Victim of abuse being rehoused urges council to have more empathy

A domestic abuse victim has said she has been ‘failed’ by her council and is calling for authorities to be more sensitive when dealing with residents who have experienced trauma.

Sue, who is in her 50s and did not want to give her full name, was housed by Lewisham council in temporary accommodation in New Cross in September 2023.

The single mum had approached the council for housing support in 2020, after leaving her violent ex-partner.

She said: “After I left, he started sending me death threats.

“I reported it to the police and needed to move out – I wasn’t safe.”

Sue sent the council her crime reference number from the Met, as well as letters from her GP and social services which stated she was unsafe in her home and suffering from anxiety and depression.

She said: “I didn’t get any response for a while. Then all these different housing officers were asking me for new medical letters and referrals from social services. It was just to and fro.

“I can’t cope with these things.”

In 2023, Sue’s private landlord decided to sell her property and served her an eviction notice. The same year, Lewisham council offered her temporary accommodation in New Cross.

She said: “They had left me vulnerable for three years.”

Sue and her daughter have now been living in temporary accommodation for a year.

Last month, she received a letter from Lewisham council, offering a permanent home for her and her daughter, in Catford.

She said: “It was so aggressive. It said “One Offer Only” in big red letters at the top.

“If people have gone through trauma, you can’t send threatening letters – you might send them over the top.”

Sue, who grew up in social care in Brent, was abused by a friend of her foster carers, who would drive her to visit her mother most weekends.

She said: “He would pull over on the motorway and pull down his trousers and make me perform oral sex.

“The social services never checked him out, everyone let him take me each time.”

Because of the abuse, Sue says she suffers from claustrophobia and has frequent panic attacks. 

Her current accommodation has a shared garden, which Sue says helps her mental health and means she can leave the flat when she has an attack.

She said: “I don’t want to be in temporary accommodation – I’m living out of bags – but I can’t move somewhere I can’t live.

“I visited the flat in Catford. The front door was at the side of the building under a tunnel. That scared me straight away. 

“As you opened the door you went straight into the bedroom. There was no garden, not even a front garden.”

Whilst Sue says the council is helping her find a new home, with a housing officer bidding on her behalf, she said she is constantly passed between different people which has made the process more complicated and traumatic.

She said: “They throw me from person to person. Each time I have to repeat the same story of my abuse on the phone and it brings it all back.

“I just want to put it to bed and get my life together.”

A spokeswoman from Lewisham council said they will continue to support Sue to find a suitable home.

She said: “Like the rest of London, Lewisham is facing a housing crisis. We are currently housing more than 2,900 families and individuals in temporary accommodation and have 11,000 households on our register waiting for permanent housing.

“The council aims to support households into long-term accommodation, and our officers work closely with each household to find the best way forward.

“As part of this process we undertake assessments, including reviewing medical needs, to ensure that the property they are matched to is suitable.”

(Picture: Pixabay)