In our latest MP’s column, Edmonton representative Kate Osamor slams the council’s treatment of families forced to live for weeks or months in hotel rooms

Over the last few months, I’ve seen a shocking increase in the number of homeless families being placed in hotels by Enfield Council.

This often leads to families living in one room without cooking facilities for months on end. One family of five who recently approached me have been moved from hotel to hotel for months. On multiple occasions they have been told by the council that a hotel room at one location had been booked for them only to turn up and find out that no room was available, leaving the family, which includes a four year-old child, out on the streets until 3am.

Another constituent who approached me recently was a wheelchair user who required an adapted bed. She was placed in a non-accessible hotel room, with no adaptations. One night she fell out of bed and was unable to move to get help. She was left on the floor for hours.

These are no longer unusual cases. Every week I hear from families who have tragically found themselves homeless and have then been placed in a hotel room only to be ignored by the council for weeks or months on end.

Many families are booked into a hotel for a week and have no idea what will happen to them until the day their booking ends. In some instances, children have returned from school only to find they are locked out because their booking was ended without notice.

Vulnerable families, often with complex needs and disabilities, are being forced to go without access to basic facilities, like an oven or microwave or the means to wash clothing. Not only is it unlawful to place families in hotels for longer than six weeks, but it’s also far more expensive than providing people with suitable homes.

The reason for the increased use of hotel accommodation by the council is clear. In Enfield there has been a 45% reduction in homes advertised for letting. At the same time, homelessness presentations have increased by 18% across London and there has been a 120% increase from landlords asking for their properties in use as temporary accommodation to be returned.

Supply has decreased just as demand has increased, on the back of 13 years during which the Tory government has slashed local authority funding and destroyed what social housing stock we had left.

But that doesn’t explain or excuse the way in which these families are being treated. There is an epidemic of apathy from frontline council staff tasked with helping homeless families in Enfield.

The families I speak to find it almost impossible to speak to anybody at the council once they’ve been placed in a hotel room. When they are able to speak to somebody, more often than not they are met with a combination of rudeness, hostility and indifference. I know of multiple cases where residents have been told to be grateful they have a roof over their head and not to complain.

It will take a Labour government willing to rebuild our social housing stock, reform renting and reverse public service cuts to end the homelessness crisis. But Enfield Council doesn’t need to wait for a Labour government to do better. Placing our most vulnerable homeless residents in hotels must be avoided at all costs and, when it can’t be, the council must communicate with and not talk down to residents.

It’s clear that there is a pervasive culture of indifference across many of the council’s frontline services. It will take time and work for that to change but achieving that change should be a priority for the council.

Kate Osamor is the Labour MP for Edmonton. If you are a constituent you can get in touch:
Call 020 7219 6602
Email [email protected]

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