'I've moved seven times in three months'

The number of people in London who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation has risen 11% to an estimated 185,761 according to new analysis from housing charity Shelter.

Among them is Laura Barley, 37, who currently lives in temporary accommodation in a two-bedroom flat with her two children but said she had moved seven times in three months.

"You feel like you're in a constant battle all the time," she added, explaining she felt like her family was "constantly left in limbo".

Haringey Council said its record of events "differed significantly" from Ms Barley's claims, but it would continue to support the family.

Laura has been a council tenant in Haringey for more than 16 years.

Leaks at her one-bedroom flat in Tottenham meant she and her children, aged 13 and 11, needed to be rehoused to temporary accommodation.

However, she said since September she has been moved seven times between temporary placements, including to hotels and to another property where severe leaks meant they again had to move.

She said one hotel, a Travelodge chosen by Haringey Council, was in Enfield which was so far away from her children's school that she almost lost her job because she struggled to drop them off and make it back to start work on time.

"It almost felt it was my fault. I don't have any arrears, I work," she said.

Ms Barley's current housing has had issues too.

"Since I moved in, the bath is blocked completely and the shower doesn't work," she said.

It takes three or four days for the bath water to drain, and she has resorted to washing her hair in the bathroom sink as nothing she tried to fix the problem has worked, she added.

She claimed she has not been able to get in touch with any maintenance team staff despite repeated phone calls, saying the line cuts out before it is picked up.

"I initially rang up to get somebody to fix it but because it was down as temporary accommodation it wasn't down under Haringey," she added.

"No-one wants to help, they don't respond now because they just think I'm a nuisance."

Since speaking to BBC News, Ms Barley said that she had now been contacted by the maintenance team and work on her bath would take place in January.

Ms Barley said she also still did not have any clarity on what her living situation would be long term.

"It's been a nightmare," she said.

Mr Barley added she was desperate to "not have to worry every minute" about moving again, and to have the "consistency of a decent home, that's it".

It comes as Shelter's analysis of official homelessness figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests also found more than 1,100 people in London were sleeping rough on any given night - a 32% increase.

Its analysis of other government statistics revealed 63% - 27,650 - of all families in such accommodation in London have been there for more than two years at the end of March 2024.

This is a very different picture to the rest of England, where the most common length of time for households with children to be in temporary accommodation was less than six months.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: "As the country prepares to wind down and celebrate the festive season in our homes, it's unimaginable that 186,900 people in London will spend this winter homeless - many of them forced to shiver on the wet streets or in a mouldy hostel room with their entire family."

Haringey Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and planning, councillor Sarah Williams, said its record of events "differed significantly".

Ms Williams disputed Ms Barley's claims of moving seven times in three months, saying she moved four times into or between hotels specifically.

However, Ms Barley said this excluded her two temporary accommodation placements outside of hotels and the time she moved her family into a hotel overnight because her temporary accommodation had leaks which caused electrics to cut out.

Ms Williams continued: "We were able to provide a temporary move into a two-bed council home which had a functioning bath when Laura started the tenancy, and we paid for all removal costs.

"We have been in contact with Laura who has not told us of any issues with the property, including the bath", she said.

She added the council was working complete the works and enable the family to return home in the near future and would continue to support the family.

Ms Williams added the borough had "insufficient permanent accommodation" due to "the ongoing housing crisis, a combination of right-to-buy and a shortage of social housing.

"We have more than 1,300 households with the same or higher priority than Laura."

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