Dangerous, dirty and damp: the unseen world of temporary accommodation

‘Shelly’

I am a single mother with two children under five. I am fleeing domestic violence, rape and financial abuse from my ex-partner. As a result I have been forced into homelessness.

After I made a homelessness application, my council (Hackney in east London) placed me in stage one temporary accommodation – a bed and breakfast, the Balfour in Ilford.

I think our lives are at risk in this property. We are vastly overcrowded – families are piled into tiny rooms, forcing some to sleep on the floor. 22 families share one inadequate kitchen full of vermin and a few tiny, filthy shower rooms monitored by CCTV.

We have no fire exits or fire doors. The general state of the property is dire with damp, broken banisters, large cracks and holes in the walls, carpets of very poor quality with faeces smeared into them.

We have open electrical wires within children’s reach, wiring that appears to be hazardous, causing light bulbs to frequently explode, fuses to blow, and electric shocks. None of the tenants have a front door key. The premises is unmanned and unlocked 24/7, allowing anybody to walk in.

Because of the housing crisis, most of us are in this accommodation for much longer than the six week legal time frame. The accommodation is filled entirely with homeless council tenants. The private bed and breakfast earns upwards of £600,000 a year from the council (with additional charges to the vulnerable homeless tenants for cleaning and utilities). We are being exploited for profit.

Referrals to bed and breakfasts by councils are up 12% since 2014. According to a House of Commons briefing paper, there are currently 69,140 homeless applicants in stage one temporary accommodation. We have few rights and can face eviction if we complain – like I am currently.

To highlight this issue, using ourselves as an example, I have started the Balfour campaign. See thebalfourcampaign.moonfruit.com