I’m a young mum battling cancer and I face homelessness as no landlord will rent to me
A YOUNG mum with a horrific cancer faces HOMELESSNESS as no landlord will rent to her.
Delilah May, from Skelmersdale in Lancashire, has been repeatedly rejected by landlords as she desperately tries to find somewhere to live with her three-year-old son.
The 27-year-old, known to her friends as Dee, has been battling a cruel cancer since a shock diagnosis last year.
Doctors finally recognised Delilah's agonising stomach pains and bloating as Stage Four bowel cancer, after she'd dismissed them as an IBS-flare up.
But when she could hardly play with her little son Jake and broke down at work, she took herself to hospital.
Right after the horrific discovery, Delilah underwent a life-saving operation and started gruelling chemo-therapy treatment.
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She told : "I've had bloating throughout my whole adult life so I thought it was just IBS or something but it would not go away.
"Then I was getting pains in my back and sharp pains in my abdomen which was stopping me from being a mum.
"I couldn't go on the floor and play with my son and do things with him.
"Then one day at work my boss asked if I was okay and I just burst out crying and he sent me home and I went to see a doctor.
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"I was in tears and begging for help and he just sent me home with painkillers."
The dark diagnosis meant Delilah wanted to move closer to her family in West Lancashire who could help her through treatment and support her son.
Yet she didn't realise quite how difficult this move would be.
Time and time again, landlords slammed their door on Delilah's situation - despite her offer of paying six months rent in advance.
She even found a dream property in her ideal area with two spare rooms for carers to stay over if needed - but her offer was rejected.
Since November last year, she's been trying and failing to find a home as applications are thrown back in her face.
One email even states that a prospective landlord was "looking for a tenant who is in full-time employment" - which Delilah can't be as a cancer patient.
She works part-time at the The Ship Inn at Haskayne and receives disability benefits due to her severe illness, but none of this was enough.
Dee's mum Christina May said: "Fiercely independent, Delilah didn't want to move in with me, so it was decided we would look for somewhere nearby and offer six months of rent in advance but we had no landlords accept her.
"Family knew that she would need to be closer to them when she was having flare-ups and would also need someone to care for her and someone looking after Jake.
"Delilah applied with the advancement in the rent on top of her deposit, as an assurance that she was a tenant who could afford the home and would take care of it.
"As Delilah was unable to work while recovering from her operation, she was on disability benefits.
"Sadly we were emailed to say that the landlord did not want her as a tenant because she was not working full-time."
The family claims those letting properties they have spoken to are "not interested in hearing from her employers at The Ship Inn".
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Dee's tragic diagnosis wasn't discovered until last year because medical professionals initially thought she was too young to have cancer.
By the time it was detected, the cancer had already spread throughout her abdomen.
What reasons can a landlord use to reject your application?
- Bad credit
- An inconsistent income
- Negative references from prior employers
- Past evictions
- History of certain lawsuits
- Criminal record
- Incomplete application
- Inability to meet rental term
Which reasons can a landlord NOT use to reject your application?
- Race and religion
- National origin
- Familial status
- Sex and sexual harassment
- Sexual orientation
- Age
- Disability
- Marital status
- Arbitrary discrimination
