FINISHING cooking dinner for her four children, Charmaine Alanah, 36, starts plating up the food like any other mum. But unlike millions of other families, Charmaine and her kids are not seated around a table or even enjoying dinner on their laps in front of the TV. Charmaine doesn't have a front room, a dining area or even a kitchen bench and stools.
Instead, she and her four children are forced to eat their meals sitting on their beds knocking knees cramped together in the sweltering heat. This isn't happening in an underdeveloped country, it's happening in London and it’s forcing this single mum to breaking point. “I’ve been forced to live in a tiny bedsit with my four children for two years,” Charmaine tells Fabulous in this exclusive interview.
Read More on Council Houses “It was meant to be temporary council accommodation. It’s hell on earth. “My three daughters, son and I share two rooms.
The kitchen is in the hallway. The roof slopes so you can’t stand up straight. “I can’t believe in 2024 a family of five is forced to live like caged animals.
” Single mum Charmaine lives in the second-floor flat in Hayes, with her disabled son, 18 and daughters 17, nine and four moved out of their borough by the Ealing Council Most read in Fabulous But it wasn’t always this way. In 2022 Charmaine, a trained beautician, was living in a three-bedroom terraced house in inner West London with a garden and a large front room, paying £1,922 a month rent to a private landlord. “I loved that house, we’d lived there for seven years, and it was home,” she says.
“The kids were happy in school, and we were close to family and friends. “I wanted to be proud of my rental property so I refurbished rooms, installed wooden flooring, I laid astro turf in the garden and made sure rooms were painted and everything was perfect. “I was the perfect tenant and I never missed my rent.
” Then in March 2022 Charmaine started noticing mouse droppings in the kitchen and bedrooms. “I was horrified, I am meticulous about cleaning,” she says. “I told the landlord and pest controllers were called.
” According to Charmaine, despite multiple call outs the mouse infestation worsened. “Not only were mice running everywhere but we discovered rats in the house,” she says. It’s not big enough for two people, let alone a family of five “I came home one day and saw a rat as big as a small dog running across the kitchen floor.
There was a foul smell of rat urine. It was terrifying,” she says. Within days the rat and mouse infestation was so bad Charmaine’s children were too terrified to go into their own home.
“We slept in the car for days and I had to ring the council and beg for temporary accommodation. “I live with fibromyalgia, my son has autism and learning disabilities. Living in a car with four children was dehumanising.
I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it has.” In September 2022 the family were put into a temporary two-bedroom council property a two-hour commute away from her children’s schools on the outskirts of London. “We have been moved out of the borough for this temporary accommodation.
We’re not even in our local borough,” she says. “It was a lean-to garage which had been turned into two rooms with a small shower and toilet. “We were told it was only for a few weeks but almost a year later instead of being given a council flat or house were moved to this second floor two room bedsit.
“It’s even smaller. It’s not big enough for two people, let alone a family of five. “My daughters have to share with my adult son, it’s just wrong, they don’t have room to play or even do their homework.
” Charmaine and her four-year-old share the second room which opens into the galley kitchen. There is no living area. “I handwash clothes for five people and dry them on a clothing rack,” she says.
“There is a tiny shower and toilet. The only privacy anyone has is if they use the loo. “I have to pay £500 a month for storage because there is no space.
“I receive PIP but I have to use all of those funds to pay for the storage. I am swamped in debt now." Charmaine is currently on Universal Credit and receives housing benefit of £665 a week for the emergency accommodation which she tops up.
Much of her income is now spent on the sometimes four hour round trip to and from the children’s school in London, food and basic essentials. “The rest of the day I spend on hold with the local authority being passed around to different departments. I am on my knees,” she says.
“Some days I end up in tears. I feel like a failure. I can’t believe my kids and I are living like this.
To apply for a council home , you need to fill out and hand in an application to your local authority. To find your local authority, simply use the Government's council locator tool on its website. Once you have access to your local council's website, it should offer you guidelines on how to complete your application.
After applying, you'll most likely have to join a waiting list. Bear in mind, even if you are put on a waiting list, this doesn't guarantee you a council house offer. Your council should also offer you advice on how to stay in your current home and solve any issues you might have, such as problems with a private landlord or mortgage .
You are eligible to apply for council housing if you are a British citizen living in the UK providing have not lived abroad recently. Each council has its own local rules about who qualifies to go on the housing register in its area, but it is based on "points" or a "banding" system. For example, you’re likely to be offered housing first if you: are homeless live in cramped conditions have a medical condition made worse by your current home are seeking to escape domestic violence Once you are high enough on a council's waiting list, it will contact you when a property is available.
Some councils let people apply at the age of 18, while others let you apply even sooner at 16-year-olds. EU workers and their families and refugees may also be eligible. A council house is reached through a points system, so depending on your housing needs, you may be considered low priority.
The council will contact you about any available property once you are high enough on the waiting list. There is no limit on how long you can expect to be on the waiting list. “Two years on and nothing’s changed.
I'm a forgotten mother, no one cares about my family.” Charmaine says she can’t understand why the council won’t help fast track her family of five into more sensible and cost-effective housing. “I feel temporary accommodation is a cycle of grief and sorrow,” she says.
According to Housing Today one in every 192 people in Britain is living in temporary accommodations. In June 2023 Shelter figures reveal the number of people in England requiring temptation housing has increased by a staggering 14% from the previous day with 279,390 including Charmaine and her four children needing help. “No one is listening.
I am worried about my kid’s mental health and my mental health,” she says. “Most people think because you are in ‘temporary accommodation’ you’re living the life of Riley, that's rubbish. I never asked for this.
” So desperate is Charmaine she now shares her daily struggle in her ‘attic edits’ on social media. Her posts showing her life caring for her four children in the small apartment regularly rack up 80 thousand likes. “People are horrified about how I am forced to live,” she says.
“I am praised for showcasing what temporary housing is really like and highlighting the issues around the housing crisis. However, not everyone is supportive and Charmaine is often targeted by trolls accusing her of ‘ripping off the taxpayer.’ “The trolls are just ignorant, I am a fighter, let them moan.
,” says Charmaine. “I am just grateful for the support and love I get from most of my followers. “That sort of online support keeps me going.
It shows me I am not alone. “I am fighting for every other person out there who has found themselves in desperate times and just wants to be treated like a human. “I am the face of this country’s housing crisis.
” An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “Ealing is at the sharpest end of the national affordable housing crisis. It’s a great place to live, with outstanding transport links, beautiful parks, and lively town centres. But its popularity means our borough is facing a ‘double whammy’ of increased demand and reduced supply, with mortgage rates soaring, a steep rise in private rents, and many landlords leaving the rental market altogether.
READ MORE SUN STORIES “This is threatening many families with homelessness for the first time in their lives, giving them no choice but to turn to us for help. Last year, more than 4,500 local households approached us as homeless – the highest rate in the region, and our highest rate on record. Each month this year, we have housed around 3,000 households in temporary accommodation – including this resident and her family.
“Given the dramatic decline in the number of available rented properties and historically high levels of demand, there aren't enough homes for us to place people into. We are left with no alternative but to place people in expensive, often ill-suited temporary accommodation. For many, this would be a hostel, a bed and breakfast, or even a commercial hotel, rather than a flat like this resident’s current home – although of course we understand the challenges she faces.
We are working with her to improve her situation.”.
