Mum’s plea to council to give autistic girl her own bedroom

A Tottenham woman fears she has “no chance” of moving out of the “tiny” one-bedroom flat she shares with her ten-year-old daughter.

Nicole Hamilton says the flat she rents from Haringey Council in Northumberland Park is “taking its toll” on the mental health of her daughter, who has autism.

When she moved into the property during 2018, after a spell in temporary accommodation, Nicole said she thought her new home was “convenient” and “suitable”, but she and her daughter now need more space.

After asking to be put back on the council housing register, Nicole was placed in band C, which is for the lowest priority cases. She says this means she has “no chance” of being rehoused and complained that the council did not even respond to acknowledge her subsequent appeal.

“I feel very let down,” Nicole said. “My daughter needs her own room and space. It is taking a toll on her mental health. She needs to sleep properly. They tell me at school she is sleeping in class. There is nothing I can do about it.

“The property is so tiny. My daughter is autistic, she needs space. There is no room for her to blow off steam. We are in each other’s faces.

“I had to make the front room area into a bedroom for her, but there is not much privacy. Because of that, we don’t have family over, and my daughter can’t have friends over.”

Nicole said it took “over six months” to be put back on the housing register after she applied. She appealed against the council’s decision to put her in band C in March.

“No-one has written back to me,” she said. “Not even a response to say ‘we have received your documents, and this is the next step’.”

Nicole also complained over the repairs that needed to be made to the property after she moved in, which meant she was “constantly” calling the council. She said the boiler had to be fixed, and the whole flat needed re-piping. She added that it had taken “months” for the council to fix a leak in the bathroom, which was finally dealt with after she contacted her MP.

A Haringey Council spokesperson said: “Ms Hamilton bid for her one-bedroom property in October 2018. Many applicants like Ms Hamilton on the housing register have the option to bid one bedroom size below their assessed requirement. This option is sometimes chosen as this allows families to move into a settled home more quickly.

“We would like to apologise to Ms Hamilton for any delays with her repairs and not assessing the documents she submitted in March sooner. We will be in touch with her to discuss her family’s medical circumstances, as it would be appropriate for these to be considered.

“While Ms Hamilton is registered for housing and in line with our allocations policy as a band C, we will reassess her situation. However, should her banding increase, the average wait time for a two-bedroom property is a number of years due to the housing crisis across the country.”