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Families housed on industrial estate, London MP warns
Around 200 children and their families are being temporarily housed on an industrial estate, a London Labour MP has warned.
Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, this afternoon led a debate on temporary accommodation in parliament at which she raised the situation of 84 families living in Connect House. They were placed there by four different councils: Croydon, Bromley, Sutton and Merton.
Video footage of Connect House shows walls covered in mould and parents forced to share a bed with their children.
At the debate Ms McDonagh said the location is so remote that an ambulance was unable to find Connect House and a pregnant woman was forced to give birth in the estate car park. The baby later died.
Ms McDonagh said families have to walk through the industrial estate to get to the nearest shops, which involves navigating lorries owned by businesses located on the estate. She said this poses a “serious danger” to residents.
There is also waste surrounding the building and a GP attributed a baby’s cough to the fumes he was breathing in from a factory on the estate.
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Ms McDonagh said: “I call upon the government to ensure that all temporary accommodation is safe and meets a minimum standard; to require that local authorities are fully aware of each family being temporarily housed in their area, taking disruption to education, employment and welfare into account; and for the laws regarding temporary accommodation to finally be enforced so that no family is left stranded in a B&B for longer than six weeks.”
There are 78,180 households in temporary accommodation – a 60% rise since 2011 – according to the latest government figures. These households include 120,170 children.
Ms McDonagh said three-quarters of those in temporary accommodation in London have been there more than six months and one in 10 have been there more than five years. Households are not meant to stay in temporary accommodation for longer than six weeks, according to legislation.
The MP said she had heard of some families in Harrow and Camden who had been in temporary accommodation for 19 years.
The building is not staffed at evenings or weekends and there was an incident of a resident being locked out at night.
Bob Blackman, conservative MP for Harrow East, who helped marshal the Homelessness Reduction Act through parliament, said it is an “absurdity” that some families have been living in temporary accommodation for 19 years or more and the government needs to take “appropriate action”.
He added that all councils should inspect temporary accommodation and make sure it is fit for purpose.
Marcus Jones, the minister with responsibility for homelessness, said: “The number of households in temporary accommodation does remain well below the peak of the periods experienced in September 2004 but this government is certainly not complacent.”
He added: “The quality of temporary accommodation is extremely important and the quality and standard is ensured in a legal duty on councils. All homes should be of a reasonable standard and tenants should have a safe place to live regardless of tenure, and local authorities do have powers to deal with poor-quality accommodation.”
