After 10 years on waiting list, mum resorts to prayer

Published: 3 September, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

THE reality of Islington’s housing crisis, with desperate families sharing overcrowded homes and children having to sleep on settees, is revealed by the Tribune this week.

It follows a warning by the council’s Labour housing chief, Councillor James Murray, that there is an urgent need for new family-sized homes to cope with the 13,000 waiting list and 3,000 priority cases.

For 13 years, Jackie Agiri and her four sons, Richard, 16, Robert, 13, Raphael, 10, and Romeo, 7, have shared a council maisonette at Peldon Walk, on the Popham estate off Essex Road.

With just two bedrooms, the four boys share one room, about 13 feet by nine feet, which means there is little chance of privacy to study. There are regular tensions, arguments and even fights.

Mrs Agiri, a teaching assistant at nearby St Mary’s School, has been on the waiting list for a four-bedroom home for almost 10 years.  

“I’ve accrued about 180 points but the housing office says there are no family-size homes available,” she said.

“Our maisonette is very overcrowded and not much fun for the boys, who get in each other’s way.” Mrs Agiri said she now prays for a new home. 

“Prayer is all I have at the moment,” she explained. “I just hope someone is listening.”

Rahila Ahmed, her husband Irshad, and their four children, a 22-year-old daughter, and three sons aged 21, 13 and 10, share a two-bedroom flat in Fonthill Road, Finsbury Park.

“We’ve been on the waiting list for 20 years,” she  said. “My oldest child, a girl, sleeps on a settee and the two of the boys share a bedroom. My 10-year-old often sleeps on a folding bed in our bedroom.

“We just need more space but there isn’t anything available. The children can’t study at home. It’s just chaos.”