'I've been homeless since 16 and now my kids have nowhere to live - I can't take it anymore'

A azygous parent of 2 who has spent 13 years successful impermanent accommodation believes the deficiency of harmless and unchangeable lodging is impacting her children.

Having experienced homelessness arsenic a teenager, she says the changeless upheaval of "moving around" is taking a toll connected some her and her young family.

This week, arsenic Harlie Swann, 29, and her 2 children determination into their latest spot successful Lambeth, it volition people the 3rd clip they’ve relocated successful conscionable 1 month. She explains this is the harsh world of surviving successful impermanent accommodation.

Originally from Croydon, Harlie has precocious had to determination her household and belongings betwixt a bid of properties some wrong and extracurricular the borough. This seemingly endless rhythm of alteration has been a effect of discovering that the accommodations provided by Croydon Council person not been safe, secure, oregon adjacent sanitary.

During a sojourn to her erstwhile accommodation successful Wallington, Sutton, Harlie revealed that the substandard conditions successful her past 2 homes had near her surviving with each her belongings inactive packed distant successful cardboard boxes. She told My London: “I got told it wasn’t suitable the aforesaid time I got here. That is contempt the information that they said it was good connected the paperwork, it was lone erstwhile we got present that we realised.”

On the time of our visit, Harlie was successful the process of moving retired of her erstwhile accommodation, which had been deemed unsafe owed to the lack of fire-safe windows upstairs and a persistent leak issue. She lone became alert of these problems upon her accomplishment astatine the property, erstwhile a neighbour informed her that erstwhile impermanent tenants had faced akin issues.

She said: “They said don’t unpack we’ll find you determination else, past they recovered maine this spot successful Streatham this Monday (September 30). It's an implicit nightmare.” However, according to Harlie the erstwhile accommodation she was enactment up successful a worse condition. In that spot successful West Norwood, she had to contend with earthy sewage regularly spurting up her sink.

This issue, which required biology wellness assessments, was accompanied by persistent mould and damp astir the property. Harlie feels the deficiency of harmless and cleanable lodging poses a menace to her family.

This has meant that Harlie has besides had to instrumentality connected an astir full-time attraction relation for her 2 children, whilst besides juggling the logistics of moving her beingness around. She feels this ‘constant upheaval’ is causing them to struggle, particularly Frankie who requires other support.

She said: “He needs that imperishable stability. I spell to Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) 3 times a week with him, helium is successful aggravated therapy. There’s a shortage of ADHD medicine astatine the moment, which means he’s not taking his medication.

"The schoolhouse person said they can’t person him determination immoderate much due to the fact that helium had an contented with the teachers. Because of this I'm having him enactment with maine astatine home, but this is each going connected astatine location and they’re expecting maine to woody with each of this. It’s excessively much.”

Organising impermanent accommodation, oregon the exigency interim accommodation successful which Harlie presently resides, is the work of the section authority. Emergency accommodation exists to location idiosyncratic who is astatine hazard of homelessness and is determination until the constituent erstwhile a suitable imperishable location tin beryllium found.

Harlie added: “They tin marque maine determination retired successful 24 hours due to the fact that it’s classed arsenic interim exigency accommodations. It’s not adjacent impermanent accommodation, it’s the lowest of the debased basically. If they past determine I’m moving you again I volition person to battalion up each my worldly again. I’m successful a changeless authorities of not knowing what the hellhole I’m meant to beryllium doing.”

However, Harlie’s lifelong acquisition of homelessness and much caller dealings with impermanent accommodation person led her to consciousness that a imperishable location is ever retired of reach. Since the property of 16, Harlie has had a stateless exertion with Croydon Council and subsequently spent overmuch of her precocious teens without a imperishable extortion implicit her head.

"In betwixt that time, I've been successful hostels, B&Bs and sofa surfing astatine my mum’s house," she said. "I slept unsmooth arsenic a teen and was adjacent taken successful to slumber successful a constabulary compartment for the nighttime due to the fact that I was rather young.

"I saw things that nary 16-year-old should person seen by surviving successful these horrible places, and astir a batch of concerning people. I consciousness similar I've gone done truthful overmuch but still, cipher is consenting to springiness maine and my kids determination unchangeable and harmless to live."

Harlie was archetypal moved into impermanent accommodation by Croydon Council aft having Frankie erstwhile she was 21. Single parents with children who are astatine hazard are deemed a precocious priority, and section authorities person a ineligible work to location them.

Harlie explained however she ended up surviving successful her archetypal impermanent accommodation for 7 years, during which clip she said “it felt similar a home.” However, arsenic Frankie grew up and received his diagnosis the spot became unsuitable truthful they had to determination out.

Since past things person been transient, with Harlie saying that it feels similar ‘it is conscionable 1 occupation aft another'. She added: "We can't support changing that, helium needs to beryllium successful a acceptable regular and that's erstwhile helium does a batch amended with his further needs.

"This changeless upheaval is not just to him oregon america arsenic a family. The kids besides get a deficiency of attraction arsenic well, due to the fact that my clip feels similar it's perpetually filled with emails to the council."

While Harlie admits that immoderate of Croydon Council’s lodging unit person been adjuvant and sympathetic to her situation, she feels they bash not recognize the harm it is causing her family. She said: "I person truthful galore letters from the GP, CAMHS, the schoolhouse and societal workers. Nothing similar that seems to marque a dent with them, thing seems to assistance with maine getting a much imperishable spot to stay.

“I don’t attraction wherever they spot me, they could spot maine anywhere. However, due to the fact that I’ve got them it makes it that overmuch spot harder, particularly with each of their requirements.”

For the past 9 years, Harlie has besides attempted to unafraid imperishable lodging via the section bidding system. Despite this, she has truthful acold been unsuccessful successful securing a spot this way. She said: "I cognize truthful galore radical that person been successful precise akin situations to maine and they've been fixed their everlastingly homes.

"I don't recognize wherefore I haven't been fixed that yet. I cognize everybody's circumstances are antithetic but it hurts."

Harlie has antecedently trained to beryllium a teaching adjunct and has precocious qualified arsenic a genitor radical person for section children’s centres. She hopes to instrumentality to moving successful a schoolhouse but insists this volition person to hold portion Frankie is retired of school.

During the sojourn to Harlie’s Wallington accommodation, she explained however the moves were besides placing her nether a fiscal strain. She has already had to wage for 3 moving vans successful 2 weeks, a determination which successful her words has near her with ‘no wealth left.’

Harlie has present moved into the caller spot successful Streatham and hopes for a play of calm aft what has been a tumultuous month. However, she inactive fears that she could beryllium moved connected with abbreviated announcement if the backstage landlord changes their caput oregon thing other goes wrong.

Before driving backmost to Streatham successful 1 of her galore cross-borough trips, Harlie said: "I’m a bully tenant, I’ve ever looked aft my properties. There conscionable indispensable beryllium a people against my name, due to the fact that I perpetually consciousness similar I'm astatine the bottommost of the pile."

Croydon Council was approached for remark but failed to respond successful clip for publication.