‘THE Government has been telling everybody to Stay At Home – but what if you don’t have a home?’

A former headteacher and her elderly father who have spent three weeks sleeping in a tiny car have described what it is like to find themselves homeless in the COVID-19 lockdown.

Maria Collings was the victim of an unusual set of circumstances. After experiencing what she refers to as devastating and unfortunate events in her life, she says she lost her job in North Yorkshire, where she had been a headteacher for three years and a teacher for 25.

Maria and her 75-year-old dad, Robert returned to Cornwall so she could find work: the family had lived in St Cleer when Maria was a child. With some savings, but no job and no income, Maria could not secure a mortgage or a rental contract.

She says that she and her father have been living in budget hotels while she applies for jobs in education and attends interviews.

But when the lockdown began, the two say they were told to leave the Bodmin Travelodge with no notice. Maria says she got through to Cornwall Council’s emergency housing department and were offered help but the cost was a shock. ‘We were offered unsuitable temporary accommodation for a 75-year-old as it was a first floor flat in a converted house with stairs and  narrow communal areas with no measures to keep two metres away from other people. The landlord was charging the council £1,000 for a two-week stay. The council then offered us a static caravan which we would have to pay £1,000 per week to rent. I said I couldn’t afford that, so they offered another static caravan at £450 per week. I said I couldn’t afford that either.

‘I have slipped through all the nets no matter how small the holes. I am not employed, I am not eligible for universal credit and I’m not retired. I was in the process of setting up a music teaching studio but I haven’t earned anything yet so I have no tax return.’

Maria and Robert ended up spending the nights in their car at a secluded beauty spot. They say that the police were sympathetic to their situation and the need for Robert to self isolate, but say that local landowners have been less understanding. Robert describes how sleeping in the cold in the car has been impossible and how his legs have seized up.

‘It’s been horrendous and I’ve had times when I’ve felt desperate,’ said Maria. ‘I want to make readers aware that in this national crisis, some members of society are not being helped. Landlords are profiteering from this crisis and charging the council and the homeless up to £1,000 a week for basic accommodation. The Government’s plan that all councils should have housed all rough sleepers by last weekend hasn’t worked. I know that people are definitely falling through the net.’

When the paper last spoke to Maria, she and Robert had just been offered a static caravan to rent for four weeks at a holiday park near Newquay.

Cornwall Council says it has put plans in place to house rough sleepers duing the COVID-19 crisis. It says it has identified 65 homeless people in the county and that, while 13 have been uncontactable, the others have been offered places to stay.