Emma and Vikram's story
This content applies to Scotland only.
Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. Get advice relating to England
Emma and Vikram's money problems almost cost them their home, but they managed to get help just in time.
Finding a home
'Me and Emma started going out when we were still at school. Emma's parents didn't approve, so as soon as Emma was 16, she left home to move in with me and my parents.
'When Emma was 18, she got pregnant. At first it was cool - we put our names on the council's waiting list and got a flat just after our daughter Vicki was born.'
Financial strain
To be honest, I fell to pieces. I got behind with the rent as well - I couldn't afford it on my own
'It was really hard though, looking after a baby and trying to make ends meet. In the end, Emma decided she'd had enough and moved back in with her mum, and she took Vicki with her.
'I was gutted, and to be honest, I fell to pieces. I got behind with the rent as well - I couldn't afford it on my own.'
Threatened with eviction
'I stayed in touch with Emma and eventually we managed to sort things out. I was made up when Emma and Vicki moved back in.
'Problem was, the council wanted to kick us out the flat, because I'd missed so many rent payments. Emma was back at work now and was helping me pay the rent, but it was too late, the council had already decided to take us to court and evict us.'
Getting advice
We hadn't been claiming half the benefits we were entitled to
'I was desperate to keep our home, so I went to see a housing adviser. The adviser called the council and managed to persuade them not to take us to court, provided we started to pay off the arrears.
'The adviser also told me that we should have been claiming housing benefit to help us pay the rent. She helped me make a backdated claim , and looked into other benefits we might be entitled to. We hadn't been claiming half of the benefits we were entitled to - if we had been, we might never have got into arrears in the first place.
'We're still living together in the flat, and we've almost paid off our arrears, so I guess it's a happy ending after all.'
The words used are not that of the actual client. Each person's story, although carefully reflecting genuine client situations as presented to us, has been re-written to sound like their actual voice. Names have also been changed to protect anonymity.
To protect the identity of our clients, models have been used in photographs.
