Anita says she's been on the housing waiting list for more than a year, hoping that Medway Council will provide her and her son with a permanent home.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 A year in temporary accommodation, no end in sight.
00:04 Anita Wilkins-Smith and her family were moved into temporary accommodation in Gillingham
00:09 after she was forced to leave her grandfather's house.
00:12 When she arrived she knew she would be paying rent, but she said she wasn't told about admin
00:17 fees that came with the property.
00:19 Anita says she is worried they could lose the house they have right now if they can't
00:23 pay.
00:24 I don't think they will house us again like they've already said they're not going to
00:28 house us if we can't afford to pay the rent and we literally have nowhere else to go.
00:33 Like his mum has his brother there, my mum's in a two bedroom house and my little brother
00:37 lives with her.
00:38 There's literally nowhere else for us to go to.
00:42 If you can't afford to pay your rent and you're made homeless then that's it.
00:47 They cast you as intentionally homeless because you can't afford to pay your rent.
00:52 It's really difficult, it's literally like do you pay gas and electric and food or do
00:57 you pay what you can for the rent and then struggle the rest of the month trying to feed
01:01 your family basically.
01:03 Anita's son Lewis has special needs meaning he needs his own room for his own safety and
01:08 the safety of others.
01:10 But Lewis and his sister are seven and six respectively and the council say that means
01:16 that they can share a room and they won't be provided more than two bedroom accommodation.
01:22 Because that is his safe haven when he has these outbursts we put him in his bedroom
01:28 to calm down and if he was sharing with his sister, if his sister had been in the room
01:32 at the time he would have just attacked his sister.
01:35 We had a social worker at the time who also wrote to the council saying that my son needed
01:40 his own room due to his special needs, that he couldn't be sharing a room with his sister
01:45 because of how his violent outbursts were quite bad.
01:49 The council still only offered us two bedroom and then said that is all you're entitled
01:53 to.
01:54 A Medway council spokesperson said residents on the active housing register are encouraged
01:59 to bid for all suitable properties and areas to increase their chances of successfully
02:04 bidding on a property.
02:06 We work closely with households in temporary accommodation to help them move into longer
02:10 term accommodation whether it is through social housing or properties in the private sector.
02:16 Medway council also say they do not charge admin fees.
02:20 But with some in Medway saying they have been on the social housing waiting list for seven
02:24 years the family may be waiting for the property they need for quite some time.
02:29 Oliver Leeds of the Saps reporting for KMTV.