Inside Amer Fandi’s car, there is a small mattress with a green rug. A limited collection of refreshments are kept inside an orange Just Eat bag.
“This is my kitchen,” he says. For 18 months, Amer’s Honda has been his home, parked up on the streets of Liverpool.
Just like in Greater Manchester, the city on the other side of the East Lancs Road is gripped by a housing crisis. Amer is one of 14,000 on the city’s waiting list for housing, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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The 37-year-old, dressed in a grey onesie, black jacket and a cap, describes the desperate situation he has found himself in on a street close to Princes Avenue, in Toxteth. This is his current base but he frequently moves his car to different roads in and around this area.
“I’ve been living in this car since October of 2022,” explains Amer. “I am not always in this street, sometimes near Sefton Park, sometimes Lodge Lane. Sometimes neighbours don’t like it so I have to move.”
Amer is originally from Libya, where he was in the armed forces. In 2011, his native country became engulfed by instability following the Arab Spring protests of 2011 and the ousting and death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi. When that instability erupted into civil war in 2014 Amer, like many others, decided to escape.
He arrived in the UK that same year and has UK citizenship. He moved to Liverpool in 2017 and began work in Sainsbury’s before moving on to work for a security company, based in supermarkets in the city.
“I used to live in a house with a private landlord,” says Amer. “The contract was not in my name, but I was paying half the rent. I was working full time. I lost the house because the other man left and when I asked the landlord to sort out the damp and mould he said he needed the house back and I had no contract, so he kicked me out.”
It was at this point that Amer began living in his car. Remarkably, he was still working full time and made an effort so that his colleagues would not suspect that he had fallen on hard times.
“I got good reviews at my work,” he says. “I am a good worker. Even when I was living in my car people didn’t notice. I would go in early and have a shower, I would look smart.”
Things became even more difficult for Amer when he got injured while trying to tackle a shoplifter. The injury to his knee has left him relying on crutches to get around, with a special support bandage around the affected area.
“I’ve been waiting for an MRI scan since last year,” he adds. “Living in the car was making my knee worse, it is very cold. I don’t have an address so I have been going to the hospital every day for information.”
Amer believed that if he approached Liverpool City Council to help with his housing needs, he would be placed in a property within weeks and could get back on his feet. That was in October of 2022.
He claims that when engaging with homeless charities he claims he was advised that if he left his job it would put him in a higher category of priority on Property Pool Plus, the region’s portal for affordable and social housing. That was seven months ago.
“I have rung the council every single morning for years,” says an exasperated Amer. “They always say someone will ring me back but no one ever does.”
“Sometimes I go and park next to the house I am bidding for and sometimes for weeks and there is no one living in it but I don’t get the property. They said I am homeless, but not priority need.”
He is not the only one in this deeply frustrating situation. Liverpool has a waiting list of 14,000 for social housing. The city council itself only owns around 80 properties, so is entirely reliant on social housing providers to offer more – but they are struggling with increased costs and a lack of government investment.
Last year Liverpool council declared a homelessness emergency. Not just because of the growing number of people living visibly on the streets, but because of the hundreds forced into temporary accommodation having been kicked out of their properties – and left with no other options.
With nearly 900 people living in temporary accommodation across the city – and 500 of those in Bed and Breakfasts – the council is frantically working up plans to work with the private sector to free up hundreds of homes for the years ahead.
Currently, the spend on temporary housing in Liverpool is equivalent to the council’s entire budget for culture, tourism, parks and youth services put together. This is a crisis affecting so many in this city – and Amer is one of those at the sharpest end of it.
Obviously living in a car for nearly two years is anything but easy. Amer has had to become creative at times. At one point he registered his address at a block of flats but didn’t specify a flat number so his mail would be left in the lobby, where he could sneak in and get it.
He has found kindness from local residents, businesses and nearby mosques where he has, at times, been able to shower and charge his phone. For food, he survives mainly on bread because of a lack of ability to prepare anything more. “When my energy is low I go to Costa for the free sugars,” he explains.
Amer has found himself in dangerous situations on many occasions while living in his car. “I have been robbed so many times,” he says. “They have taken my clothes, they even took my other crutch from me. One time two kids tried to stab me, but I said I would hit them with my crutch and they went away.”
Asked about the cold winter months he grimaces, adding: “Don’t remind me of that. I am from the Sahara Desert, it was so horrible and so cold at night. I had to put the engine on to try and stay warm but that uses up petrol. Sometimes it felt like my arms had frozen and I couldn’t move them at all.”
Amer is adamant that he doesn’t want to remain on the small level of benefits he currently survives on. He says as soon as he can get a property he will go back to work and believes he will be back on his feet.
“When I had the house I paid my rent, my taxes I would do the same again,” he says. “But I won’t go with a private landlord anymore, I don’t trust them. If you have damp or mould they won’t do it for me.”
He tries to remain upbeat and hopes he can turn things around, but there are, understandably, moments of sadness. “I am a human,” he says. “Sometimes I have a tear in my eye and ask where are my human rights?”
And if he is to get a property, after 18 months of living in a small car, what would he do first? “I would have a bath,” says Amer with a smile. “I would stay in it for 48 hours.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: “The council has offered advice and support to provide Mr Fandi on a number of occasions, so as to enable him to have the best opportunities for obtaining suitable accommodation. Unfortunately, Mr Fandi has previously chosen not to accept this advice.
“The council will continue to be there to provide him with all the support and assistance he needs, but it must be noted that Property Pool is under huge demand. In Mr Fandi’s case, given he is not classed as a priority, he will continue to be advised to widen his bids to ensure his housing difficulties are resolved in a timely manner.”
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.
