Vulnerable mums living in fear at city’s modular housing estate as vloggers wrongly think it’s full of asylum seekers
PEOPLE living in makeshift modular apartments that are being rushed up in Cardiff in the face of a growing homelessness crisis have spoken about what it’s really like to live there.
Work started at Yr Hafan - Haven - a family homelessness centre beside Ikea in Grangetown in 2022 and there are currently 48 one, two and threebedroom apartments, four bungalows and two large ancillary blocks comprising offices for staff, a training room, a training kitchen, a 24/7 medical office and a creche.
There are 52 families currently living at the temporary site, which is set for further expansion by spring, including a similar site next door.
Many of the families have lots of children, including one family of nine. We visited what is being referred to as a “mini estate” and found the people living at the site are clearly vulnerable.
Two of the families we spoke to were fleeing domestic abuse, some have been evicted from private accommodation, while others have been in the UK for a short period.
That being said, it isn’t true that the site is mostly housing asylum seekers, as has been suggested online.
Ill-informed rumours have led to vloggers turning up there to video themselves.
The videos are being posted online and attracting thousands of views.
Examples of what has been posted online include: “Time this country looked after its own first” and: “What about all our homeless people on the streets?”
One woman we spoke to said it panicked her as she is fleeing an abusive ex-partner and she would be in danger if she is known to be at the site.
She said vloggers were now going to the site every week because they believed it was mostly housing asylum seekers and refugees.
One woman living at the site with her children, who - like all of the people we spoke to for this piece - spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “I’ve seen them recording and thought I was in one (of the videos posted online). I was so worried.
“I’m immediately searching through social media every time, praying I’ve not been in one because I know my ex will find it.
“These people don’t understand. I get why they’re recording but it’s worrying. It’s that bad that I literally never leave the flat anymore. I can’t risk it.”
She’s there because no women’s refuges will accept her.
“I’m really vulnerable, I should be in a refuge but I can’t because my son is 16 and you can’t have 16-year-old boys in a women’s refuge,” she said.
“They told me to let him go on his own in a hostel. How can I do that to my boy? It’s a horrible situation.”
A record number of people and families are seeking help with housing in the capital, which the council can’t match.
It is currently contending with 8,364 applications, as of March 1.
Even if you’re in band A - the top priority on the waiting list - there is no guarantee you’ll get a permanent place any time soon.
“It’s feeling like I’m here permanently now. I had some crazy calls and messages about Ikea and I knew my ex had found me,” said the woman.
“I feel like I need to leave here. I feel in danger here. But there is nowhere for me to go. I’ve been on band A which is priority for a place - since the beginning of January but I’m not any closer to getting a place.
“The minute we got on band A I thought I’d be sorted, but it’s not like that.
“I’m literally living on Rightmove. All I do is scroll through it hoping something comes up I can afford on universal credit, but it’s impossible.
“To think I’m actually at the top of this list and like this is scary. I know someone literally sleeping in her car waiting for a place. The whole thing is crazy to me.”
The most significant factor which has led to a homelessness crisis in the UK and Wales is a lack of affordable accommodation in the private rented sector and that what is available is too expensive.
The average private rent in Cardiff is £200 higher than the Welsh average and well above the local housing allowance, making it unaffordable for many.
A number of private landlords are leaving the market due to taxation changes, mortgage interest rate rises, and changes in legislation.
As of December 2023, there had been a 122% increase in eviction notices in Cardiff issued by landlords selling their properties in 2022-23, compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The council said most people presenting to its homelessness teams were due to the loss of private sector renting but there has been a 46% rise in people coming to them saying they are homeless compared to 2019.
“People say go to work, but they actually have no idea,” the mother said.
“If I went to work I’d be worse off. I currently get £1,200 in benefits every month. If I worked I’d have to pay that or at least a portion of it. Why would I do that?
“It’s not that I don’t want to work, but it would be detrimental to me and my family if I did.
“I had a job when I lost my house. Literally all of the money goes on bills, food, stuff for the kids. It’s a cycle you can’t get out of.
“My only way out of this is if by
some miracle something comes up for me.”
The families we spoke to said they had spent all winter sleeping on the lounge floor with their kids on mattresses because the flats were “freezing cold”.
One flat we visited had one radiator to heat four rooms, including an open plan lounge and kitchen area.
A spokeswoman for the council said this issue had been noted and was being rectified, although some claimed that happened too late and should have been sorted with more urgency when complaints started last year.
“I’ve lived here since August but I’ve been homeless for well over a year now,” the woman added.
“I’ve lived in multiple emergency accommodation facilities but none have been as bad as this.
“The worst thing is the cold. The accommodation has been freezing. I’ve slept on the living room floor with my children on mattresses.
“We are huddled together to keep each other as warm as possible.”
Another resident said: “I’ve been waking up with head colds now because of how cold it is. It’s horrible.
“The only warm area in the flat is the lounge floor so that’s where we sleep.”
The mother added: “I also find some of the male staff very intimidating here. The way some of them speak to me is very condescending. They don’t seem to care. It’s just a job to them.
“There are lots of women here who have fled domestic violence and the staff don’t seem to care enough.
“In a refuge they’re all trained in dealing with victims. It’s nothing like a refuge here.
“I feel completely alone and as though I have no security whatsoever.
If my ex turned up here I don’t think I’d be safe.”
Another woman fleeing domestic abuse living at Yr Hafan told us: “It’s not ideal. You want a quiet, warm place when you’re healing. I’m in a healing process that’s going to take a long time.
“Because of that I asked for somewhere quiet, but from 8am until 5pm it’s non-stop building work around here. Bang, bang, bang.
“They’re putting up the new estate. The buildings literally shake. It gets to my head.”
The only way to house people who have ended up homeless as appropriately as possible, the council believes, is through modular accommodation.
The council is currently developing land next to Yr Hafan to create further temporary accommodation for families, which will comprise modular units to create 155 new homes which will be completed in weeks.
So far, 65 of the 155 homes have been handed over to the council.
Eventually, the council wants the former gasworks site to have around 500 homes on it - a mix of private homes and council housing.
As permanent homes are built at the site, in phases, these modular homes can be dismantled and reused at other locations in the city in response to housing need.
One of the residents added: “I’m here with my children. We’ve been here since July. It’s not an ideal place to be at all.
“I can’t get out of the house because I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks so I rely on parcels being delivered and I’ve had them stolen. It’s odd because there is 24/7 security here.
“I’ve been in three hotels before coming here. I came here because someone in the last hotel knew my ex so we were in danger there.
“My daughter also saw my ex on the way to school on the bus so I feel like I can’t put her on the bus anymore. She hasn’t been to school for ages.”
A spokeswoman for Cardiff Council responded: “The family apartments at Yr Hafan are certified as Passivhaus and are highly energy and thermally efficient.
“They are designed to provide the required level of thermal comfort without the need for a traditional heating system.
“We provide tenants with information about this system when they move in but we know that some families have found some of the rooms to be cold and so, additional wallmounted heating panels have been fitted over the past few weeks.
“Families receive the support of a key worker for the duration of their stay in temporary accommodation.
“This support includes help and guidance with accessing services, including education provision so we encourage any residents who need assistance, including with school transport, to contact support staff at the site for help.”