Council orders woman to leave home after her mother dies

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A woman whose mother recently died is in a stand-off with the council and a housing association over her being allowed to stay in her property. 

Dorothy Bowater was placed in the two-bedroom bungalow in Erith by Bexley council in May 2018, but her health had been declining over the past few months, leading to her daughter, Julia Andrews, 64, moving into the property in July 2024 to help look after her.

Mrs Bowater then passed away on August 5. Her death has sparked a dispute with the council and housing association over Ms Andrews and her son, who had been living there since 2018, to care for Mrs Bowater, being allowed to remain in the home. 

Ms Andrews said: “I just want to stay here. I want to unpack. I want to enjoy my life. I’m 64 and I just want to enjoy what I’ve got left, have my grandchildren over and everything else. To live happily, like most people do.”

The housing association, Orbit, said the property, which has recently had £68,000 spent on it by Bexley council to adapt it for Dorothy’s needs and to add a third bedroom before she died, will have more rooms than Ms Andrews’ son needs when the work is complete, although he does have a right to be housed by the authority as he had lived there for long enough. 

Bexley council is understood to want to ensure the home is used by someone who needs three bedrooms and the adaptations originally intended for Dorothy.

Ms Andrews was also warned not to move out of her existing rented home and into the bungalow before those adaptations were complete, so it’s understood she is deemed as having no right to live there now. 

But Ms Andrews feels the case is being looked at in a cold, hard way without considering their grief, and she feels stuck in limbo as she fights to be able to stay while her son is found alternative accommodation by Orbit.

She is also awaiting an occupational therapy (OT) assessment that she hopes will show she has a need to live in the property. Meanwhile, the building work for the third bedroom is ongoing and their possessions are piled up in the living room and bedrooms.

Ms Andrews’ daughter, Debra Cook, 36, said: “With Orbit and Bexley council together, I don’t think they really understand that we’ve lost someone. 

“For them, we’re just a door number, we’re just a property. They’re not looking inside that property and seeing that there’s a family there. We’re trying to mourn and having to fight left, right and centre. It just doesn’t make it easier.”

Orbit said it sympathises with the family’s situation but that it’s legally obliged to allocate homes based on criteria set by Bexley council. 

A Bexley council spokesman said that the authority does not comment on individual cases. 

An Orbit spokesman said: “We would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Ms Bowater. We appreciate that the tenancy of a family home is an emotive subject especially at such a difficult time.”

They added: “Ms Andrews’ son has completed a succession application. However as a not-for-profit social landlord we are legally bound to allocate our homes in accordance with the criteria set by the local council which are there to ensure that homes are allocated fairly based on the needs and priority levels of people on their waiting list.”

The spokesperson said Ms Andrews’ son will not meet the criteria for remaining in the property because when the works are completed it will have more bedrooms than he needs, but they will find him somewhere else to live, and he can stay in the bungalow until then.

Pictured top: Julia Andrews shown in her late mother’s home (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)