well, I don’t know how I’ve kept it together.
‘I do cry myself to sleep every night because I don’t know what’s going to happen. The only reason the kids are OK is because I’ve pretended to be OK for so long, but they know deep down how hard it is for me.
‘I’ve had suicidal thoughts for the last year. I’m only 36, I shouldn’t be feeling this way, I can’t grieve over my dad who died in November because I’ve not had time.
‘We’re good people, I work full time, we’ve never been in any trouble, we’re good human beings, so I just don’t know why we deserved this.’
Nadeem Khan, manager of Shelter’s emergency helpline, said: ‘It’s utterly disgraceful that across the country, more and more families are being pushed to the brink of homelessness.
‘Soaring rents, low incomes, and a chronic shortage of social homes mean that even parents who work tirelessly to put food on the table are struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
‘Every day, we hear from people living with the constant fear that they could lose their home the moment an eviction notice drops through their letterbox.
‘Many are skipping meals just to cover rent, cutting back on essentials, and making impossible choices simply to stay afloat.’
‘My older two children haven’t been able to go to college, or to uni, or to even get work, because we don’t know where we’re going to end up. They’ve lost all their friends, we’re totally isolated.
‘They should be off living their lives now but they’re doing nothing, we’re just in a slump where there’s nothing for us.’
Angela’s telling her story as new analysis from Shelter shows more than 124,000 families faced homelessness in England last year – and single-parent households are four times more likely to be homeless or at imminent risk.
While one in every 101 families with more than one adult in the household faced homelessness during 2024/25, one in every 28 single-parent families were facing the same risk.
And the problem is growing, with the number of families either homeless or at risk of homelessness is 10% higher than it was five years ago.
There were more than 169,000 children living in temporary accommodation in England at the end of March – an increase of 12% on last year and the highest number since records began in 2004.
Angela added: ‘When I spoke to Shelter, they were the first people who really listened. They helped me stay in this property – just knowing someone was there, took some of the pressure off.’
The housing charity has launched a new campaign to end homelessness, paired with HSBC UK. To find out more or donate to Shelter, visit shelter.org.uk/donate.
A spokesperson for Solihull Community Housing (SCH) who deliver the service on the council’s behalf, said: ‘We are sorry that Ms Carruthers feels she has not been supported fairly with her housing needs.
‘Once we were aware of the eviction date from her privately rented property, we took steps to secure temporary accommodation. We always aim to secure temporary accommodation in the borough, but this is not always possible as demand exceeds supply.
‘On this occasion, the accommodation that was secured for Ms Carruthers was out of area due to there being no availability within Solihull.
‘Our money advice team provided details to Ms Carruthers about what the cost of the temporary accommodation would be.
‘We attempted to contact Ms Carruthers several times in respect of the rent and council tax arrears but received no response, which has made it challenging to offer support with a payment plan to clear the arrears.
‘Now that Ms Carruthers has made contact, we are working to help her clear the arrears and secure suitable accommodation either in the private rented sector or on offer of social housing.
‘Three-bedroom social housing homes are in high demand, with an average waiting time of approximately three years.’
Need support?
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