A family of four from Ecuador has won permission in the High Court to sue Southwark Council for saying severe overcrowding in their home was a ‘deliberate act’ and ‘penalising’ them on the housing waiting list.
Milton, along with his wife and two children aged nineteen and fourteen, repeatedly asked Southwark Council to be placed on a priority list for social housing, having spent the last five years in a tiny Walworth studio flat.
But in July 2021, he claims the council issued the family with a decision letter effectively saying Milton should have left his family in Ecuador – almost 6,000 miles away.
“I can confirm that we have offered lots of support to them [the family], that we did not infer or say that they should have stayed in Ecuador – we assessed their housing situation in relation to their move from Ecuador, and also from Lambeth,” said Cllr Stephanie Cryan, cabinet member for housing and homelessness.
“We also offered them suitable housing in the private sector and asked if they wished to make a homeless application, which may include temporary accommodation.
“These offers were declined. We are still here to offer the family any support they require and I sincerely hope their housing situation is soon resolved,” she added.
Milton, who asked for his family surname not to be published, has been stuck on the less urgent band 3 housing list for years, described his living situation as “very hard.”
“My children cannot study in this environment since the space is limited, our flat does not contain any room, and everything is included with the kitchen,” he said.
Difficulties finding suitable housing for his family in the private sector, including problems communicating with landlords, unaffordable deposits and other requirements, such as proof of full-time employment, led Milton to seek the council’s support.
“We had no other options to rent the studio flat due to our financial situation,” says Milton.
Yet, he claims, the council refused to accept his arguments, insisting that overcrowding was due to the choices he made.
Under council policy, ‘Deliberate Act’ can be used to refuse families’ higher priority on the housing register.
The decision letter goes on to state that the council did not believe the family needed to live in Southwark and suggested they find housing in other south London boroughs.
“I feel really bad because it is like the treatment of us [by the council] is racist, they are being really strict to us, they don’t care about the family,” said Milton’s 19-year-old daughter Rebecca.
“But we feel like Southwark is our home. I have my friends here, my church.”
Last year, Cllr Cryan announced that “Deliberate Act” would be removed from council housing policy.
Southwark Council threatened with legal action over overcrowding
Yet community group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL), which supports families with housing problems, claims “the council are still wrongly using this ‘deliberate act’ term to refuse families living in extremely overcrowded conditions their rightful place on the housing register.”
“Southwark Council should never be treating its residents like this in the first place”, said HASL member Elizabeth Wyatt. “Why is Southwark Council’s approach to the housing crisis to blame vulnerable renters instead of taking on exploitative private landlords?
“This treatment of some of Southwark’s most vulnerable residents is deeply harmful and absolutely unjustifiable,” they added.
In December 2020, another family successfully overturned a decision by Southwark Council that severe overcrowding was a deliberate Act in the Court of Appeal.
There are currently more than 3.6 million people living in overcrowded homes, with high private rents, benefit cuts and a lack of family-sized council homes seen as the main reasons behind the crisis.
Families from ethnic minority backgrounds and immigrants are disproportionately affected by overcrowded housing.
30% of Bangladeshi households and 15% of Black African households are living in houses too small for their needs, while only 2% of White British households are overcrowded.
A 2021 Shelter report showed that Black Asian and disabled tenants were much more likely to face discrimination looking for a home, forcing many to rent dilapidated, unsuitable and hazardous housing.