Mum forced to share bed with kids as council cannot find her a suitable home

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A homeless mum, who was the victim of domestic violence, is having to share a bed with her two children because a council can’t find her a suitable house.

Veronica, who only wanted to use her first name, has been living in the tiny bedsit in Croydon with her daughter, seven, and three-year-old son since November 2022.

The mum-of-two was placed in the studio flat by Southwark council after she had to flee her home in Camberwell because of domestic violence.

She claims the council told her she would probably only be there for a couple of weeks, but nine months later the family are still living in the room.

Speaking through tears at the bedsit last week, she said: “It’s very, very difficult. When the sun is out, it’s very hot in here and we don’t sleep.

“This place is very difficult to live in with two children. They don’t have the space to play.

“My children’s school is in Camberwell. It takes an-hour-and-a-half for them to get to school sometimes because the traffic is bad.

“Before, it took just five minutes by bike. My friends are all around Camberwell so it’s difficult. I don’t have family in this country and I’m alone here.”

Veronica said that since moving to the bedsit, her children have been unable to have friends over due to the lack of space and because the accommodation was miles away from where most of their classmates lived.

When her daughter went to play at friends’ homes, Veronica said she sometimes returned crying, asking her why they couldn’t have a normal house like her peers.

Veronica is one of more than 3,500 Southwark families living in temporary accommodation as of March 31 this year, Government statistics released last week show.

Out of the local authorities that provided figures, Southwark had the highest number of people living in temporary housing in the city and the second highest proportion per 100,000 people in the capital, only behind the east London borough of Redbridge.

But a number of London boroughs with a severe housing crisis including Enfield, Hackney, Lambeth, Newham, and Tower Hamlets are not included in the latest statistics because they failed to provide the government with updated figures.

Under the law, councils must provide temporary housing for people who are homeless if they meet certain conditions. But a shortage of cheap accommodation in London means many families like Veronica’s are moved to the capital’s outskirts or even out of London altogether, miles away from their jobs, schools and social networks.

They can then spend years in the so-called temporary housing waiting for the council to find them a permanent home.

Elizabeth Wyatt, from housing group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth, said the housing crisis in the capital was reaching new unseen levels, with children bearing the brunt of the problem.

She said: “Families are stuck in overcrowded, mouldy, unsafe housing.

“They face constant worry and insecurity as they can be ordered to leave with no notice.

“These appalling conditions are making children and their parents sick.

“So many children talk to us about the health conditions they have developed and that have worsened living in temporary accommodation, anxiety, stress, asthma, skin infections.”

Southwark Council has been contacted for comment on the temporary homes figures and Veronica’s case.

Pictured top: Veronica and her two children have been living in the bedsit in Croydon for nine months (Picture: Robert Firth)