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Homeless London families serve Michael Gove 'eviction notice' as they march on offices

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date11 April 2024
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
They called on Gove, who they accuse of presiding over the biggest homelessness crisis in Britain’s history, to commit to investing in more quality three, four and five bedroom council homes. Demonstrators held placards demanding homeless families stop being forced out of London, blew whistles and cheered as a piñata representing overcrowded temporary housing was broken

One of the protesters, Danil Brana, said he had been living in a Travelodge in Lewisham with his wife and two daughters for a month, after Tower Hamlets Council placed him in temporary accommodation.

The dad-of-two, 31, said: “It’s very difficult. I have to take my daughter to school and back in Tower Hamlets by bus. It’s too far away and it’s too expensive. There’s no kitchen and when I have appointments with the council in Tower Hamlets it takes an hour for me to get there.”

Hiwet Solomun, also 31, said she shared a kitchen and toilet with six other people in her hostel for homeless women in Westminster.

She said: “I’ve been there almost two years and five months. It’s very difficult living there. I struggle to cook because there’s always someone using the kitchen. My doctor has recommended I be placed in a higher band for rehousing because of my health issue but I’m still waiting.”.

Aster Tewolede and her teenage daughter said they had been living in temporary accommodation organised by Lambeth Council for 13 years.

The 46-year-old said: “The house is not good. It has damp problems and the room where my daughter sleeps is the size of a baby’s room. My daughter had grown up there. It’s been 13 years. Why don’t they give us a house"

Mum-of-two Lily Assefa said she and her family had been living in temporary accommodation in Sydenham, Lewisham for two years after Southwark Council moved them out of their former home in Elephant and Castle due to repair problems.

She said: “My kids’ schools and my work are...

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