Haringey mum stuck in single room with 3 kids for 2 years

Shamilah Edwards moved to Sweden in 2015 but said she had to return to the UK with her children in June 2022 at short notice with nothing but the “clothes on their backs”.

She has been housed in the same single bedroom ever since, despite claiming she was initially told by Haringey Council that this was only emergency accommodation that would last for no more than two months.

The mum-of-three works 30-hour weeks as well as caring for her children, but says the local authority has not offered her a single alternative housing option in two-and-a-half years.

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Shamilah Edwards (fifth from right) has lived in one room with her three children for more than two years (Image: ACORN Haringey)

The whole family lives out of one room, which has a double bed and a bunk bed, as well as sharing bathroom and kitchen facilities with other residents.

“Haringey Council said they would pass me over to the moving-on team after two months, but instead I’ve been stuck here,” she explained.

“They haven’t been communicating and they haven’t been responding. Every time I’ve tried to approach them, I’ve just been disregarded.

“I find it very shocking that in that time not a single home has come up.”

Shamilah added that the situation has started to take a toll on her mental health, as she is forced to share most of the bathroom and bathing facilities with men, something she finds "uncomfortable”.

Her case has now been taken up by community union ACORN Haringey, whose members say they were shocked by Shamilah’s “dreadful" housing situation.

ACORN Haringey has said Shamilah should not have to live one more Christmas in emergency accommodation (Image: ACORN Haringey)

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The group staged a protest outside Wood Green Library on Saturday (November 30) to demand that the council take responsibility for the number of people living in temporary accommodation.

More than 2,500 families in the borough are housed in accommodation similar to Shamilah's.

ACORN spokesperson Trisha Mendiratta said: “To have to wait for two years in emergency accommodation – that clearly shows that whatever system the council has is not functioning properly.

“That should be alarming to them. Enough is enough, and our message is that there should not be one more Christmas in emergency accommodation for Shamilah.”

Haringey Council deputy leader Cllr Sarah Williams told this paper she was sorry to hear about the issues that Shamilah has faced. 

She added: "We fully appreciate that occupying shared accommodation of this nature is far from ideal.

“However, like every local authority across London, we are facing a housing crisis with huge numbers of homeless families and substantially increased demand for housing assistance."

Cllr Williams confirmed that the mum was on the council's housing register and was on "urgent priority band B", which is the second-highest band. 

But she stressed that even for those in urgent need like Shamilah, the average waiting times to be allocated a new home are still "very long".