Photo from SWNS.
He said: 'It’s got pros and cons. I’m happy with it, but it is a bit lonely. If I had the choice between a quiet house and living in a kennel, I would have to pick the house, but this will do me for now.' Mr Curtis has not worked for more than two years and admits to being the ‘black sheep’ of his family, with no relatives who could help him out. He lived in a number of rented properties and bedsits in recent years before becoming homeless.
Once his tent started to leak, sympathetic local farmer Gordon Waite said he could use the old hut. Mr Curtis said: 'I initially camped on his land, but bad weather ruined it, so I moved into the kennel. There’s no alarm on it or anything like that, but I’m not saying I have any valuables, but you do worry about people coming in. It’s not a doss hole or anything like that - I have carpets.' The kennel does not have a kitchen but Jamie mostly eats pre-cooked or tinned food.
YouTube link.
He has hooked up a shower and uses a portable toilet at the rear of the kennel. 'I’ve got a solar-heated shower,' he explained. 'It’s a bag you hang in the sunshine and the sun warms it up. I shower every day. I’ve just got to fix a leak at the moment. The biggest problem is that I don’t have electricity. I might have to get a generator.' But Mr Curtis hopes his days in the dog house will be short-lived as he is saving up his Jobseekers’ allowance to pay for a deposit on a flat.' He said: 'I don’t have any bills where I’m living, so I’ve been able to save up. I’m hoping to buy somewhere someday.'
3 comments:
If he meant he's saving to buy a flat, there's sadly a bit of a catch:22 with that. You can't get the dole if you've got over (something like) £8k in savings, which is likely to be less than the deposit for a flat.
Minimum deposit required for a mortgage is 10%. Considering the average property price in the UK is over £160,000 outside of London, he could be there a very long time.
Also, further to the above - just found this from moneysupermarket.com.
"According to experts, the vast majority of mortgage applicants with the minimum 10% deposit are turned down as, regardless of what banks and building societies advertise, the loans are still considered high risk and lenders want to limit their exposure to this. .... Whether you are shown the red or green light for your 10% deposit, will hinge mainly on your credit score."
Being unemployed, homeless and on JSA probably doesn't lead to a great credit score.
Maximum JSA he can qualify for would be £64.30 a week, and you can only be on JSA for a certain period (about 6 months or so I believe) before they force you to take a job (usually something like cleaning or janitorial work). If you then quit that job, you lose the rights to go back on JSA.
Or at least that's my understanding. Kudos to him for his positive attitude though - hope things improve for him.
Post a Comment