A homeless Army veteran fears she will have to live on the streets or in her car unless she finds a home. Emma Keelan is a victim of Cornwall’s housing crisis and the precarious rental system, which led to her having to leave the cottage she was living in to move into a tent.

For the time being the 46-year-old has a temporary roof over her head thanks to the Helping Homeless Veterans UK charity which is paying for her to stay in a hotel in Newquay with her dog, Misty. However, Emma doesn’t want to rely on handouts and says she is now at the end of her tether.

Emma has a dog walking and sitting business after being in the Army for over five years, when she undertook two operational tours in Bosnia and Kosovo. “It seems to be the more you work, the more you pay into the system, the more you’re penalised for the fact that you’re working,” she told us.

“If I didn’t have Helping Homeless Veterans UK helping me, I’d still be in a tent in this weather,” said Emma, who was served a Section 21 notice to leave her rented cottage near Mawgan Porth after the landlord was forced to sell the property. With nowhere to go, she put her belongings in storage and lived in a tent on a campsite in the area.

“I’ve private rented and brought two kids up on my own for 23 years since I came out of the Army. This area has always been my home,” she said. “Since Covid it’s been harder and harder – I’ve been moved on from one property to another because they keep Airbnbing them out, because that’s more profitable than long-term rent. I found a lovely two-bed cottage at £600 a month, really affordable, nice garden for the dog. Unfortunately the owner got cancer and had to sell the property.”

She feels hamstrung by local bureaucracy. “I kept calling Cornwall Council trying to get on the social housing list, which is a joke in itself. That’s been really difficult, they cancelled my application and I’ve had to reapply. The reason they gave was because I was no longer in the property I’d been living in and I had to fill out another application as ‘no fixed abode’.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me? I’d been talking to them, but the person told me it was a different area of the council. Nobody’s talking to anyone; no one’s telling you how this system works. I am still waiting for that application to be processed and have been told it takes up to three months just for them to look at my application let alone to be able to bid on a social house.

“They told me because I work I’m not entitled to a social house. I’ve lived and worked in this area, I’ve paid into the system and you’re telling me I’m not allowed to live here basically.”

Emma outlined how difficult juggling her job has been while being homeless. “I was living in a tent because I had nowhere else to go; living on a campsite that was full of holidaymakers. As you can imagine, they were all having a great time and I wasn’t going to sleep until 2am and had to be up at 7 for work. That was very difficult. I did ten days before it all got too much.

“I told Cornwall Council I was moving into a tent but they didn’t send anyone out to check that I was living in it – because they are supposed to sign you off to Shelter or the rough sleepers service or someone – until after I’d moved off the campsite.”

She added: “They’re telling me to bid for properties that are way over the limit of what I can afford and that I need to take a second job. I’m already working up to 60 hours a week, especially if I’m working on my dog sits – that’s 24 hours. I can’t take any more work on and why should I?

“I’ve obviously been trying to get private rentals because they told me that’s all I’m entitled to. I spoke to three different estate agents yesterday and they told me I won’t get a viewing on any of the properties I go for because they go on last year’s earnings, which was £17,000. They’re telling me I’m outpriced on the private rental market – all I’m entitled to is a property that’s worth about £500 a month. They don’t exist.

“So Cornwall Council keeps telling me I’m only entitled to private rentals and the private rental market is saying I don’t earn enough. What do you do? I’m at the end of my tether with it all.”

The veterans charity is currently putting Emma up in the hotel in between dog sits. Fortunately, because of her job she is able to live in her clients’ properties while they’re away on business or holiday. “My clients have been amazing – the support has been unreal. Some of them have gone on holiday and asked me to go in and use their homes and walk their dogs, meaning I have a bit of a home for a short period. I think I would have gone slightly mad by now if that hadn’t happened.

“I’m stuck in a single hotel room. The only reason I’m in a hotel is because I’m ex-Forces and a charity is paying for it, which I’m very grateful for. I’m guessing it will get to a point where even they can’t help. They’re not going to have infinite funds.

“When I posted about it online I was shocked by the amount of people saying, well you should come across in a boat, you’d be handed everything. You kind of go ‘yep’ and that’s the sad state of affairs we are in. I’ve been told there are 28,000 people on the social housing list in Cornwall and 18,000 of us in my position – working, single, not vulnerable enough – all fighting for the same few homes.

“I don’t want to be in a hotel – I’m going to be a granny in March, which is really exciting and I should be looking forward to it, but I’ve got nowhere for my granddaughter to visit.” Emma’s two children both moved out of Cornwall to Lancashire to care for their ill father who died last year.

“I just want a home. I’m not asking for a lot. I’m not asking for a big mansion. Nothing like any of these have got – talk about billionaire row,” said Emma pointing to the expensive houses, including one belonging to actress Cate Blanchett, overlooking Mawgan Porth beach. “I just want a one-bed property that I can call home, live in with my dog and know I won’t be kicked out.”

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “We sympathise with residents who are finding it difficult to find somewhere settled to live. Cornwall continues to experience significant pressures on housing – there are currently around 850 households living in temporary accommodation and more than 25,000 households on the council’s social housing register Homechoice.

“While we are unable to comment on individual circumstances, in situations such as these our Housing Options caseworkers will work with residents to find suitable accommodation through the private sector, including support with financial costs such as deposits and rent in advance.”