A carer and her wheelchair-bound husband are desperately searching for a new home after being served with eviction during the pandemic.
Penny Rauber has been looking after her husband Paul since he had a stroke four years ago.
Their home in south London was perfect for them until the condition rendered him unable to walk or get upstairs, meaning the couple are largely confined to the two small rooms downstairs.
In August they were issued with a Section 21 no fault eviction notice as their landlord wants the property back, meaning they'll have to leave their home of the last 16 years once a nationwide eviction ban is lifted this summer.
The reality of house hunting for two elderly retired people with additional needs on housing benefits, after a year in which house prices rocketed more than seven per cent, is bleak.
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Paul is one of the 54 per cent of people with a significant disability that do not have a safe or secure home, compared with 30 per cent of people without a disability, according to a damning new Shelter report into housing published today.
"I think that people make the assumption that the council takes care of disabled people and offer them ground floor flats," Penny, 74, told The Mirror.
"It's not the case.
"We hadn't found anywhere, because of the pandemic and because there is nothing suitable for Paul. Rents are so high now."
Over the past year Penny has trawled through hundreds of property adverts looking for somewhere which will meet their specific needs, but has come up woefully short.
Because of Paul's stroke, which has left him disabled down the right side of his body, he needs to sleep in a separate bed and be able to use an accessible bathroom.
A small, private outside area is also on Penny and Paul's wish list, so he can spend his days sitting outside in peace and security.
These few small aspirations seem too much for the couple however, who also need to live on the south coast to help Penny's sister who has a degenerative condition and recently lost her husband.
"I don't blame the landlords for wanting their property back and I don't want to be a burden," Penny continued.
"But there is always a problem with every single property I find.
"Most two bedroom spaces only have a single room because they expect a couple with a child. A lot of them are on higher floors.
"Some have big slope and steps which is really difficult. I am older so I have trouble pushing him.
"Every one of them has difficulties or they're just too expensive."
Penny and Paul are now on a waiting list for a council house, but it will be four years before they're at the top.
"There are just so many of us in dire situations," she said.
Penny believes the government should do more to help older couples who have not been able to buy a house, while capping rents in the private sector.
"I know the government are doing a lot to help first time buyers, but that's not an option for us," she continued.
"What I would like is rather than keeping buying so many share to buy places, they need to be thinking about building more places for people that are older and people whose incomes are low.
"I understand that people like to have a property to rent out, I think there should be some sort of cap on the amount of money you're allowed to charge.
"The property market is very bad at the moment and it needs a complete and utter overhaul. We need this fixed and we need this fixed now."
Shelter spoke to 13,000 people to produce its latest report into the housing crisis, Denied the Right to a Safe Home.
It found that four million people in the UK regularly cut back on essential items, like food and heating, to pay their housing costs.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Decades of neglect have left Britain’s housing system on its knees. A safe home is everything, yet millions don’t have one. Lives are being ruined by benefit cuts, blatant discrimination and the total failure to build social homes.
“Shelter believes a safe home is a human right, but the pain and desperation our frontline staff see every day shows this is still a long way off.
"That’s why we are fighting for the single mum who has to put her child to bed in a room covered in mould, and the disabled man living on the twelfth floor with a broken lift.
"We are fighting for everyone impacted by the housing emergency - and as we emerge from the pandemic, we want the public and politicians to do the same.”
Shelter is calling on people to fight to reform the private rental sector.
Click here to find out more.
