Council squeezes homeless family into a one-bed flat

A mother of two has been forced to sleep with her daughter in their living room for over a year after a London council put the homeless family in a one-bed flat. S

- HOLLY BANCROFT

Sonia Monteiro, 44, is taking Hackney Council to court over their cramped living conditions, which she says are disrupting her children’s sleep and ability to do schoolwork.

Ms Monteiro and her 12-year-old daughter are sleeping on beds set up in the living room/kitchen area, and struggle to sleep due to a loud extractor fan. The pair are disrupted if her 17-year-old son, who sleeps in the only bedroom, needs to use the kitchenette.

Ms Monteiro, who works as a cleaner, said the family are “living on top of each other. My children fight when my son disturbs my daughter. We just need enough space so we can live in peace”. Housing support worker Elizabeth Wyatt is worried that if the overcrowding is deemed acceptable in the courts then it will “have huge consequences for all homeless families”.

Ms Wyatt, from Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth, said: “London is facing the biggest homeless crisis in generations, with record numbers of children growing up in squalid temporary accommodation. Temporary accommodation standards and conditions are already appalling with homeless families having very few rights.