‘At least if I got arrested I’d get a bed and a meal...’

EDWIN SPEAKS OF HIS STRUGGLE IN TRYING TO FIND A ROOF OVER HIS HEAD AS HIS HEALTH DETERIORATES

IT’S lunchtime on a weekday and the rates hall in Manchester town hall’s extension is busy with a steady stream of visitors waiting for appointments.

We aren’t at the hall, adjacent to Manchester city council’s customer service centre, long before we find someone who is facing homelessness as a result of the skyrocketing cost of private rent.

When we meet Edwin Firth, he has no idea where he is going to sleep that night.

For almost two years he has privately rented a room in a shared house at a cost of £280 a month. But now his live-in landlady is about to have a baby and needs the room back.

He was given a month’s notice and has spent the past few weeks searching for another place to rent, but has struggled to find anything affordable.

Serious health problems mean Edwin can only work part-time and, on his salary, that means he’s been priced out of the market.

In last week’s M.E.N. on Sunday our special investigation revealed he is one of many people in this position. Last month nearly 1,700 people came to the town hall either because they’re already homeless or fear they are about to be.

One council official described demand on the city’s homeless services in 2019 as ‘staggering’.

Manchester is housing 411 per cent more homeless families in temporary accommodation than in 2015, currently around six every day. Initially, that usually means being placed in a hotel. That could mean a Travelodge 10 miles away or it might mean a bed and breakfast.

Edwin needs to be in Wythenshawe to be close to his job at a taxi office, but can’t find anything being let for less than £400 to £500 a month.

“I’m 55 and my body is falling apart,” he said, as he waited for his second appointment of the day outside the service centre.

Complications with his diabetes have damaged his circulation and eyesight, so although he’d like to take on more than his current 16 hours a week, he simply isn’t well enough right now.

When he learned he’d have to find a new place to live, Edwin went onto Manchester Move, the website that gives guidance on housing options based on circumstances and was advised to try sites such as Zoopla.

Finding nothing on the sites in his price range, he then tried the council office in Wythenshawe.

He says he was advised to speak to Willow Park Housing Trust, but because he isn’t already a tenant, says they couldn’t immediately help him and advised him to come here instead.

When we speak to Edwin, his case has been ‘triaged’ by a staff member and he is waiting to go back in to find out what his options are. Even if it transpires that he’s eligible for a flat through Willow Park, he has no idea how long that could take.

In the meantime, he will have to rely on the kindness of friends and sleep on sofas where he can.

He won’t be able to stay in one place for long however, as some of his friends are in receipt of benefits, which would be affected by having another occupant.

Edwin earns roughly the same as what he would receive if he gave up his job and claimed state benefits. But the work ethic drilled into him by his parents growing up means he won’t entertain the idea.

“I feel like finding a policeman and asking how much of a public nuisance you have to be to get arrested. At least you’d get a bed and a meal,” he jokes.

But the stress of Edwin’s situation is palpable.

“You’ve got to get on with it”, he added, “I’m depressed and down but short of going and jumping off the top of a multistorey car park, what can I do?

“My dad used to say that sometimes life hands you a s**t sandwich and all you can do is eat it”.