A couple have moved into their car after being unable to find affordable rental accommodation in Manchester due to the competetive market.
The pair have raised £2,000 from strangers after launching a GoFundMe to share their experience.
The couple, who wished only to be identified by their online handles Bean and Kush, met on a night out in the Gay Village in late August and decided to move in together straight away.
Bean, 25, moved into Kush’s flat in Manchester city centre and their whirlwind romance appeared to be going well.
But the tenancy came to an end a short time later, and since then the couple say they have been unable to find somewhere they can live together – despite applying for a string of rental properties in Manchester’s competitive market.
Despite viewing several properties, weeks went by without hearing back from landlords. Without a guarantor amid high demand for properties, the pair were forced to move into Kush’s Renault Clio a month ago – and say they fear for their health as the cold nights draw in.
“We’re both 5.9” and sleeping in the foetal position every night to get warm,” Bean told the Manchester Evening News. “We’re in each other’s skin.
“Every day is a different journey. We park in rural areas because it sounds safer but you’re literally in the middle of nowhere.
“We applied for a few properties, but with the housing market being under pressure the amount of other applicants who apply for the same property makes it harder, especially with me being on PIP and Universal Credit. Also, a lot of them require a guarantor which we don’t have as Kush doesn’t reach the requirement for yearly pay on certain properties.”
Bean said she spent a year living in a homeless shelter prior to meeting Kush, but doesn’t want to return to the shelter due to the impact it had on her mental health.
The couple are now hoping to raise funds to buy a van which they can live in permanently – so far raising £2k with the help of their 3,500 TikTok followers after setting up an account on September 22.
“We could pay for hotels, people keep saying that to us on TikTok,” she added. “If we do that, we’ll never be able to save [for a van].
“I don’t want to go back to the council because I was in a hostel for a year and it dishevelled my mental health further. Our plan is to get this van prepped before winter.”
Explaining why they’ve decided to get a van, with a view to living on the road permanently, Bean said: “Kush works mobile, so it would be much easier for him to get to work and have the freedom to travel for the sake of our mental health – but mainly the factor of the housing market and the difficulty of getting into it.
“Without that factor, we wouldn’t have found a passion for living on the road. As hard as it’s been, we’ve seen the beauty that has helped our mental health with the scenery.
“The only frustration we have is being in a small vehicle with lots of windows. We want something discreet and secure.”
