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ROOM FOR A FEW
My family-of-5 have lived in a council ‘bedsit’ for 2 years – it was meant to be a few weeks, we’re 2 hours from school
Charmaine says they can't even stand up straight due to the sloped roof
A MUM says she and her four kids are living like "caged animals" as they're forced to share a "bedsit" without a living room or dining table.
Charmaine Alanah, 36, says life in the two-bedroom council property is like "hell on earth".
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The tiny flat in London is two hours away from her kids' schools and has no front room, dining room or even kitchen stools.
“I’ve been forced to live in a tiny bedsit with my four children for two years,” Charmaine told Fabulous.
“It was meant to be temporary council accommodation. It’s hell on earth.
“My three daughters, son and I share two rooms. The kitchen is in the hallway. The roof slopes so you can’t stand up straight.
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“I can’t believe in 2024 a family of five is forced to live like caged animals.”
Single mum Charmaine lives in the second-floor flat in Hayes with her disabled son, 18, and three daughters aged 17, nine and four.
In 2022, the family were living in a three-bedroom terraced house in Ealing with a garden and a large front room.
Trained beautician Charmaine was paying £1,922 a month to a private landlord until a rat infestation forced them to move out.
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“I loved that house, we’d lived there for seven years, and it was home,” she said.
Mum's Housing Struggle: Charmaine's Story
“The kids were happy in school, and we were close to family and friends.
“I wanted to be proud of my rental property so I refurbished rooms, installed wooden flooring, I laid astro turf in the garden and made sure rooms were painted and everything was perfect.
“I was the perfect tenant and I never missed my rent.”
Then in March 2022 Charmaine started noticing mouse droppings in the kitchen and bedrooms.
“I was horrified, I am meticulous about cleaning,” she said.
“I told the landlord and pest controllers were called.”
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According to Charmaine, despite multiple callouts the mouse infestation worsened.
“Not only were mice running everywhere but we discovered rats in the house,” she said.
“I came home one day and saw a rat as big as a small dog running across the kitchen floor. There was a foul smell of rat urine. It was terrifying."
Within days the rat and mouse infestation was so bad Charmaine’s children were too terrified to go into their own home.
“We slept in the car for days and I had to ring the council and beg for temporary accommodation.
“I live with fibromyalgia, my son has autism and learning disabilities. Living in a car with four children was dehumanising. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it has.”
In September 2022 the family were put into a temporary two-bedroom council property a two-hour commute from her children’s schools on the outskirts of London.
“We have been moved out of the borough for this temporary accommodation. We’re not even in our local borough,” said Charmaine.
“It was a lean-to garage which had been turned into two rooms with a small shower and toilet.
“We were told it was only for a few weeks but almost a year later instead of being given a council flat or house were moved to this second floor two room bedsit.
“It’s even smaller. It’s not big enough for two people, let alone a family of five.
“My daughters have to share with my adult son, it’s just wrong, they don’t have room to play or even do their homework.”
Charmaine and her four-year-old share the second room which opens into the galley kitchen. There is no living area.
“I hand wash clothes for five people and dry them on a clothing rack,” she said.
“There is a tiny shower and toilet. The only privacy anyone has is if they use the loo.
“I have to pay £500 a month for storage because there is no space.
“I receive PIP but I have to use all of those funds to pay for the storage. I am swamped in debt now."
Charmaine is on Universal Credit and receives housing benefit of £665 a week for the emergency accommodation which she tops up.
Much of her income is now spent on the sometimes four-hour round trip to and from the children’s schools in London, food and basic essentials.
“The rest of the day I spend on hold with the local authority being passed around to different departments. I am on my knees,” she said.
“Some days I end up in tears. I feel like a failure. I can’t believe my kids and I are living like this.
“Two years on and nothing’s changed. I'm a forgotten mother, no one cares about my family.”
How can I get a council house?
To apply for a council home, you need to fill out and hand in an application to your local authority.
To find your local authority, simply use the Government's council locator tool on its website.
Once you have access to your local council's website, it should offer you guidelines on how to complete your application.
After applying, you'll most likely have to join a waiting list.
Bear in mind, even if you are put on a waiting list, this doesn't guarantee you a council house offer.
Your council should also offer you advice on how to stay in your current home and solve any issues you might have, such as problems with a private landlord or mortgage.
You are eligible to apply for council housing if you are a British citizen living in the UK providing have not lived abroad recently.
Each council has its own local rules about who qualifies to go on the housing register in its area, but it is based on "points" or a "banding" system.
For example, you’re likely to be offered housing first if you:
- are homeless
- live in cramped conditions
- have a medical condition made worse by your current home
- are seeking to escape domestic violence
Once you are high enough on a council's waiting list, it will contact you when a property is available.
Some councils let people apply at the age of 18, while others let you apply even sooner at 16-year-olds.
EU workers and their families and refugees may also be eligible.
A council house is reached through a points system, so depending on your housing needs, you may be considered low priority.
The council will contact you about any available property once you are high enough on the waiting list.
There is no limit on how long you can expect to be on the waiting list.
Charmaine says she can’t understand why the council won’t help fast track her family of five into more sensible and cost-effective housing.
“I feel temporary accommodation is a cycle of grief and sorrow."
According to Housing Today one in every 192 people in Britain is living in temporary accommodation.
In June 2023 Shelter figures reveal the number of people in England requiring temporary housing has increased by a staggering 14% from the previous day with 279,390 including Charmaine and her four children needing help.
“No one is listening. I am worried about my kid’s mental health and my mental health.
“Most people think because you are in ‘temporary accommodation’ you’re living the life of Riley, that's rubbish. I never asked for this.”
So desperate is Charmaine she now shares her daily struggle in her ‘attic edits’ on social media.
Her posts showing her life caring for her four children in the small apartment regularly rack up 80 thousand likes.
“People are horrified about how I am forced to live.
“I am praised for showcasing what temporary housing is really like and highlighting the issues around the housing crisis."
However, not everyone is supportive and Charmaine is often targeted by trolls accusing her of ‘ripping off the taxpayer.’
“The trolls are just ignorant, I am a fighter, let them moan," she said.
“I am just grateful for the support and love I get from most of my followers.
“That sort of online support keeps me going. It shows me I am not alone.
“I am fighting for every other person out there who has found themselves in desperate times and just wants to be treated like a human.
“I am the face of this country’s housing crisis.”
An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “Ealing is at the sharpest end of the national affordable housing crisis. It’s a great place to live, with outstanding transport links, beautiful parks, and lively town centres.
"But its popularity means our borough is facing a ‘double whammy’ of increased demand and reduced supply, with mortgage rates soaring, a steep rise in private rents, and many landlords leaving the rental market altogether.
“This is threatening many families with homelessness for the first time in their lives, giving them no choice but to turn to us for help.
"Last year, more than 4,500 local households approached us as homeless – the highest rate in the region, and our highest rate on record.
"Each month this year, we have housed around 3,000 households in temporary accommodation – including this resident and her family.
“Given the dramatic decline in the number of available rented properties and historically high levels of demand, there aren't enough homes for us to place people into.
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"We are left with no alternative but to place people in expensive, often ill-suited temporary accommodation.
"For many, this would be a hostel, a bed and breakfast, or even a commercial hotel, rather than a flat like this resident’s current home – although of course we understand the challenges she faces. We are working with her to improve her situation.”
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