I was evicted after Liz Truss's budget tanked the economy – my son and I ended up in a beetle-infested flat

Caz Holbrook, 54, said 2023 was a "very stressful" year after her landlord evicted her and her 15-year-old son from their home in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

The self employed photographer had lived in the two-bed terraced house for eight years and had paid the same rent of £600 a month the entire time.

But in November 2022, the property's owner told her that soaring mortgage rates had forced them to sell up.

This surge was caused by then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's infamous budget two months prior, which sent the British economy into turmoil and would lead to Truss resigning from the PM role after just 49 days.

"They told me it wasn't feasible to keep it [the property] on and it wasn't viable anymore," she told LBC.

"I had been in the property for eight years, and they had kept the rent the same the whole time because they knew I was on my own with my son.

"I was upset when the eviction notice was handed to me. I was pretty settled there, it was quite a nice little community on the street that we lived. We made quite a lot of friends. We were very worried and upset. I didn't know what I was going to do."

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Ms Holbrook was given six months to find a new home but struggled to find anything in her price range in the private rental market, with the average cost for a "modest two bed property" between £850 and £1,200.

In December 2022, the mother-of-one listed for council housing, but was not listed as a "priority" because of the extended tenancy offered by her landlord.

This meant the next five months were filled with uncertainty, as Herefordshire Council waited until "the very last minute" to find her temporary accommodation.

Describing this turbulent period, Ms Holbrook said: "They said they might have to send me out of the county. They told me they could send me to Worcester, which would have been awful for my son's schooling and for my work.

"They try and put you off, telling you that you have rights after the tenancy ends.

"I didn't want to put my landlord through that. They had been really good to us and dropped my rent during covid.

"They [the council] were aware of my situation pretty much for the entire six months. I let them know in December 2022 about my situation."

The accommodation the pair were moved into was a "tiny little flat" with only one bedroom in the town centre, meaning Ms Holbrook was forced to sleep on a mattress in the living room.

She claims that during their stay there, she was successful in her bid for two more suitable council-listed homes but was unable to complete the deals due to failures within their system.

To make matters worse, the flat suffered from damp and was infested with carpet beetles for the first few months of their stay.

Ms Holbrook explained: "It was a one-bed flat, above a bookmakers in the middle of town, with no parking and it was very, very noisy.

"It was damp and very cold in the winter. Finn took the bedroom, and I took the living room and slept on a mattress in there, meaning we had no living room. We did manage to get a little table in the kitchen eventually.

"It was a very worrying and stressful time, living on top of each other in that tiny little flat."

Thankfully, in January 2024, the mother and son were able to find a two-bedroom house, located two-and-a-half-miles out of the market town, which they "absolutely love".

But Ms Holbrook said her nightmare ordeal was one of many experienced by those forced out of the private rental market and into council accommodation.

"There were many failures along the way," she said.

"The fact that I could have had somewhere twice and they messed it up, which could have freed up that temporary accommodation.

"I know someone else in the area who was moved into the Premier Inn with two children, aged 5 and 3, and they were up there for eight months in the end. I thank my lucky stars that we did have a little flat where we could cook.

"Rents are sky high at the moment. There is not enough housing to round. The [council] housing allowance isn't enough for someone like me on a single income. It's a mess."