Lewisham council kick disabled mum out of flat after she refused to move to Ilford
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
A mum evicted from her home because she refused to move to east London is still homeless after a council said it would find her a place.
Pauline Roye, 62, has been without a home since Lewisham council kicked her out of a flat in the borough on September 23.
The council claimed the disabled mum had refused “a reasonable offer of interim temporary accommodation” when she turned down an offer of accommodation in Ilford – more than an hour away from Lewisham on public transport .
After we revealed Ms Roye faced sleeping in her car, the council U-turned and said it was working to find her a new home.
It has put her up in budget hotels across South London since October 5, but she is still without a home.
Speaking from an easyHotel in Croydon, Ms Roye said: “It’s like they’re taking it out on me because I stand up for myself and I want to stay in the area.
“I can’t even go in the hotel through the front entrance because there are stairs and the lift is broken so I have to go in through the fire exit around the back.
“The room is so small and the only thing I can take my medication with here is a cup of tea. There’s nothing to eat here. Because of my cholesterol I’ve got to be careful what I have and here the only thing I can eat is an apple or banana.”
Ms Roye and her daughter Nashstacia, 29, an NHS worker, have been staying in the easyHotel since October 11. They were moved to the hotel from a Travelodge in Greenwich, where Lewisham Council placed them on October 5.
A council worker claimed in an email that it had moved them because it couldn’t find any “family size” accommodation for Ms Roye and her daughter.
Ms Roye said: “Lewisham also sent me to see a property in east London on October 11 but I couldn’t even get inside it. Both bedrooms were upstairs and the only way I could sleep in it was if they carried one of the beds downstairs, but that was against health and safety.
“I didn’t even have to turn down the property myself because the agency refused to let Lewisham council house me in it. They didn’t even tell the agency that I was disabled.”
Ms Roye, who is waiting for a knee replacement and uses a wheelchair, had to take a taxi from South London to a viewing in east London and back again. She claims when she asked Lewisham to reimburse the £94 Uber trip, it refused.
A Lewisham council spokesman said: “We are continuing to provide Ms Roye with emergency accommodation while we source suitable temporary accommodation that meets her needs.
“Like the rest of London, Lewisham is facing a housing crisis, with a shortage of social housing and private rents rapidly increasing. #
“We are continuing to build new social homes for families on our housing waiting list and support private renters, but we also need action from the government to tackle the issues in the private rented sector and support the delivery of more affordable housing.”
Pictured top: Pauline Roye (left) with her daughter Nashstacia (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)
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The lack of affordable housing in London just isn’t going away . Yuppifying Central London is a growing problem as is a widening rich/non-rich gap . Increasingly young adults cannot move to or stay long in London . These are problems that must be solved if London is to grow . There are only so many rich people that can move in and they don’t do the many jobs suitable for the non-rich . The current price increases are totally not helping the situation . People should not be forced out because council housing supply is completely inadequate .