A dad-of-two has been living in the back of his car for the last six months due to the increasingly concerning housing crisis.
Andrew Reynolds says he parks for the night “anywhere and everywhere”, sleeps for just a few hours, lives off takeaways and showers once a week.
His Vauxhall Astra is his “pride and joy”. He told BirminghamLive: “It’s the only thing I own in life and I don’t really own that, it’s on finance.”
The 40-year-old works for Asda as a delivery driver and claims his employment was a barrier to accessing housing support from the city council.
He became homeless after splitting up with his wife.
But Birmingham City Council says it’s tried to help him since July but Reynolds says he refuses bedsits and HMOs, saying he “wouldn’t last 30 seconds in a place like that”.
Reynolds said: “No one at work believed I was homeless at first, I said ‘that’s my bed in my car.’ Everyone was like ‘but your car is spotless, it’s clean’.
“I’m homeless, it doesn’t mean I’m filthy. I get my car valeted once a week and I keep it clean myself, I don’t just eat food and drop it everywhere and leave wrappers everywhere.”
“I’ve got a few health problems that really I shouldn’t be sleeping in my car. I make the most of what I’ve got and do the best I can; that’s all I can do.
“When I’m with my kids, I try to put a smile on, but I know it’s hard for them. It’s not ideal, but I’ve got my kids to live for. I keep going for them and nothing else.”
Andrew says he has been woken twice by police, who first thought he was a drunk driver and then did a follow-up welfare check.
He said of the accommodation offers he’s had from the council: “The places they’re offering me, I’m surrounded by people with drug addictions, alcoholics, drug dealers, I wouldn’t last 30 seconds in a place like that, I’d be a nervous wreck.”
Asked what he would like the authority to do, he replied: “Without going into politics, put me somewhere; somewhere that’s not going to affect my mental health too much.
“We’ve got a lot of people we put in hotels, but the council won’t put me in anything apart from a very unpleasant HMO where I’m expected to sleep like I’m in the army, next to someone I wouldn’t know from Adam.
“There’s no room for me to go into supported living, even at a basic level of support where they just knock on the door to see how you are. There’s just nowhere, they’re just not interested – which is very frustrating.”
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council told Express.co.uk: “We have been in contact with Mr Reynolds since July and have been attempting to support him as best as we can.
“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing national housing crisis the waiting list for accommodation in the city has reached unprecedented levels.
“This shortage of accommodation is severely restricting what we can offer to people in need like Mr Reynolds.
“We acknowledge that Mr Reynolds is in a very difficult situation and will be in contact with him again to discuss his current options.”
Asda has been approached for comment.
