‘Evicted’ couple living in tent in friend’s back garden for SIX months

‘Evicted’ couple are crowdfunding for a home for Christmas after being forced to live in a tent in friend’s back garden for SIX months

  • Rachel Melbourne and Lee Grantham had lived in their Hull property since 2014 
  • Couple said they were kicked out of home in June 12, with belongings still since 
  • Six months on, the couple are still living in a tent in a friend’s back garden  
  • They said they were in touch with Hull Council, but situation remains unclear 

A homeless couple are crowdfunding for a new home after they said they were evicted from their home six months ago. 

Rachel Melbourne, 36, and her partner Lee Grantham, 37, left their homes with only their clothes after being kicked out of their property in Hull earlier this year.

The couple said they found out about their eviction when returning to their home on June 12 – only to find it boarded up with their two dogs and belongings still inside.

Rachel Melbourne, 36, and her partner Lee Grantham, 37, left their homes with only their clothes

The couple claimed they were evicted from their property in June this year


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The animals were not allowed access to their belongings and they have resorted to camping out in a tent in a friend’s back garden for the past six months.

Miss Melbourne said: ‘It’s unbearable and it’s got to the point now where we have nowhere to turn and nothing to lose. No one seems to be interested in wanting to help us.

‘It’s freezing and we wake up every morning with ice all over the tent.

‘We’ve been getting really poorly and really chesty because of the damp – especially Lee who is awake all night coughing.

‘We can’t go to the toilet, we can’t get a bath or a shower and we’ve only got the clothes we were left with. We’ve got two airbeds which keep deflating and a quilt but we still wake up with wet inside the tent.’

The pair have been living in a tent in a friend’s back garden since they were evicted six months ago

The couple had lived in their property since January 2014. The day after they were booted out, Miss Melbourne’s boyfriend was attacked outside the house following a dispute.

Just a few days after they were evicted, they suffered more heartbreak when they were forced to put down their fox terrier Lucy after the animal was ‘struck in the stomach’.

The couple contacted Hull City Council and were placed on a housing list four months ago, although they are still not in a home with Christmas just weeks away.

The conditions in the tent are far from ideal as their belongings inside then tent get damp

Miss Melbourne and her partner have started a crowdfunding page to try and raise £1,500 

Miss Melbourne’s stepson had to stay with his grandmother while she lived in the tent. 

In a last-ditch attempt to find a home before Christmas, the couple have now started a crowdfunding page to try and raise £1,500.

Miss Melbourne has pleaded for people to dig deep and donate so they can spend Christmas together as a family at a new home and end their ‘nightmare’ living situation.  

She said: ‘Words can’t explain how much it would mean to us to have a home.

‘We need a base to get our lives back because we’ve lost everything and we are drained.

‘We have both thought “what is the point of being here?” because no one seems to care.

‘If anyone has got a heart I would urge them to help because we would not put our worst enemies in this situation. To have everything you own taken away from you and not being able to do anything about it is terrible.

‘It has been a nightmare and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.’ 

MailOnline has contacted Hull City Council for comment. 

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