‘I was told I'm lucky I don’t sleep in the kitchen. But we have a fridge-freezer next to the bed’

A single mum of two young children won a court case last year against a London council which had placed the homelesss family in overcrowded and unsuitable temporary accommodation. A year later, the same council has reallocated her an identical property a floor above.

The number of households living in temporary accommodation across England is at a near-record high, affecting 134,210 households with 75,600 in London alone. Sonia Monteiro’s case is a damning indictment of the crisis.

She had been living in a temporary accommodation flat for 18 months with her daughter and son. The cramped setup left her sharing a bed with her daughter in a shared kitchen and living room.

Central London County Court ruled in March 2025 that Hackney Council had to carry out a fresh housing need assessment to make a new decision on whether the home was suitable for the family of three.

But a year on, Monteiro has launched a third appeal after moving into another one-bedroom temporary accommodation flat in the same building she considers unsuitable.

The council told Big Issue it is currently reviewing the suitability of Monteiro’s flat and is working with her to find a long-term home.

“When I read the address, I thought it was a joke,” said Monteiro, who lives in the property with her children Yannick Landim, 18, and Yasmin Landim, 13. “When I got to see the new place, I knew the council were playing with me. It was identical.

“It was clear the council did not care about me and my family. It was emotional games. I had struggled for so long, and I had only moved from the fourth to the fifth floor. What are they going to do next time? Move us to the sixth floor?

“The only difference is there is now a wall between the kitchen and the dining room where I still sleep with my daughter. But the council said I am lucky, because I don’t sleep in the kitchen. But we still have a fridge-freezer next to the bed.”

People who live in overcrowded homes are considered homeless. A home is overcrowded if two people have to sleep in the same room and they are not a couple or different sex or if rooms are under a certain size.

Around 3% of households in England are believed to be living in overcrowded homes, official statistics show.

Ethnic minority households are far more likely to experience overcrowded homes. A quarter of Arab households, 18% of Bangladeshi and 16% of black African households are estimated to be living overcrowded homes.

At just 2% of households, white British households are less likely to be overcrowded than all other ethnic groups combined.

Monteiro first moved into temporary accommodation with her two children in September 2023 and has been locked in a lengthy legal battle since.

Monteiro is working with campaign group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) to lobby for a suitable home.

The first temporary accommodation property was a studio flat which met the strict legal definition of statutory overcrowding, HASL told Big Issue.

The two other temporary accommodation flats she has lived in since have both been deemed both have a category 1 hazard for overcrowding. 

Elizabeth Wyatt from HASL told Big Issue Hackney Council’s own rules deem Monteiro’s current flat as “severely overcrowded”. 

“Sonia has now won three county court appeals against Hackney council over hazardously overcrowded temporary accommodation that her family have been forced to live in for over two years,” said Wyatt.

“But despite these hard-won victories, Hackney Council seems determined to use every trick in the book to deny the family decent housing.”

Wyatt added: “Instead of endlessly going to court to try to undermine homeless rights, the council should be using their resources to find the best possible temporary accommodation homes while fighting alongside their residents for the high-quality council homes we need to end the housing crisis.”

Monteiro’s case underlines the difficult financial situation soaring homelessness has left local authorities in.

London Councils said last year that boroughs were spending £5.5 million a day on homelessness with temporary accommodation costs swallowing up £5m of that total.

Hackney Council told Big Issue it is supporting 3,000 families in temporary accommodation with a further 8,000 on the waiting list for permanent accommodation.

“We fully appreciate how difficult Sonia’s situation is, with every family deserving a good, safe and permanent place to live,” said a Hackney Council spokesperson.

“While we recognise her current accommodation is far from ideal, this is one of more than 3,000 families living in temporary accommodation and over 8,000 on the waiting list for permanent accommodation in a borough on the frontline of London’s housing crisis.

“We are reviewing the suitability of the current temporary property, while we continue to work with them to find a long-term solution to their housing situation.”

Read more:

• The number of homeless children in England could fill Wembley Stadium twice: ‘A clear failure’
• The little understood link between hoarding and homelessness sees property prioritised over people
• Young people ‘hounded’ for rent upfront to get a social home: ‘It’s meant to be affordable housing’

Increased social housing is likely to be the long-term solution.

Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million homes before the next general election and pledged to build 5,000 high-quality temporary accommodation homes as part of the homelessness strategy unveiled at the end of last year.

Hackney Council is currently working on delivering 972 council homes for social rent.

In the meantime, Monteiro has vowed to fight on.

“I am still going to fight for a better place, and I will not give up,” she said. 

“I do this for my children, especially my daughter who does not have her own room. She is 13 years old and she needs a better place; a place with space to study, a place with privacy.

“I have had HASL and I have had a good lawyer. Without this I would be stuck in the first hostel, where we were all in one room. I would not have known my rights, or how to complain. I know there are a lot of people in the same situation who do not know their rights and do not have support, and they are left in worse situations.”

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