Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Family moves five times in 10 days
A desperate mum says she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown after being forced to move between five temporary homes in just 10 days.
The 40-year-old, who has asked not to be named, had to uproot her family from their home of seven years in Spring Lane, Canterbury, earlier this month after the landlord decided to sell up.
Since then, she and her two teenage children, as well as her young nephew, have faced constant upheaval.
She says the saga has “destroyed” her family, leaving them with just the clothes on their backs and in emotional turmoil.
Their ordeal began when bailiffs arrived to evict them on November 13.
They were placed in temporary accommodation in Whitstable, but arrived to find a locked flat due to a “miscommunication” with Canterbury City Council.
They then hauled their belongings to the council offices in Military Road, and after a four-hour wait were eventually given the keys to the two-bedroom flat – to discover it had no hot water or heating.
A week later, they were moved to another temporary home in Vauxhall Crescent, Canterbury. Thinking they were finally settled, the woman bought three new beds – only to suffer another blow when she realised the property was infested with bed bugs.
It was also in a state of disrepair, with a leaking ceiling, damp walls and a broken boiler.
Another move followed, this time to a flat in Maidstone.
The family were then moved to a different property in the same town before they moved City council spokesman Rob Davies says the authority is very sympathetic to the woman’s situation, blaming a “series of unfortunate and highly unusual incidents”.
“We are doing all we can to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” he said.
“There was an initial miscommunication with the provider of the temporary accommodation in Whitstable, which led to a delay in her being able to access the property.
“The property in Vauxhall Crescent was checked by us before she moved in and there was no evidence of bed bugs or a leaky boiler.
“The heating was tested and was working. We are disappointed that these issues occurred subsequently and would never have housed her there had they been present at the inspection.
“The problems here and at the Whitstable property are being urgently addressed with the accommodation into a two-bedroom flat back in Canterbury on Friday.
In the meantime, the family have been forced to leave their belongings behind until the possessions can be treated for bedbugs.
The woman says: “I’ve had enough of everything. The council can say sorry all they want but it’s not cutting it.
“All my money has been spent on removal and storage costs, as well as new beds providers involved. We are confident that the move into new, council-run temporary accommodation in Canterbury on Friday will provide the family with some stability, as it is close to her work.”
But Mr Davies says it will take about a year to find the family a permanent home because of a “chronic shortage” of suitable properties. “There are 13 families ahead of this one that are currently in temporary accommodation awaiting a three-bedroom property,” he said.
“We have stressed to the them that the quickest solution would be for them to move into private rented accommodation, which is what they were living in before being evicted, and we can assist the family with that through our rent deposit scheme.”
The family at the top of the list for three-bedroom homes has been waiting since October last year.
which are now ruined. All we’ve got is the clothes on our backs. When we wash them we have to wrap towels around ourselves.
“It’s affecting us emotionally. My children have been fighting. I’m mentally drained. It’s destroying us.”
She says she has lost her job as a rehab support worker due to absences caused by moving.
Her son has also missed out on valuable training on his mechanic apprenticeship and her daughter and nephew have missed two weeks of school.
Referring to the council’s treatment of her family, she said: “It’s absolutely disgusting. I wouldn’t have minded being moved once or twice, but five times in 10 days is unacceptable.”
‘It’s affecting us emotionally. I’m mentally drained. It’s destroying us’