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Camborne NHS nurse 'may have to leave job' over housing crisis

BBC Lesley WeeksBBC
Lesley Weeks is being evicted from her rented property, along with her two children and dog

An NHS hospital theatre nurse who cannot find accommodation says she may have to leave her job "due to the housing crisis".

Lesley Weeks, 39, is being evicted from her home of 10 years in Camborne, Cornwall, on 1 December.

She was given an eviction notice in August but says she has not been able to find anywhere suitable for her and her two teenage children and dog.

She said "I may have to leave my job and the county that I love".

It was "due to the housing crisis, because I cannot physically find anywhere at this precise moment, and I have six days until my eviction is up", she said.

Ms Weeks, who has been looking for alternatives for four months, said: "There was a three bedroom ex-council property a few months ago - £1,200 [per month] in Redruth.

"Who can afford that these days? I know I can't, not on my salary."

She has worked as a theatre nurse at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro for seven years.

The hospital said its workers "are finding it increasingly difficult to find affordable homes to buy or rent whilst working in Cornwall".

Lesley Weeks Lesley WeeksLesley Weeks
Lesley Weeks has worked as a theatre nurse at the Royal Cornwall Hospital for seven years

Ms Weeks said that earlier in 2021 her mother and grandmother died, along with her 16-year-old pet Jack Russell.

She now has another dog, but said: "Unfortunately a lot of the private landlords are not allowing any pets and I'm not giving her up.

"It's been a tough year and having to give this one up as well would just top my year off."

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said it was working with Cornwall Council to support local planning applications where developers were aiming to provide key worker or affordable housing, and has set up a Facebook page "to help match people to new homes".

A spokesperson at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: "We recognise NHS workers' immense contribution and are helping key workers own their own homes by giving them priority access to our First Homes scheme, which provides a discount of at least 30% from full market value.

"Since 2010, we've delivered over 63,500 affordable homes in the South West, including over 9,000 in Cornwall. Of these, 42,000 were for social and affordable rent, 4,600 of which are in Cornwall."

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