Domestic violence survivor ‘at risk’ from housing association and council’s failure to rehouse her

A single mother fleeing domestic violence says she has been left in danger by a housing association and a council, which have both failed to permanently rehouse her.

Anna, 34, whose identity we have agreed to withhold, has been served an eviction notice by Lambeth council, ordering her and her 13-year-old daughter to leave their temporary accommodation by December 9.

The notice has left Anna facing homelessness or being forced to move back into her former property, which is known to her abuser.

She said: “My life would be in danger if I went back. But I can’t be on the street with my daughter.”

Until last year, Anna lived in a Lambeth property managed by Southern Housing. 

She had been bidding to move on medical grounds for more than a year. Anna has reduced mobility due to an accident when she was a child, which means she struggles to walk up stairs and requires an overnight carer.

But even after she informed Southern Housing that she needed to leave the property due to violent abuse from her ex-partner, she got nowhere.

She said: “Southern Housing repeatedly tells me I am on the waiting list, but I keep being fobbed off.”

Unable to find a new home with Southern Housing, Anna approached Lambeth council for emergency housing support outside of the borough. Since November 2023, the local authority has moved her and her daughter between three different temporary accommodations.

She said: “First it was Dartford, which was 30 miles away from my daughter’s school, and then a studio flat in Catford which was 10 minutes from my ex-partner’s workplace. 

“I kept seeing him in the area and one day my tires were slashed.”

In June, Anna was moved into a small, two-bedroom flat in Croydon which is riddled with mould and fungus.

She said: “My mobility issues make climbing stairs impossible without help. It is too small for me, my daughter and an overnight carer. I haven’t had a career in months.”

Anna applied for a move on medical grounds. In July, Lambeth offered a temporary one-bedroom flat in a high-rise block on a Lambeth estate.

Anna rejected the offer on medical grounds, but the council’s medical adviser said the property was suitable. They informed her last week that failure to accept the property would lead to eviction. She has since appealed the decision.

She said: “This leaves me in a desperate position. 

“If my appeal is unsuccessful I will be rehoused back in Lambeth – the very area I fled due to domestic violence.”

Southern Housing also offered Anna a new home in July. But the property was in Barnet, more than an hour away from her carers and her daughter’s school.

She said: “For the past year my daughter has been in and out of school. She has been through so much trauma – it is heart-wrenching to see her suffer.

“Moving so far away will only make us more isolated.”

Since Anna received an eviction notice from Lambeth council, she has applied to Bromley, Wandsworth, Westminster, and Southwark councils for housing support. Each authority said they cannot help her due to her open appeal with Lambeth council.

She said: “I am being failed by the housing system, which has put my family at severe risk.

“This is not just a housing crisis – it’s a matter of my family’s safety. They have shown a shocking disregard for our needs in crisis.”

A spokesman said Lambeth council does everything it can to find homes for all the people in housing need. But, he said, due to the housing crisis there is a “significant shortage” of suitable and affordable housing in the borough.

A Southern Housing spokeswoman said: “We’re continuing to support our resident in finding a new home and empathise with the situation she is in. We offered our resident a new home in July 2024, but she decided not to view this due to the distance.

“Due to the housing crisis, we simply don’t have the homes available in the limited areas our resident will consider. We’ve advised our resident that she can appeal the eviction notice from Lambeth, which will allow her to remain in her temporary accommodation, during the appeal process.

“Should she return to her former home, we’ve approved for additional security measures to be installed, and we’ll provide her with any other support we can. We remain in regular contact with our resident and will be arranging a visit to see if there’s any further support we can provide. We’ll also be getting in touch with Lambeth to discuss her concerns.”

(Picture: Pexels/Cottonbro studio)