Michelle Savident with her daughter Emma-Jayne, 13, and son Stephen, 15, at the Fauxquets Valley campsite, where they had been staying. The family had been living in the Isle of Wight for the past 10 years but moved back to the island at the end of last month. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0625802)
A MOTHER and her two children have found somewhere to live just a week before they expected to be living on the streets.
Michelle Savident and Stephen, 15, and Emma-Jayne, 13, returned to Guernsey at the end of July after 10 years living in the Isle of Wight.
Mrs Savident said the family had been refused States housing because they had no permanent address here – despite meeting all the other criteria to join the waiting list.
‘I can’t afford a home,’ she said.
‘There are empty houses in Guernsey, but we can’t afford to rent one.’
The family have been living in a tent at the Fauxquets Valley campsite but they feared they would have to get out as their rent had been paid up only to 1 September.
They now have the chance to live in a property near Petit Bot but must take it on a two-year lease.
‘But we have to find out first if the Social Security Department will pay the monthly £600 rent,’ said Mrs Savident.
The family have relations in Guernsey but none is in a position to offer them somewhere to stay.
Mrs Savident, who was divorced soon after relocating to the Isle of Wight, said she had wanted to come back not long after the move.
‘It was beautiful, but it just was not Guernsey. I hated the people and we were scared to go out of our front door. We always planned to return.’
She said she was now keen to settle down, put her children into school and find a job.
Before leaving Guernsey the family lived in a States house and have never owned their own home.
They have no savings, all of which which makes them eligible for States accommodation.
‘I have looked into renting,’ said Mrs Savident.
‘But I just can’t afford it. If I did rent a three-bedroom house, which I would need as the children are teenagers, I would have no money for bills and food.’
The Housing Department said that Mrs Savident should have been better prepared. Its advice to people wishing to return to live in the island in social housing is to have permanent accommodation to move into.
‘The department does not accept applications from persons residing in temporary accommodation,’ said a spokesman.
‘This is because past experience has shown that, on occasions, people will put themselves in adverse situations in an attempt to elevate their position on the waiting list.
‘This would clearly be unfair to those people who have been already waiting for accommodation.’
Article posted on 26th August, 2008 - 2.30pm
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30 Article Comments
I wish the States would pay my rent - I must be one of the very unfortunate ones that has to go out to work to pay for my rent… Nevermind - i’ll hit the jackpot one day… Maybe I could move somewhere else & then slate their authorities until they pay my way…
Hard life innit??
so they just upped and left IOW and arrived in Guernsey hoping that the state would look after them and everyone else would feel sorry for them?
How can she say she was scared to go out the front door but then, if she expected everyone to rally round after her, her neighbours probably got fed up and told her to go away!!
I sympathise with Ms Savident’s plight, but what I cannot understand is why she would come back to Guernsey without the knowledge that she had a proper place for at her children to sleep and food for them to eat until she found work? The article does not mention if she was incapable of work in the Isle of Wight, but it does not seem as if she was unable, therefore I question why she should simply expect assistance here when she managed for 10 years?
I am totally fed up with people like this, they leave the island and come back expecting the social to take care of them, well life is hard and you have to work and why should we have to work and pay tax in order to keep the lazy people that think they can cream off the social all the time, we struggle its hard and i think that especially if you leave the island you shouldn’t be allowed to be given benefits, she should have ensured that she was in a position from the begining to house her children and make sure that they were secure before they came back to Guernsey, everyone knows that it is expensive to live here.
With comments such as “I hated the people and we were scared to go out of our front door. We always planned to return.” it seems Ms Savident has burnt her bridges on the Isle of Wight.
All the ex Guernsey people we have met here on the IOW seem to have a very different view to that of Ms Savident.
Surely when you have two children to consider, Mrs Savident should have made sure she was sorted out with work and accommodation before coming back to the island. Just because she has lived in the island before doesn’t mean she can automatically come back and expect the States to pay everything for her. Some of us work hard for what we have.
I agree with Claire - how can you move somewhere without knowing that you have employment and more importantly somewhere for your children to stay ? I live away from the island but I just couldnt contemplate returning if I didnt have a place to live and a job lined up. Its just common sense but maybe I’m wrong.
I also moved away from Guernsey with my family about 10 years ago,and although I did not move to the Isle of Wight I have had a close association with the island since my move. If Mrs Savident was afraid to go out of her front door then I can only assume she must have done something to deserve this unwanted attention. The Isle of Wight is delightful and the people are as kind as any others. If I was ever to consider returning to Guernsey, I would make sure I could afford to do so and would naturally assume I would be expected to pay my way.
So this women leaves Guernsey for a better life elsewhere, it doesnt work out so she comes back & expects the States to pay her rent
Get real
For once well done to the States
Hating all the people in one Island? That’s a pretty sweeping statement. More to the story than meets the eye, methinks…..as always.
where are your hearts of compassion? there are homeless children here, probably worried themselves where the next meal is coming from too for all we know, a while back in guernsey the good guernsey folk would have rallied round, why is everyone just out for themselves these days? so long as im doing ok seems to be the attitude!
i dont have much in fact i have very very little but mrs savident and children youd be welcome into my home and im sure we`d find some way of getting meals on the table and a place for all to sleep. shame on you people, for thinking only of yourselves.
Brodie, it is not a matter of people only thinking of themselves. Mrs Savident obviously wasn’t thinking of her children when she came back to the island without finding them a place to live first
What you waiting for then Brodie? Ask them round!
How can anyone expect after 10 years away to come back to the Island and jump to the top of the housing list. What about all the more needy local people who are waiting for their chance. It seems to me this is a case of hey i’m back now where is the social security office. Well done States
Why can’t she get a job?
erm….. you dont read very well sophie, i did offer. i wouldnt want to think of anyone on the streets, in fact years ago i homeless guy used to sleep in a doorway opposite my house, whenever i saw him i asked him in as well.
and perhaps DI it all happened to quickly for her to find accomodation first, sometimes things spiral out of control and your first instinct is to run back to a place you feel is home, i dont know the full story, all i know is im not perfect so i cannot condemn this lady, in fact we have all made mistakes so surely its better to help this lady rather than us all ranting about her!!
When I moved to Guernsey three years’ ago I found a job and lived in Open Market accommodation which cost more than 80% of my net monthly salary. I know many others who have done the same thing, in fact most of them work more than one job in order to pay their Open Market rents. However we don’t grumble as we appreciate the benefits of living in Guernsey. Mrs. Savident will be disappointed if she believes that she doesn’t have to get a job and pay her own rent. What makes me saddest is the very poor example Mrs. Savident is setting to her children; I hope that they don’t grow up thinking that it is acceptable to scrounge off of the States.
as a regular visitor to the isle of wight i can only imagine that the savident family must have been on some council estate in order to be scared to go out of there front door.ive found people in the isle of wight to be friendly and helpful ,so i cant see how they can be all hated, i hope they put her in a states house in the bouet and see if she is happy then.
Paul
Are you implying that people on council estates/states housing are to be feared?
The perpetuation of the myth that people who earn too little to own their own house are in some way inferior is reaching such high frequency that it makes you wonder how those parents and grandparents ever coped a mere 50 years ago, at least in the UK.
There is definitely more to the story if her own relatives “werent in a position to offer them somewhere to stay”.
So either the relatives cant stand her or Mrs Savident cant stand them and prefers to hold out for a cushy states house. Given her history of dislike for other people i would lean to the later - but hey its just speculation what would i know, i just feel sorry for the poor children.
I’m committed to Guernsey, pay my tax, contribute and have done all my life. Why people who have paid their taxes to the English Crown for the past 15 years believe they have an automatic right to housing on return?
she should have stayed where she was instead of milking the system
Brodie, don’t you wonder why you are the only person out of all these comments that is on the side of this woman?
I would be inclined to agree with you if I thought for a minute that this was a genuine case, but it is patently obvious that this woman has deliberately destituted herself & her children in order to jump the housing queue. Instead of berating other commentators for a selfish attitude I think you should look more closely at the attitude of this woman.
After hearing her husbands comments, this story has become alot more interesting…
Sorry ex husband..
My son & his family of 3 small children live in small upstairs 2 bedroom states housing flat on the bouet estate & cant get a states house with a garden. So where does this woman who ups & leaves a house & job on the i.o.w. deserve the right to gain states housing at the drop od a hat! Send her back to the i.o.w.!
There appears to be a lot of conflicting information regarding this family. Mrs Savident states she has wanted to come back for about 10 years so why now? She has had 10 years to save some money and yet she turns up and expects the taxpayer to pay for her housing and living expenses (where is her furniture or did she just up and leave)?
Her ex-husband is now stating via the Guernsey Press that she has jointly owned properties with him in the past - Mrs Savident denies this. I do not think that the States Housing should be expected to house this family - they have family over here so let them help out. There are people on the waiting list who are probably just as desperate for subsidised housing so why should the Savidents queue jump?
I also notice that both the children are at a crucial stage in their education with the 15 year old at the GCSE level and the 10 year old at the 11+ and SATS test level - uprooting them from their schools and their friends was perhaps not the best of ideas . Let’s hope that the 15 year old is going to go back to school as the law in Guernsey enables him to leave school at 15 ………… and perhaps become another statistic of ‘the unemployed’.
Is Mrs Savident entitled to social security benefits from day 1 or will she be expected to work for a living? She seems very irresponsible judging by the information available so far - of course there may be extenuating circumstances that we do not know about.
I think there isnt enough information to make an informed comment maybe she was born in Guernsey and now suffers mental illness or such.
Maybe the divisive open and closed markets need to be relooked at.
This lady has hit the jackpot to find accomodation for her family for just £600 per month, where did that come from? When my family had to move from states housing because we were just over the limit I had to up my hours to full time to rent in the private sector and Im in my 50s, I just did not give up my job to scrounge off the states, Where is her pride
Doesn’t seem to be much evidence of a life plan.
You can’t just turn up and expect everyone to sort your problems out.
I lived in the UK for ten years and despite missing home, couldn’t contemplate returning to Guernsey until I had enough potential to earn enough to pay the mortgage.
Simple as that - I never considered the States as a housing crutch and now pay my own way in life.