In the clutches of a worsening housing crisis, a Birmingham dad-of-two beds down for all but a few hours sleep on the back seat of his car. Parking up ‘anywhere and everywhere’ for the night, he lives off takeaways like McDonald’s and showers once, or twice a week at service stations.
Apart from Christmas Eve when he slept on his aunt’s sofa, Andrew Reynolds spent the festive period – and the last six months – living out of his ‘pride and joy’ Vauxhall Astra. “It’s the only thing I own in life and I don’t really own that, it’s on finance,” he tells BirminghamLive.
The 40-year-old, employed as an ASDA delivery driver, claims his employment initially proved to be a barrier in accessing housing support from Birmingham city council ‘because he works.’ Even though the authority says it has been trying to help the dad since July, Mr Reynolds is just one person adding to the “unprecedented” demand for housing in the city.
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He’s been offered rooms inside bedsits and HMOs, but says he “wouldn’t last 30 seconds in a place like that” as people with mental health issues, addictions and ‘dealers’ are housed together. He became homeless after a break-up with his wife, the mother of his two children.
The Northfield dad said he feels fortunate to at least have a car for warmth after hearing of others who tragically froze to death on the streets. Despite his situation, he kept working for months, only recently taking sick leave amid the struggles. “No one [at work] believed I was homeless at first, I was like ‘that’s my bed in my car,'” he explained.
“Everyone was like ‘but your car is spotless, it’s clean’. I’m homeless, it doesn’t mean I’m filthy. I get my car valeted once a week and I keep it clean myself, I don’t just eat food and drop it everywhere and leave wrappers everywhere.”
He plans to return to work soon but has had additional family issues to deal with over the festive period, with him driving around to help relatives. “I am like a TV soap, I’m like an episode of Emmerdale every night,” he added.
“I’ve got a few health problems that really I shouldn’t be sleeping in my car. I make the most of what I’ve got and do the best I can; that’s all I can do. When I’m with my kids, I try to put a smile on, but I know it’s hard for them.
“It’s not ideal, but I’ve got my kids to live for. I keep going for them and nothing else.” Every night, he cranks up the car’s heating for a few hours with the engine on, creating a “heat pocket” and enough warmth to fall asleep for up to four hours.
Occasionally he’s slept until 11am, but mostly he’s awoken by the “hustle and bustle” of the city. Of his day to day, he explained: “I park up anywhere and everywhere.
“I’ve been woken up twice by police, they thought I was drunk behind the wheel, but I was asleep in the back. The second time they were doing a welfare check. West Mercia Police have put a marker on my car to say ‘gentleman is homeless and sleeps in his car.’
“I’ve got a sleeping bag, and a fleecy blanket I pull over and I sleep in my jogging bottoms to keep my lower legs warm because I’ve got bad circulation.
“I get up, go and get a wash where I can, whether it’s McDonald’s toilets or Hopwood services. But I ended up with a skin infection, I picked up some kind of bacterial thing from the showers. I stopped using them and I’m down to one shower a week, maybe two. I pop into see my aunty, every now and again I can grab a shower there.”
Mr Reynolds, who has undergone mental health assessments confirming he “needs a safe place” to live, added: “The places they’re offering me, I’m surrounded by people with drug addictions, alcoholics, drug dealers, I wouldn’t last 30 seconds in a place like that, I’d be a nervous wreck.”
He has a meeting scheduled with his support worker in the hope of trying the council again. Asked what he would like the authority to do, he replied: “Without going into politics, put me somewhere; somewhere that’s not going to affect my mental health too much.
“We’ve got a lot of people we put in hotels, but the council won’t put me in anything apart from a very unpleasant HMO where I’m expected to sleep like I’m in the army, next to someone I wouldn’t know from Adam.
“There’s no room for me to go into supported living, even at a basic level of support where they just knock on the door to see how you are. There’s just nowhere, they’re just not interested – which is very frustrating.”
Birmingham city council acknowledged Mr Reynold’s “very difficult situation” and vowed to contact him again to discuss options, though it stressed the shortage of accommodation is “severely restricting.”
A spokesman said: “We have been in contact with Mr Reynolds since July and have been attempting to support him as best as we can. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing national housing crisis the waiting list for accommodation in the city has reached unprecedented levels.
“This shortage of accommodation is severely restricting what we can offer to people in need like Mr Reynolds. We acknowledge that Mr Reynolds is in a very difficult situation and will be in contact with him again to discuss his current options.”
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William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
