Mum of two forced to sleep on floor of studio flat for four years
A mum is being forced to share a tiny bedroom with her two children and a family of mice – and the council told her she won’t be moved for five years.
Ellie Riches, 35, has slept on the floor for four years while sharing the small studio flat infested with mice.
Ellie, who lives with her son Nathaniel, 16 months, and daughter Kenzie, five, said she and her children struggled to live or sleep in the three room council home in Pimlico.
She said: “Bedtimes are atrocious. When they go to bed, I sit in the bath to watch something so it’s quiet and they can get some sleep.”
Ellie said there was not enough space for her children to play safely because they were forced to store their belongings on the floor and in piles in the hallway and bathroom.
She said the lack of space makes it hard for her to help Kenzie with her homework when Nathaniel needed to sleep in the afternoon.
She added: “I feel squashed and claustrophobic. It’s a tight squeeze, even for a couple. “My partner can’t stay here and there’s no room for the children to play if they have friends over.”
Ellie said Nathaniel was hospitalised with meningitis last year when he was a few weeks old and when she came back to the flat it was infested with mice.
She said: “It didn’t help that I was watching I’m a Celebrity at the time we had mice running around. “I had to throw away my sofa bed because it was riddled with the things.
“I opened it up and there were droppings everywhere.”
Ellie said she cannot afford to rent privately and has been trying to get a bigger property from Westminster City Council since 2017.
She claims the council told her it will take five years for her family to be eligible for a larger property once Kenzie reaches 10.
Councillor David Harvey, Westminster council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “I understand Ms Riches’ frustrations with her current living situation and previous issues, which were quickly resolved, in her home. “
We are legally obliged to allocate our homes to those who are next in line and this also makes it fair to everyone.
“No one is housed over-crowded but naturally families can grow and change and this leads to dilemmas in housing.”
Pictured: Ellie Riches in her studio flat
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