A family have described how they face being made homeless as they desperately search for a property to buy amid Britain's “abysmal” housing crisis.
Rebecca Norris-Clarke and her family have had the house hunt from hell as they try to find a home to buy in Britain's vastly inflated property market.
The family, who lived in Australia for five years but decided to return to the UK following the pandemic, are staying in an Airbnb while they desperately look for a home of their own to buy in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
They are set to leave their AirBnB in May, reports Yorkshire Live, with desperate Rebecca saying the “grim” situation had seen the family try to move into a caravan park where they were turned down.
Rebecca, her partner and their 11-year-old child had been staying with Rebecca's mum until January but had to move out because the house is a holiday let and her mum was in need of the money.
The family started applying for properties to rent in December, applying for more than twelve and offering six months rent in advance and references but haven't been able to secure anything due to high demand.
Rebecca said: "We were offered one property which was a hovel, it was awful.
"It was up four flights of steps, had one bedroom and the second bedroom was a hobbit hole, my 11-year-old had to duck to get through the door.
"Because of the position we are in it doesn't make financial sense for us to spend £900 plus a month on rent so we want to buy, we got accepted for a house but now the previous owners have said they aren't moving out until they find somewhere.
"So it leaves us in the position where we are stuck in an Airbnb but when we move out of here on May 13 we can't find anything for less than £3,000 per month - so we are homeless.
"I never thought it would be this hard."
Rebecca said that Scarborough Council has said that if the family do end up homeless, it can put them up in a bed and breakfast, but Rebecca claimed that wasn't helpful because she could pay for that herself.
She added: "I knew it would be hard but not this hard, the housing situation is abysmal."
The family has also looked into moving into a caravan but unless they pay for a twelve-month touring spot, and buy their own caravan, all the sites in the area are fully booked with the season about to begin.
Rebecca said: "I don't know at this point what we will do, I'm in a real conundrum.
"I didn't think we would be in this position, as two working professionals, of having nowhere to live in 2022, I can't believe it.
The family need to stay in the local area to keep Rebecca's 11-year-old child at their local school. Rebecca said: "I can't be travelling two hours a day to the school and back.
"I really don't know what we will do, it's grim and there are hundreds of people in this situation."
House prices soared during the Covid pandemic due to polvcaicies such as the stamp duty holiday and the new mortgage guarantee, as well as the 'race for space' which saw more people looking for bigger properties following the move to working from home.
Average house prices exceeded £260,000 for the first time ever in February, building society Nationwide reported, following a 12.6% annual growth surge.
This was the biggest annual increase from February 2021 to February 2022 in cash terms that Nationwide's house price index has ever recorded, a rise of £29,162.
Prices increased 1.7% month-on-month from January to February. And the building society says that the price of a typical home is 20% higher now than in February 2020, the month before the pandemic struck the UK.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “A combination of robust demand and limited stock of homes on the market has kept upward pressure on prices.
“The continued buoyancy of the housing market is a little surprising, given the mounting pressure on household budgets from rising inflation, which reached a 30-year high of 5.5% in January, and since borrowing costs have started to move up from all-time lows in recent months."
