Homeless grandmother living in van after rent hike forced her out of flat in Kent

Watch: Lyn Pearman speaks to ITV News Meridian's Joe Coshan

A grandmother from Ramsgate who had to leave her flat, after her landlord dramatically increased her rent, is now homeless and living in her van.

Lyn Pearman, 66, was told by her landlord she was hiking her rent from £433 to £700 a month.

Her housing benefit and pension wouldn't cover it, and so she was served an eviction notice.

Two months later she found herself homeless, selling her possessions and swapping her flat for life in a converted van.

The 66-year-old has been telling her story on TikTok and now has 38,000 followers around the world, with her videos viewed more than a million times.

Lyn says until the state pension and benefits cover the cost of rent, she believes private landlords can force more pensioners into giving up their possessions to live life on the road.

She said: "What with the gas and electric going up - it's better off living in a van.

"So Plan B I sold everything, bought the van, and that was it."

It comes at a time where charities warn that rising rents across the South East and more landlords turning their properties into holiday rentals, will mean even more people are made homeless.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said: "We remain absolutely committed to delivering a fairer deal for renters.

"We will bring forward a Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament, abolishing ‘no fault evictions’ so that all tenants have greater security in their homes and are empowered to challenge poor conditions and unreasonable rent rises.

"Increasing the number of genuinely affordable homes is central to our levelling up mission and we’re investing £11.5 billion to build more of the affordable, quality homes this country needs."