The three mothers pushing for improvements within temporary accommodation.

Last week I had lunch with three mothers who have been part of our temporary accommodation campaign from the start. We first met in 2022 after a fire broke out in the temporary accommodation block where they were living.

The fire exposed the reality inside Sycamore House. Families were forced to live, cook and study in a single room. Mothers were sharing beds with teenage sons, and one father had been sharing a bed with his daughter because there was no space for another bed. Many had been left in this “temporary” accommodation for years.

Since then, we have worked closely together. The women have now been moved into safe housing and a legal case was taken against Croydon Council. They have also helped lead the campaign — taking part in our temporary accommodation forum, contributing to the Citizens Inventory, exposing conditions in the blocks and helping hold the council to account.

When we spoke last week, they told me that if the fire hadn’t happened, they believe they would still be stuck at Sycamore House. For some children, that would have meant spending their entire teenage years in a single room.

People placed in temporary accommodation are already in crisis. They have been forced into homelessness and are in priority need — often because they have serious health conditions, disabilities, or children under 18 in the household. Yet families can still be left for years without proper oversight of their housing cases.

In 2022 we held a public meeting with residents living in office blocks converted into temporary accommodation and collectively wrote an open letter to Croydon Council setting out residents’ demands. As a result, the council now holds monthly meetings with residents to fix the issues in the blocks, has issued bidding numbers so people can move on from temporary accommodation, and is exploring ways to open up green spaces. Click here to read the full response from Croydon Council.

It was a hopeful lunch — reflecting on how residents have turned their experiences into action and pushed for real improvements in temporary accommodation.

We arranged for the ladies to speak to Inside Housing and expose the reality of living in Sycamore House at the end of 2022, click here to read more about their experience.