“We have waited 13 years. I am tired of living like an animal.” With five children, chronic back problems and thousands of pounds in household debt, J looks exhausted.
The single mum, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, has spent the past 13 years moving between what she describes as “barely safe” homes across the South of England. Her painful journey began with domestic violence and fears for her safety, forcing her and her young family into a cycle of temporary accommodation.
Throughout it all, she says Croydon Council, her home authority, “ignored” her pleas for help. When the council finally offered a permanent home back in Croydon, she hoped it would provide the fresh start they so desperately needed.
Instead, the property came with many of the same problems she had tried to escape. When the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited this week, we found exposed floorboards, cracked ceilings and half-finished decoration among the long list of issues.
“The neighbour said the guy who owned the property died two years ago, so they have had it since then but haven’t done anything with it,” J said. “Why are they giving us this if it is not fit to move into?”
Since moving in on July 21, J and four of her children have suffered cuts and bruises from hazards in the house. After spending an hour inside, it is easy to see why.
Rough brick walls, loose wires and uneven floorboards pose daily dangers to her children, aged seven to 14. The two small bedrooms they share are almost bare, with only a floor mattress in the girls’ room and a blow-up bed in the boys’ room.
‘As a single parent, how I can afford this?’
One of her children, present during our visit, said: “Our rooms are absolutely tiny. We can’t have any of my school friends over.”
“My daughter is always crying because she has no personal space of her own,” J added. “She is going through some changes, but doesn’t have any space of her own.”
Despite the property’s condition, J says the council assured her the problems were only “cosmetic”. After nearly a month there, she estimates it would take £20,000 in repairs to make the house truly safe.
“I haven’t got the money for any of these works,” she said. “That is the worst thing, and they know that. As a single parent, how can I afford these things?”
Unable to work due to a disability, J says she was given just one week’s notice before moving in and only a five-minute viewing. “If I had more time, I would have noticed everything,” she added.
Despite all this, J admits her current home is still an improvement on what she has endured. “This isn’t really much compared to the other house,” she said.
Before moving back to Croydon in July, J and her family had endured a gruelling 13 years in temporary accommodation. What was meant to be a short-term solution became more than a decade of trauma and instability at the hands of the housing system.
Croydon Council no longer places families in B&Bs
Her ordeal began in December 2012 when the council placed her in a B&B in Croydon, a practice the local authority has since stopped. According to J, the room was infested with cockroaches, and when she called for help, she was told to “just use a spray.”
After being rejected from her next B&B, the family were placed in another building dominated by drug users. J recalls being forced to sign in and out like an inmate, surrounded by shouting, violence and the constant smell of drugs, while her family’s mail was opened and read without consent.
A move to temporary accommodation in Chingford brought no relief. The family faced alarming hazards, including a man falling from a window into their garden, smashed windows above the children’s room and a neighbour whose alcoholism led to urination on their doorstep and sanitary pads being left outside.
After having three more children, J relocated to temporary accommodation in Bracknell in 2016. Like their current home, this property was filled with hazards and in extreme disrepair.
She said: “The kitchen was falling apart and the toilet water would leak through the ceiling into the light in the kitchen, so half the time we couldn’t turn on the light.”
She also spoke of a faulty boiler that would turn itself on in random rooms, and the family racked up £6,500 in energy debt due to leaks and heating faults. A lack of a functioning back door lock and broken windows also meant security was almost non-existent at the property.
“This has really destroyed my family,” she told the LDRS. “I put my mask on and I smile for the kids, but I’m on a lot of medication to keep me smiling, to keep me happy. It shouldn’t be like that. All of my problems are because of this stress.”
‘I’m too ashamed to let anyone into my house’
The tears she shed during our meeting with her offered a glimpse into the trauma the experience has left behind. As well as impacting her mental health, J says her pride and social life have also suffered as a result of her time in temporary accommodation.
“I have hardly any friends because I have been too ashamed to let anyone into my home,” she said. One of her children told the LDRS she could never have friends over from school because of the houses they were living in.
Amid this turmoil, J’s eldest son left home to sign himself over to social services. J said the 17-year-old “couldn’t take it” living in temporary accommodation and is now seeking therapy away from the family.
Despite this, J says her repeated pleas for help were met with indifference by the council officers responsible for supporting her. While living out of the borough, J says Croydon Council “ignored” her and never came to check the condition of the property.
Her dissatisfaction with the council led her to try to flee to Kensington and Chelsea. However, she was told by that council they would only accept a reciprocal move if Croydon liaised with them, something she says they failed to do, despite concerns over her safety.
J was soon issued with a Section 21 notice from the Bracknell address, but she says Croydon Council failed to provide her with any further information. “They told me two weeks before Christmas,” she recalled. “‘That weighing on your mind for a long time is really stressful.’”
Despite a court order giving the council four weeks to act, J said nothing happened. “I had to wait for the bailiffs,” she recalled.
Six months later, she was told they would arrive on September 5. “Police warned it wasn’t safe for us to stay, but the council still left us there,” she said.
Despite this, she said the council left her with little choice. She added: “They told me I only had one option. If I objected, I would be making myself intentionally homeless.”
In her attempt to escape the Bracknell address, J said she experienced misleading support from Croydon staff, which further complicated her position. These incidents included one member of staff telling her a property had become available when it had not.
She said: “They told me someone had a house available, getting my hopes up, and then in the next breath said, actually no, because that will mean you are going back to Croydon.”
Walls covered with loose wiring
Another incident saw Croydon Council fail to add her and her son’s medical needs to her housing file, despite repeated requests. Almost a month has passed since the family moved back into the borough they initially fled.
Despite this, storage boxes remain stacked high in the undecorated front room, and the walls are covered with loose wiring and half-finished plastering jobs. With these essential works left undone, J and her family continue to live as if they could be moved on at a moment’s notice. “I am literally living out of a suitcase,” J said.
Though she is grateful for kind neighbours and relieved to be out of temporary accommodation, the house is still far from the fresh start J and her family needed. J told the LDRS: “When you promise your kids that you are not going to bring them to a house like the last one, but then you have to bring them to one that is, it’s hard.”
Croydon Council has begun arranging repairs since we last spoke with J. Yet, after 13 years in temporary accommodation, the family believes their case should be prioritised to prevent further harm, especially as most of the children have never known a permanent home.
Croydon Council’s problems finding larger homes
A spokesperson for Croydon Council said: “We are sorry to hear about our resident’s experience and recognise how challenging housing issues can be. Whilst we are unable to comment on individual cases, we can confirm that we have been supporting the resident with their housing needs over a number of years and continue to do so.
“Croydon no longer uses bed and breakfast accommodation for families and we continue working to improve the housing options available. The resident did require a larger home, but like many London boroughs, Croydon faces a severe shortage of affordable housing. Larger council homes are especially limited, which often leads to longer waiting times in temporary accommodation.
“The resident moved in quickly due to their circumstances. Before the move, we agreed with them that we would convert the bathroom as part of a planned programme of works, which is due to begin in September.
“Since moving in, the resident has reported an electrical issue, which has been dealt with. We have already been in touch and agreed with the resident that a surveyor will visit the home next week to inspect the property and raise any further repairs.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and remain focused on completing the agreed bathroom works and supporting the resident with any further issues.”
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