
Donation protected
TLDR; My current housing situation is having a detrimental effect on my mental and physical health. The job market is rough and so I've been unable to find a job to help finance moving out. This truly is a last resort as the need to move out is high.
Full story;
Hi, my name is C and I’m a 28 year old queer and non-binary person. I’ve been living in the same home since late 2022. I’m a very social person and have enjoyed movie nights on the sofa with loved ones and friends, and using the large amount of social space to host parties and dinner parties. However over the last year, my landlord has been pushing boundaries more and more, and respecting privacy less and less. While it is a HMO, one time she entered my room without consent. When I called her out on it, she simply said “I thought it’d be okay because you said I could the other day. I thought you were still on holiday.” Alongside this she also is frequently in the house without good reason and at unreasonable hours (one time I had a date over and was watching a movie on the couch at 9pm and she came in), frequently checks what’s in our bins and frequently moves my personal items without asking. She has taken more than two weeks to make basic requests or fixes. Recently I asked her to put a handle on a drawer and when asked her again three weeks later, she put on a string. She has removed any communal storage there previously was which now means my room is full of boxes of stuff. This has made the only room in the house that I actually felt I had some control over feel so miserable.
There’s an extensive list of things she’s done that’s lead to me feeling like I don’t have any control over my home, like I’m totally at her whim. I feel completely helpless with everything reaching its peak now that she’s turning 3/4 of the communal space (the space I used to use to socialise in and have friends over) into another studio. We will no longer have a living room, or access to nice back doors to enjoy our garden.
I had to spend a week sofa surfing and stayed in a hotel because I was in a constant state of fight or flight. Any communication with my landlord now causes episodes of panic. Spending anytime in the little communal space we have left, including the kitchen, also causes me great stress which means my already existing disordered eating has got so much worse. It is now very rare that I will eat three meals a day, to avoid using the kitchen. I’m a passionate volunteer for a pride organisation and am frequently now unable to focus on my work, work that previously brought me such joy.
I live with EUPD and need to feel stable and safe to live happily but that’s just not the case right now. Despite having been job hunting since the start of the year and having had multiple interviews, nothing has worked out. Without a job I’m unable to save to be able to move. So I’m asking my community for the help to get together the money to cover moving costs (including things like boxes and moving vans, and also deposits etc). Anything extra will help support me between moving (like staying in a hotel away from the home on days of particular distress, or ordering food when I am unable to cook for myself).
I’m just desperate to have a home again that actually feels like my home, and like I’m not living in someone else’s Sims game. I would never normally ask for help in this way but at this point I fear for the sake of my mental health, I just need to try anything.
Organizer

Charlie-Ann Mathers
Organizer
England