In another example of London’s housing crisis spiralling out of control, a mother and her two sons have been living in her car for the last six weeks whilst waiting for a council house.
Julisa Worrall, seven-year-old Levi, and five-year-old Amar were made homeless in January when the landlord of their flat in Ilford decided to sell up. After joining the council’s housing waiting list, they were moved to a B&B in Southall, on the other side of London—forcing Worrall to give up her job at a Romford cinema.
After visiting relatives for a fortnight during the school holidays, the family returned to find the locks had been changed, and their belongings—including the boy’s birth certificates and school uniforms—had been removed. Since then she’s had to live in her car for over a month, with the children sleeping on friend’s sofas. The council have told her that they have a backlog of cases, and she just has to wait her turn. “It’s just stressful. I’ve emailed MPs, I’ve even referred myself to social services to see what other help I can get for my children,” she told the Ilford Recorder.
“I’m trying to be strong for the kids, but it’s come to the point where I’m just so down and depressed. My kids have human rights, they need somewhere to live. My sons shouldn’t have to worry about these things. At the moment school is the only thing that’s stable to them.”
It’s just another sign of the capital’s inequality and housing problems that desperately need to be addressed.
