Housing crisis: Elderly couple with nowhere to go face becoming homeless in Cornwall
Watch Charlotte Gay's report here.
An elderly couple, one of whom has dementia, have become the latest casualties of Cornwall's housing crisis as they face being made homeless from the place they have rented for almost 20 years.
Glenise Hutchens, 76, and her husband John, 86, have lived in their converted farm building since 2002.
But after their landlord passed away in 2018, his relatives decided to sell the apartments and served the pair their six month notice period which came to an end on Friday (August 20).
Glenise says the prospect of not finding somewhere to live is “overwhelming” and “the stress of it all makes me feel unwell.”
The pair have been living off one state pension between them and have a housing benefit allowance of around £500.
A representative at Cornwall Council has been bidding on housing for the couple, while a friend has been looking at private properties but neither option has been successful yet.
The 76-year-old says one solution offered by the council housing team was for the pair to pick up part-time jobs to increase their budget.
The emergency housing team have told the couple they might have to be sent to a Travelodge in Devon, with no facilities to eat - meaning the couple would have to scrape money together to eat out three times a day.
Glenise says she finds it all very upsetting.
"It's awful, it all seems like a waste of time. I just find it all too much but I suppose there's a lot of people who feel like that.”
Elaine Hyland, a family friend for the past 15 years, says she is shocked at the position they find themselves in.
“I find it really infuriating because I don't understand what you need to be, to be top priority.”
Elaine says she fears the symptoms of John’s dementia will only get worse if they are moved to unfamiliar surroundings.
She says there are times John doesn’t know who Glenise is and her worry is “if they go too far he won't have a clue where he is and that's pressure on the emergency services if he goes on a walkabout.”
Lots of people in Cornwall says there is real anger at the lack of affordable homes to rent or buy.
On Saturday (August 21) protesters demanded more action from local and national government to stop locals being pushed out.
Some have managed to find light at the end this very dark tunnel.
Jodie and her son Harvey were living in a tent between emergency hotel accommodation in Bude
But after seeing her plight on ITV West Country a viewer got in touch and offered her a home within four miles of the town.
Jodie says that while being offered somewhere to live was like "going from rock bottom to sky high", the housing system in Cornwall is a mess.
"The whole [HomeChoice] procedure that you have to go through, it’s just wrong, it's inhumane. I just feel for everybody in this situation - the whole system is backwards."
Cornwall Council has admitted there is a "perfect storm" leading to unprecedented pressure on housing in Cornwall.
The action plan has been set out which includes providing more cabin and modular homes as temporary and emergency accommodation, buying existing homes to use as social housing and enabling communities to stop new builds being snapped up by would-be second homeowners.
The councillor in charge of housing and planning, Cllr Olly Monk, says they are doing "everything in their power" to tackle the "lack of decent affordable housing that residents are experiencing all over Cornwall."
Cllr Olly Monk, Housing lead at Cornwall Council, told ITV News: "It is a deeply distressing situation whenever you find someone that is faced with homelessness. I can't speak about the specific case but, if you are faced with homelessness, contact the council and we will immediately assign an officer to assist you with the landlord.
"Once they are assessed they will be offered some emergency accommodation. There is not guarantee of where that will be.
"We are doing everything we can to build up our provision of emergency accommodation."