Woman Shares Her Journey Of Being Homeless & Living In A Hotel For Over A Year While Having A Full-Time Job
She says it's a stressful experience but is trying to remain hopeful about her future.
TikTok A UK woman has shared details about how she lives while not having a proper home, despite working and making money at her job.
On her now-deleted TikTok account, Kayleigh Lindon went viral after sharing her journey with viewers of being placed in a temporary lodging space she has lived in for several months while searching for somewhere permanent to live.
Lindon says she has been homeless and living in a hotel room for over a year despite working full-time.
Lindon, whose account was dedicated to showing viewers what a day in her life looks like while being homeless, first started making content surrounding her situation in February 2023.
"I am currently homeless, living in a hotel," she revealed in one now-deleted video. "Hopefully I will never experience this ever again, so this is what I want to document."
She explained that after she graduated college over a year ago, she was unable to move back in with her mother due to the house being "fully occupied." With nowhere else to go, Lindon was initially forced to stay with her friends.
However, she was eventually granted a temporary lodging space by her local town council while she works a full-time job as a home care provider. As of recently, Lindon has been staying in a hotel room while she hopes to find an affordable apartment to live in.
"I have really good priority being a homeless [caregiver]," she said, referring to being able to be placed in a lodging space because of her employment.
While Lindon doesn't specify the laws surrounding her being granted lodging, according to GOV.UK, in December 2022, a £654 million ($803 million) funding package government was announced to protect people from homelessness.
The funding is to be used to provide temporary accommodation for families, help individuals at risk of becoming homeless pay deposits for new homes, and mediate with landlords to avoid evictions.
Lindon revealed that she has to pack up all her things and check out of the hotel weekly.
In a follow-up video, where Lindon shared how she gets ready for the day, she explained how her local council handles her accommodations at the hotel.
"So, the council booked me in weekly in this hotel whilst I'm currently homeless to prevent me from [having a] rough [sleep]," she said. "The council [has] to book it week by week because they can't do it in a bulk."
Since the council isn't aware of how long someone will be staying in the temporary lodging, Lindon is forced to check out of her hotel room every week until the room is rebooked. As her job requires her to be up early, Lindon has to pack up all her things and take them with her when she leaves.
Thankfully, the hotel she stays at allows her to leave her things in their kitchen area while she goes off to work, and when she returns, her room will be rebooked and she is allowed to stay for another week undisturbed.
Photo: TikTok
Compared to the United States, the cost of living in the United Kingdom is 14.5% lower, however, it is expensive to live in some major cities in England, including London, Cambridge, Bristol, and many others.
According to Crisis UK, homelessness in England has been steadily rising had reached a peak just before the pandemic. The number of homeless households jumped from 207,600 in 2018 to over 219,000 at the end of 2019. By the end of 2021, 227,000 households across Britain were experiencing the worst forms of homelessness.
While Lindon does have money from working a full-time job, she updated her followers in another video that she is struggling with finding apartments in her price range.
She claimed to have already put out "bids" for two apartments she'd seen on the housing market but was having trouble finding others and hadn't heard back from the two she'd sent out inquiries for.
For now, Lindon says she is remaining hopeful about her situation, telling her followers that she has been "try[ing] to see the good side of things."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics.