Homeless man cannot find housing due to pet cat

Shaun Conaghan said his cat Marley helped him with his mental health

A homeless man has claimed he cannot find anywhere to live because he would not be able to keep his beloved pet cat if he accepted the places offered to him.

Shaun Conaghan has been living on the streets and in temporary accommodation in Solihull since he was evicted from his home in Hall Green, Birmingham, earlier this year.

The 41-year-old said no-one would home him and his cat Marley, who he said was important to him because of his mental health issues.

Solihull Council said it could not offer Mr Conaghan social housing because he does not have a local connection.

Mr Conaghan said he had been offered rooms in homes of multiple occupancy but none of them would accept cats.

He said he was “not being listened to” and that keeping Marley was important for his mental health.

He added: “Why are we not housing cats [with homeless people] when Britain is meant to be animal lovers?”

Teresa Farrell, of Push on Wellbeing, has been supporting Mr Conaghan

Mr Conaghan is being supported by Teresa Farrell, who runs the wellbeing retreat Push on Wellbeing at Lily’s Tea Parlour in Chelmsley Wood.

Ms Farrell said she emailed everyone she could think of to get him housed in July but had “hit a brick wall”.

“Shaun wants to work and benefit society,” she added.

Ms Farrell said she managed to get Mr Congahan a room through a customer at Lily’s Tea Room but this would only be temporary.

Councillor Mark Parker, Solihull Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “In order to access Solihull’s social housing, people need to have a local connection to the area, as set out in national homelessness legislation.

“Mr Conaghan does not have a local connection to Solihull. We have therefore offered to support him to reconnect to a neighbouring city where he lived until recently.”

He said outreach teams had also given Mr Conaghan advice and support with exploring private rented options in the area that would house both himself and Marley.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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