Heavily pregnant and with a baby due in three weeks, Keswick’s Sarah de Mesa should really be putting her feet up before welcoming her second child into the world on December 2.
Instead, she, husband Eduardo and daughter Aneesah, 14, became officially homeless on Monday when the four-month notice to leave their rented bungalow in Brackenrigg Drive, becames effective.
They have to formally depart the £675-a-month three-bed property that they have privately rented for nearly four years. Notice was given on July 15 by their landlord, who they say has been sympathetic and patient with them, but he needs the property back.
In the 120 days that have passed, they have had a few false dawns in their hunt to find a home and as the clock ticked down this week, they turned to The Keswick Reminder in a last-ditch appeal for anyone who may be able to offer emergency short or long-term rented accommodation in the town.
The couple say they would gratefully accept a two-bedroom property, even though they are soon to grow to a family of four.
Sarah, aged 30, said: “Since the day we received the letter we started looking for property. I didn’t realise it was going to be so hard and that as late as now we would still be struggling to find a home. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a property yet to move into. Baby’s coming soon, the second of December is the due date and this just adds even more stress.”
“We have asked the landlord if we can stay a bit longer and he said that it is okay and he is not forcing us out, but he does want his property back, and we understand that.
“We have a good relationship with him. He’s nice and whenever we have needed anything in the house he has been one call away.”
Originally hailing from Cavite, around 20 miles from Manila in the Philippines, the family have taken Keswick and its people fully to their hearts – getting steady work, making new friends, settling into school and establishing a new life for themselves 7,000 miles away from home.
Both parents work at Bella Casa in Station Street – Eduardo as head chef and Sarah as front of house – a role the British citizen has done for more than three years, with Sarah having spent nine years in Keswick and 12 in England.
Their search has involved local letting agencies, Cumbria Choice, Keswick Community Housing Trust, and a council homeless service – but it has ultimately come to nought.
As well as asking work colleagues, they even resorted to discreetly asking regulars if they have heard of anywhere, but the answer is always no.
Their experience has been that either rental properties do not exist for families in Keswick, and when it comes to emergency housing there is none in Keswick, and they also fall short of qualifying as the highest priority.
In any event, emergency accommodation is located a 40-mile plus round trip to Workington – far from where they work, Aneesah goes to school, and the family has its support network.
The pair also do not drive and public transport rarely matches the shift patterns needed to service the busy tourism industry.
Their employer, Andrew Stockwell, has run the Italian restaurant for 19 years.
He says their dilemma perfectly encapsulates Keswick’s broken housing system and the recruitment headache facing local employers.
Mr Stockwell said of the couple’s case: “This is the major problem facing this town in the future.
“It is fantastic having people like Sarah and Eduardo working for us. They are hard-working, committed, dedicated, extremely talented and as a business in a tourist town we rely on people like them to keep us going.
“In Keswick, we have a very limited pool of labour to choose from and if people like Sarah and Eduardo are not available any more because they can’t find anywhere to live in Keswick or have to move out of town, then businesses like ours are really going to struggle to replace them.
Mr Harwood added: “We regularly run adverts through various job agencies and always get a number of replies.
“But the one question they always ask is ‘Can you provide accommodation?’ to which the answer is no as we don’t have any.
“While we put them in touch with local estate agents it’s then that they hit the brick wall. That means we can’t fill the vacancy, we can’t bring them to the town and the town can’t develop a skill set within the town.
“If we are not careful, this town is going to start to go backwards.
“Fewer and fewer staff are people who live in Keswick, were born in Keswick, or have come to Keswick looking for work – we’re now recruiting from Cockermouth, Penrith and the outlying areas and staff have to travel in which is an additional cost on them and public transport is intermittent, especially at weekends and bank holidays which is when we really need our staff.
“If we have to start losing members of staff because they have nowhere to live the next question is can we stay open seven days a week?”
and can we maintain our level of service?”
Estate agents have told the family they are over supplied with holiday lets but under supplied with houses to rent, said Sarah.
And with a baby due and having established a network of friends in the nine years she has been here, she said: “I don’t want to go somewhere where I
don’t know anyone or we don’t know.”
Eduardo de Mesa, aged 34, also wants to stay. With the job involving long hours in a busy kitchen, he regularly goes mountain biking with friends
and praises the town’s quietness, close community and views.
He said of the situation: “It is stressing me out. Especially for my wife. We are losing a house in one week and then …who knows?
“It is okay for me because I could live anywhere. But especially for my wife and my daughter when the baby is coming, we are really desperate to find
a home for my family.”
Aneesah, 14, said she liked Keswick School and had made many new friends, loved drama and has recently received official recognition for her
improved English.
She came to the Lake District from the Philippines just two-and-a-half years ago to join her parents — a big adjustment for an adult, never mind a youngster gearing
up for life in big school.
Mum Sarah said: “She has done really well, she has improved so much as before we could not even talk to her in English and now she is fluent.
“Through the pandemic and home schooling it was hard and a struggle for her but she has always tried her best and when she got back to school,
I didn’t expect her to get an award for English — it just makes us so proud.”
Interest in Keswick as a place to live is nothing new, but holiday let trends such as Airbnb and new factors such as lockdown and a relaxation by
employers about working from home, have all added to the surge – further choking off the small number of houses that do become available, either for sale
or rent.
Mr Stockwell warned: “If we aren’t a community any more and we haven’t got housing for the people working in the town to support our holiday sector, eventually those visitors will have nowhere to go to eat, drink, a coffee or a shop, or a bank, and will stop coming.
“This is a story that is going to repeat and repeat and repeat unless something is done to address it.”
Recently, the family had got down to the final three families for a £525-a-month three-bed property for rent on Calvert Way; a development by Keswick Community Housing Trust.
The volunteer group was set up in 2010 with one specific aim. “We came into existence primarily to try to ameliorate the problem that children of Keswick people had
in trying to get a residential home in Keswick,” explained chairman Bill Bewley.
“So our allocation policy currently gives a lot of emphasis to your Keswick connection — that’s why we came into existence. “The way we do it is you get points
for the percentage of your life you have spent in Keswick.
“In Sarah and Edu’s case, they didn’t get as many points for that but their need was so great we are considering whether we now amend the way we score it in the future.
He added: “They were close and if there had been an issue with either of the other two couples we would have been more than happy to award it to them, but we are under pressure.”
Given a magic wand, Mr Bewley would like to see an Act of Parliament requiring property owners to apply for a licence should they want to stop using it as their main residence, eg converting into either a second home or holiday let.
He would also like to see the demand for holiday accommodation met by large purpose-built complexes. “Tourism is very valuable but it
should not be at the loss of residential homes,” he said.