Homeless mother impacted by Beyoncé accommodation frenzy

The mother says Enfield Council is ‘overloaded’, with the situation set to worsen with Tottenham Hotspur’s at-capacity concerts, reports Olivia Opara

A mother has shared her experience of being threatened by displacement to make way for Beyoncé fans during the pop star’s tour dates in Tottenham.

On Tuesday, 23rd May, The Guardian reported that up to 30 families housed in a Travelodge in Enfield were being moved elsewhere to make way for those who had booked their rooms ahead of Beyoncé’s concerts in Tottenham last week.

Approximately two-thirds of the hotel was booked by Enfield Council, occupied by homeless families and individuals – some of whom live with four or five people in one room.

Nicole Bent, a mother of a three-year-old daughter, has been living in the hotel for over two months. According to Nicole, all the families did not find out about the move from the council but from another guest who also lives in the hotel.

Nicole said: “[This guest] has been here for eight months with his family and due to having knowledge from a similar experience he has been through, he warned us that if we did not get the council to extend our bookings we would have to go somewhere else.

“So people were frantically calling their caseworkers to see if they were going to be getting an extension.”

The bookings made by the council are extended every three weeks – on this occasion, the council failed to extend the bookings for 30 families.

“The likelihood of that happening is really low,” said Nicole. “[However], with the concerts coming up it was a really apprehensive time because other people were not getting their extensions and I wasn’t getting one either and there was a bank holiday so it was a bit concerning because if [the council didn’t] make an extension soon where [would] we be.”

Throughout the week, Nicole witnessed many families being moved to hotels outside of the surrounding area – with some even moved outside of London as most hotels were all booked up.

Luckily for Nicole, she was able to stay at the hotel after appealing against her relocation to a flat that she was offered last week by the council, which she found to be mould-ridden.

Nicole said: “The flat was repainted and everything was done new, but as soon as I walked in I could tell that something was wrong right away.”

As a mother, Nicole is worried about the impact this whole ordeal has had on her daughter as well as the other children who live in the hotel.

“My child, even though she’s three, is obviously quite aware of the fact that she doesn’t have a home,” said Nicole.

“Some kids are not going to school, they don’t have their [usual] structure with bedtimes increasing, so they’re doing mischievous things, obviously impacting other guests.”

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hosted its first series of concerts in the summer of 2022 – with Guns N’ Roses and Lady Gaga performing back-to-back nights. Almost 200,000 fans attended across their shows, but this year 250,000 fans are attending each night of Beyoncé’s five concerts – an additional 50,000 attendees on last year.

Additional concert dates are set at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the rest of the year, raising the question of whether homeless families living in surrounding hotels will experience being displaced again to make room for future concert attendees.

Nicole commented: “Obviously, within the council, a lot of people feel that they could help more, or they could do more. But, they are also overloaded with so many different people as well.”

Following this, Enfield council and local MPs submitted a joint letter on 24th May to secretary of state, Michael Gove, to lobby the government to help homeless families living in hotels.

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