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A mum says she feels “trapped” in her council flat after an accident and operation left her unable to carry her young children up and down the block’s stairs.
Ashleigh Squire says she is “desperate” to move from the “unsuitable” one-bedroom flat in Handley Grove, Cricklewood, but Barnet Council’s housing arm Barnet Homes is refusing to offer her a new place.
The mother-of-two also says the flat is too small for her family and is affected by damp and mould, which she believes is linked to a leak in the roof in the communal hallway that was not fixed properly.
Ashleigh claims she was offered temporary accommodation and told by a housing officer that if she accepted, she and her family could be housed anywhere in the UK, including in a hostel, and would likely lose their current home because she would be unable to pay the rent. Barnet Homes denies these claims and says its investigation into Ashleigh’s homelessness application is “ongoing”.
“I’m trapped here,” Ashleigh said. “I can’t get outside the flat, because I can’t carry my 15-month-old and newborn downstairs.
“It’s not good for me or the kids, because you can’t go out to get fresh air, and having a toddler stuck inside 24 hours a day is not good.”
Ashleigh says she is still recovering from a caesarean as well as a fall while pregnant that left her struggling with ongoing health issues.
But with no lift access to her second-floor flat, she says she is unable to carry her children up and down the stairs, which recently led to her youngest missing a vaccine appointment.
Ashleigh added that she is unable to leave her baby buggy in the communal area downstairs due to health and safety reasons, but she cannot carry it up to her flat.
She first contacted Barnet Homes in September. Since then, she says her GP and social workers have sent evidence to the council’s housing arm. But despite this, she claims she was told over…
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Source : times
