Last month we came across expectant couple Ladislav Boldezersky and Nada Venglarovaliving in a bed next to a busy Cardiff roundabout. It turned out Nada was five months pregnant and unable to access homelessness services because of her immigration status. The Czech couple had previously been allowed to stay in a Cardiff Council hostel for two years because accommodation was available for everyone during the Covid pandemic.
About six weeks before we met Nada she had been told to leave the hostel. Her partner Ladislav, who had settled status, was allowed to keep his place. But because Nada was not they both left and ended up living under the A4234 Central Link flyover for weeks.
Following an inquiry by WalesOnline the council quickly informed us the couple would be allowed back to the hostel. They would stay together in Ladislav's room as an "exceptional circumstance" and Nada would receive support from a charity to apply for citizenship. In one way it was a reassuring outcome.
But it also made us think about the systemic issues that had enabled the situation in the first place – and what might happen to people facing similar circumstances without any press intervention. READ NEXT: Heartbroken dad fighting for answers after son's death on Cardiff work site READ NEXT: 23-year-old was 'right hand man' in major Welsh cocaine gang When we spoke to experts two key issues kept coming up. One is known as 'no recourse to public funds', or NRPF, which recently led to 11 people in Card.