Cressie and Richard Pike are peacefully at home in their new place after moving out of their previous property and being put in temporary accommodation.
The couple were forced out of their five-year home after being served a section 21 eviction notice by their previous landlord. They then moved to temporary accommodation in Wellington and were hopeful to have somewhere permanently shortly after.
But after a long wait in temporary accommodation and on the housing list, they were overjoyed to be offered a home in our new rural development in Somerton.
Our new resident, Cressie Pike, said: “The temporary accommodation was upsetting. It was a bad experience, but it has turned around for the good.
“When we were private renting, we were given a section 21 which was really awful. It’s hard enough trying to get a place anyway but private renting is so expensive, not everyone can afford to do it.
“We had to take temporary accommodation before getting this. One house came up in Taunton and I was working there in care, but I couldn’t drive so it wasn’t suitable. The lady said it wasn’t ready yet.
“She said there is a temporary home coming up in Wellington, so we had no other option we had to move there, and I had to transfer jobs.”
Living there for 16 months after initially being told it would be only six weeks, the couple came across our development, Buttercross Meadow in Somerton, and pinned their hopes on moving there.
After a process of bidding and waiting to move up the housing list, they are thrilled to have settled into a one-bedroom ground floor flat which has made a big difference to their lives.
Cressie added: “This area is surrounded by fields, it’s really nice and peaceful so it’s lovely and everyone is very friendly. It’s been a really good experience with LiveWest all around really.
“The bonus is we have a garden as well which was helpful because we have two dogs too. Not many places have a garden that is all fenced around which is safe for them.
“We love it, and we are so much happier here. We are more settled, and I’ve got myself a new job and that’s really nice, so it’s all worked out really well. This is somewhere we want to stay, I don’t want to move again especially with what we went through with the temporary housing.”
The homes have been designed an energy efficient focus, particularly due to and the development's rural setting and being surrounded by trees, greenery, and walks.
Richard said: “I think we’ve had the best deal because all the other one-bedroom homes on this development are upside down houses but ours isn’t. Having two little dogs wanting to go out in the garden, they can come and go as they please.
“The community is really friendly, I don’t see a lot of people in the morning because I walk the dogs early, but if you go into town people chat away to you and they’re polite.“
