She has spent weeks trying to pack seven years of her family's life into a selection of cardboard boxes.

Emma Jacobs and her three children know they may soon be swapping their familiar four-bedroom home for a bed and breakfast and tough decisions have to be made about what gets left behind.

There will be no space for her daughters' two much-loved cats, nor for her teenage son's piano - maybe not even for Emma's precious computer, which was promising to be her ticket to a better life.

In March, Emma, 38, was told the landlord of their rented home in Seville Street, Brighton, wanted the property back after seven years in order to carry out "major refurbishments".

A visit to Brighton and Hove City Council revealed the seriousness of the situation. Emma and her children would not be considered for rehousing until they were literally made homeless. Only at that point would they become an "emergency". And in an emergency, they were warned, they could find themselves in a bed and breakfast, possibly 20 miles away in Eastbourne.

It was terrible timing. Emma had been nearing the end of the second year of a four-year degree course that would qualify her as a primary school teacher. Having been brought up by a single parent and going on to become a single parent on benefits herself, she had started the course in a bid to give something back to society.

She had set aside her dream of studying psychology to concentrate on teaching, knowing teachers were in great demand.

She had been doing well but now her efforts to beat the single parent/income support trap looked to be falling apart.

The family rent has only gone up by £15 a week in almost eight years and is significantly lower than they could expect to pay for a similar house in Brighton. They cannot afford to pay much more, especially as the maximum deposit they will get back is £400.

The deadline for her to leave Seville Street was June 14 .

But, having being told the council could not deal with her case until a court had ordered her to get out, she was forced to play a waiting game.

Last week, she received a court summons. She remains unsure exactly when she has to leave but it could be September.

Emma said: "This all seems a terrible waste of time, waiting all summer holiday for it to be dealt with at the beginning of the next academic year.

"There is no regard for my 15-year-old son who will be starting the final year of his GCSE courses in September, or for my course and future career.

"It seems our hard work will come to nothing as I am encouraged and pushed back into the single parent, income support rut.

"I didn't get any qualifications as a child so it has been a long, uphill struggle to get to this point.

"I truly believe the only reason I've been able to juggle everything so far is because of the close proximity of my home, my children's schools and the university."

Brighton University has been understanding and given Emma some future assignments early - while she still has a home.

She said: "It's a shame none of this is taken into consideration and that I can lose everything I've worked for. In two years I could be working and helping to pay for people in this situation. Instead more people are being added to it.

"If I stopped doing my degree I could get a job but I would still need help with things like rent because my wages would not be high enough."

Emma knows if her family move to a B&B it is unlikely to be more than six weeks before they are found other temporary accommodation.

But by then, unable to afford removal or storage costs, her family will have lost many of their precious possessions.

She said: "There will be no room for things like the piano and the council advised me that most temporary accommodation will not accept pets and I would be wise to make other arrangements for the cats.

"I know this is not a serious issue but another of the knock-on effects that will ultimately upset my children.

"We're not living in the lap of luxury but it's all we've been able to afford and it's our home."

Emma stressed she knows she is not a special case. She said: "I don't want to seem arrogant. I know about the shortage of houses in Brighton.

"I feel sick that I've never given a second thought to people in this situation before. But it doesn't just happen to people who are on the dole. It can happen to almost anyone.

"There is an attitude towards homeless people in Brighton that they are spongers but they're just desperate people struggling to get along in life.

"I am desperate to continue developing the life we have made for ourselves and not to have to go back to square one.

"I understand my situation does not bump up my points for being housed by the council, but I believe it is a great shame and a huge waste. It is most certainly not the emphasis on "prevention" it promised.

"The council wrote one letter to the managing agent asking if the refurbishment could be done around us. This was all it did to prevent our homelessness."

The council said pressure on council housing and shortage of affordable housing meant it could not rehouse people in Emma's position straight away.

A spokeswoman said: "The council does not accept homeless applications until the landlord has applied for a possession order. This is because the serving of a possession notice does not always lead to a possession order being obtained, and it enables homelessness staff to prioritise cases.

"We do try to prevent homelessness wherever possible and as a council we work with private landlords to try to enable tenants to stay in their homes.

"However in this case, as the landlord intends to carry out major renovation work, clearly this is not possible."