Southwark mother says temporary housing “doesn’t feel like home” amid health recovery.

A Southwark mother says nearly nine years in temporary accommodation has left her family without a place that truly feels like home. As she recovers from major surgery while raising three children, she describes the strain of ongoing housing uncertainty.

A Southwark mother says her family’s temporary accommodation “doesn’t feel like home” as she continues to wait for permanent housing, nearly nine years after first entering temporary accommodation.

Annie Ewing, who lives in the borough with her three children aged eight, six and three, says she initially spent around a year in a hostel, followed by six years in a one-bedroom flat, before being moved to her current property.

“I’ve had so many conversations with so many people about everything,” she said. “I was in a hostel for a year, a one-bed flat for six and now this place.”

She says the current two-bedroom flat is an improvement in terms of space.

“It’s a win that the kids are all in their own room and not stuck in a room with me,” she said. “But it doesn’t feel like a home with all the mould, damp and leaks.”

Ms Ewing underwent a hysterectomy a year ago following a prolapse condition. She says she informed Southwark Council six weeks before her scheduled surgery that she would be undergoing the procedure and that climbing stairs would pose difficulties during her recovery.

“I gave the council a six-week warning that I was going into surgery,” she said. “They only took me seriously after and had to try move me after.”

Following her operation, she was moved to her current temporary flat on the fifth floor of a building with lift access. However, she says that although there is a lift, residents must climb a further flight of stairs after exiting it in order to reach her front door.

“The stairs are after I exit the lift and I have to go a flight of stairs to get to my front door,” she said.

She says managing stairs has been particularly challenging during her recovery, especially while caring for three young children and using a buggy.

In recent months, Ms Ewing says the property has also experienced flooding following what she understands to have been a burst pipe in a flat above. She reports that water has affected several rooms, including walls and ceilings, and says she has been informed that repairs are being addressed.

Ms Ewing says she has also had ongoing difficulties securing permanent housing through the council’s bidding system. She states that health visitors previously contacted housing services regarding the suitability of her former accommodation.

“I’ve had emails written from health visitors telling the housing that the previous place I lived in was unfit for me and my family too,” she said. “I have that saved, I think. But they ignored it anyway.”

The strain, she says, has taken an emotional toll.

“I do the school run in the morning and go straight to my mum’s to look after her,” she said. “But it’s also an excuse not to go ‘home.’”

Southwark Council assesses temporary accommodation placements and housing applications in line with its published allocations policy and statutory duties. Decisions relating to suitability and medical priority are typically based on the evidence provided and the availability of housing stock.

Southwark Council has been approached for comment.