Homeless family are told they can’t go back to flat

A PREGNANT mother and her young children have been evicted from their home over unpaid rent even though they settled the bill on the day they were forced out.

And now the flat in North Villas, Camden Town, sits empty, while Rose Boateng and her son Isaiah, 10, and daughter Deborah, seven, have been forced to stay in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Nearly all of the family’s belongings are locked inside the flat with the children left with nothing to wear but their school uniforms and they are still being charged rent on the property.

Camden Council rules mean they cannot move back into their home, even though the bill has been settled. The council will foot the bill for their B&B stay, a far more expensive measure than simply removing the lock on the family’s home.

But yesterday (Wednesday) Town Hall officials seemed in no mood to be sympathetic towards Ms Boateng, who is five months pregnant, when the New Journal asked if the commonsense solution was to let the distressed family return home. They have been locked out since bailiffs forced them out on Thursday.

A court order prevents Ms Boateng from going back to her home of six years, even though her £826 rent arrears were paid in full just hours after she was turfed out. 

In a distressing week, Ms Boateng and her children spent most of Tuesday at Camden’s Homeless Person’s Unit pleading for somewhere to go.

Just 24 hours earlier, she was kept in overnight at University College Hospital after complications with her pregnancy. “I’m trying to keep positive because I’m worried about the baby,” said Ms Boateng. “But I waited six years for that house after living in hostels. 

“I’m not worried about me but my ­children need somewhere to rest their heads. We’ve been in the same clothes for a week now. All our belongings are in the house so my children don’t have any clothes or toys. They keep asking me when we are going home and I don’t know what to tell them.”

A spokeswoman for Camden Council said Ms Boateng was contacted on numerous occasions regarding the arrears, which began when she started working as a part-time retail manager and lost her housing benefit.

Ms Boateng said she struggled to read letters due to her severe dyslexia.

She added: “I find it difficult to understand letters but if someone had explained to me that I would be evicted I would understand.”

A council spokeswoman said: “Ms Boateng was evicted from her property on 14 January with a court order obtained by the council because she was in rent arrears. She paid the arrears on 15 January, the day after the eviction. 

“However, now the eviction has been carried out Ms Boateng cannot legally return to the property without a court order granting her permission to do so. Ms Boateng was contacted by housing staff on a number of occasions ever since she failed to comply with a possession order regarding rent arrears in 2006. She has been repeatedly warned about the consequences of nonpayment of rent and advised that unless she cleared all of the rent arrears she would need to apply to the courts for a stay of eviction, to suspend the eviction warrant.”
JOSIE HINTON