A PANICKED mum is “facing Christmas on the streets” after being told she and her two young children have to leave her rented property.

Nikki Whenman, who has lived with her three-year-old Jayden and five-year-old Riley in Winchester Road, Basingstoke for three years, received a Section 21 notice from estate agents Wellman Property Management, confirming the landlord of the flat wished to reclaim it.

After two months of unsuccessfully searching for privately rented accommodation, due to agents having “reluctance to take on tenants on housing benefits”, Miss Whenman is facing the prospect of having to leave her flat by November 17.

“I’m scared for my family,” Miss Whenman, 26, said.

“We’re only a young family and I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

She added: “I have looked at other private renting, but because I am on housing benefits, they aren’t interested in taking me on. 

“I’m lost and we’re now facing Christmas on the streets.”

Miss Whenman said she contacted Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) for advice on what she can do to ensure she is not made homeless.

“All they have told me is to stay here in the property until I get evicted or they will have to move me to a housing shelter potentially outside of Basingstoke - but I will have to pay to live there,” Miss Whenman continued.

She added: “My children are asking me what’s going to happen and I can’t lie to them - I just don’t know.

“They are asking whether they have to move school and that they don’t want to not be here for Christmas.

“My family don’t have the room to take me and my family in and don’t have any space to store my stuff either.

“It’s a massive panic and it’s not helping too that I have had such little success and time to find a new place.”

In September, Miss Whenman was issued with a Section 21 order - a notice that gives a tenant at least two months’ notice to leave a property. 

The process is a standard procedure for landlords and is not an eviction notice.

If Miss Whenman were to decide to stay in the property past November 17, she could be taken to court and if her case was lost she could be out of pocket even further.

A spokesperson for Wellman Property Management said: “The landlord has requested the property to be returned, which is their choice at the end of a tenancy agreement.

“A Section 21 is the formal process in which a landlord makes that request.”
BDBC has a legal responsibility to assist people who are losing their home or have no home at all - as set out under the Housing Act 1996.

Housing manager at BDBC Kate Randall said: “We are unable to discuss individual cases but in a situation where someone has been served notice on their rental property, our housing team would work with the individual to make them aware of all of the options available to them which would include looking for other private rented accommodation.”