Havering Council tells family facing homelessness to wait for the bailiffs

Kirsty never thought she would be happy to see bailiffs walking up her path.

But when they finally showed up at 11.30am on Thursday (September 22), it was a huge relief.

The letter from the court said they’d be there at 8am.

Every hour she waited was an hour’s delay to getting emergency accommodation for her and her three children.

They were being evicted from their home near Harold Wood.

Havering Council had known for weeks they faced homelessness, but advised her it would find the family a new place when they had been forcibly removed from the old one.

Kirsty wanted her story told to call for more help for people in these situations – but she didn’t want her full name, address or photo published.

“It’s embarrassing,” she said. “I’ve cried and cried and cried. It’s hard."

Priced out

Kirsty, like her parents, was born in Havering – but ballooning housing costs are making the borough increasingly unaffordable for many.

When her children’s father left, she had to find work that fitted around school hours.

She took a job as a cleaner – but her entire monthly wage is only half the average rent for a family home in Havering.

Leaving the borough would mean losing her support network and pulling her children out of their schools and clubs.

“They would be heartbroken,” she said.

So she asked Havering Council for help.

In 2020, it found her this house – a private rental where the council paid the rent and she was responsible for food and utilities.

Late last year, according to papers seen by the Recorder, Kirsty received a Section 21 eviction notice.

A so-called “no fault” eviction, this allows landlords to reclaim properties without a reason.

The family have had their belongings packed for months, but Havering Council told them not to leave unless the bailiffs chucked them out (Image: Archant)

'A broken system'

Kirsty was told in June that bailiffs could arrive in as little as six weeks.

But, she said, Havering Council told her not to leave until the bailiffs arrived or she would be deemed to have made herself “voluntarily” homeless.

This advice is very common, said Paul Shamplina, who runs Landlord Action - a body providing support to landlords.

He called it a "big problem" caused by a "chronic housing shortage".

It slows down rehousing, costs landlords extra money and is "really distressing for tenants", said Mr Shamplina.

"It all comes down to a lack of social housing," he added. "That's the main issue.

"Trying to deal with the councils - it's a totally broken system."

Waiting

After being advised to wait for the bailiffs, Kirsty packed all the family’s belongings and waited to be evicted.

Her children spent the six weeks' holiday with their toys sealed in boxes.

“You’re constantly worrying,” she said. “It gets to the point where you can’t wait to be evicted.

“When I got the letter, I was waving it around like it was exam results or something.”

But even with a court letter saying they would be made homeless on September 22, civil servants still said Kirsty should wait for the bailiffs.

When they finally arrived at 11.30am on Thursday, the bailiffs were apologetic about the advice given to tenants in Kirsty's situation.

“It’s stupid, isn’t it?” one of them said.

'We've been living out of boxes since June', Kirsty told the Recorder (Image: Archant)

Limbo

By the close of office hours on Thursday, Kirsty said no one at Havering had returned her calls.

After social services intervened with the out-of-hours housing service, Kirsty and her four children ended up in a hotel room with two beds, she said.

On Friday, they were moved to another hotel for seven nights. After that, they do not know where they will have to move.

In a hotel, Kirsty cannot buy and cook her own meals, increasing their cost of living amid the current crisis.

When the bailiffs evicted her, they said she had ten working days to remove all the family’s belongings from the house, including her children’s beds.

But so far, she had nowhere to put them. If the situation continues for weeks or longer, storage costs could eat up around a third of Kirsty's monthly wages.

“I would move into the biggest dump,” she said. “I wouldn’t care. Because over time I would make it nice.

“All I want is to be able to take my kids up to a front door and say, ‘kids, we’re home’."

Havering Council was approached for comment.