Single mum forced to share bed with daughter in 'severely overcrowded' flat wins legal battle

A single mum-of-two has won a court case against a London council after she was housed in a severely overcrowded one-bedroom flat alongside her two children.

Sonia Monteiro, 44, has been living in a temporary accommodation flat for 18 months alongside her 12-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son. The cramped setup left her sharing a bed with her daughter in the shared kitchen and living room.

Campaign group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) supported Monteiro to take action against Hackney Council who placed her in the flat, arguing that the flat has two bedrooms fewer than the family need.

A hearing at Central London County Court on 6 March found the council must now carry out a fresh housing need assessment to make a new decision about the suitability of the temporary accommodation after previously ruling that it was suitable for the family of three.

“I feel like the council are using the legal process to keep us there as long as possible,” said Monteiro. “Everything has taken so long even though I have done everything quickly, the council keep finding ways to drag it out. It is stressful going to court and you feel like you are doing something wrong but I have no choice but to go through the legal process.

“I have family in Hackney who have lived here 20 years, and I help care for a relative with severe depression. My children go to school in Hackney and I work in Central London. My family’s life and community is in and around Hackney. Us, and all homeless families, need council housing, so we can live comfortably in our communities.”

Monteiro said her family was moved to the temporary accommodation flat after previously living in a rodent-infested studio flat.

But the current property is so cramped that it is affecting her sleep and how her children study and eat, she told the Big Issue.

“The conditions are really hard for all of us, especially my daughter. All this time she has not had her own space and it is really stressful for her,” said Monteiro.

“She doesn’t have a quiet space to study because the only space is a small table next to the kitchen where I am cooking. Because we are living on top of each other, my children fight when my son disturbs my daughter. We just need enough space so we can live in peace.

“They try to live in the situation. My daughter is 12 and children of that age want proper room and privacy, which she doesn’t have.”

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Monteiro’s family is of Black African heritage and statistics show that the ethnic group is most likely to be living in overcrowded homes.

Census data showed 16.1% of ‘Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African’ households in England experienced overcrowding compared to 4.4% across all households.

Monteiro’s 12-year-old daughter, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “In the first temporary flat we lived in there were a lot of mice and no privacy for nobody. But when we moved, I thought it would be better, but it is still the same.

“We don’t have enough space. My older brother has his own room, but me and my mum don’t. Even though we are both girls, we want our privacy. We sleep right next to the kitchen area, and my brother always comes to get something when I’m trying to sleep and makes a lot of noise. 

“And there’s an extractor fan right next to our beds that makes so much noise. It makes a ‘bomb’ sound when the wind blows, and takes so long to stop.”

HASL members and supporters sent more than 200 emails about the family’s case to the mayor of Hackney, Caroline Woodley, and councillor Sophie Conway, chair of the council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission in a bid to change the situation.

HASL argued that the living situation breaks the council’s own rules.

The council’s own housing waiting list regulations state that teenagers of opposite genders cannot share and that adults need their own room, which means Monteiro’s family would require a three bedroom home. 

As the family are in a one-bedroom flat, the council have housed them in “severely overcrowded” temporary accommodation for more than a year, the campaign group argued.

A county court hearing last week found that the Hackney Council’s suitability assessment was not lawful and ordered the local authority to carry out a fresh investigation. The council was also ordered to cover Monteiro’s legal costs.

HASL’s Elizabeth Wyatt, said: “Hackney Council’s own rules accept that Sonia’s family is ‘severely overcrowded’, yet the council went to court to argue that these intolerable conditions are ‘suitable’ for homeless families.

“This is a serious and unacceptable attack on homeless families’ rights to decent accommodation.”

The case underlines the pressure councils are under to deal with a growing homelessness crisis with record-high numbers of families living in temporary accommodation.

Councillor Sade Etti, Hackney Council cabinet member for homelessness prevention, rough sleeping and temporary accommodation, said: “We have received the court ruling with regards to Sonia Monteiro’s case and will be carrying out a new housing needs assessment as directed. The court did not deal with the issue of suitability due to accommodation size, nor did it say the current accommodation is overcrowded.

“We always want to provide every family in Hackney with a good, permanent home. Unfortunately, due to the severe housing crisis, we often have to rely on temporary accommodation to support households who come to us as homeless while we help them find a long-term solution.”

Official statistics released last month showed 126,040 households were living in temporary accommodation in England as of September 2024, up 15.7% on the same point a year earlier. A total of 164,040 dependent children were living in temporary accommodation.

London has the highest prevalence of households living in temporary accommodation with 19.3 households per 1,000 households in the English capital in temporary housing compared to 2.7 households per 1,000 in the rest of England. 

Newham London Borough had the highest rate of temporary accommodation in London with 55.7 per 1,000 households.

London Councils estimates over 175,000 Londoners are living in temporary accommodation arranged by their local borough. This equates to one in 50 residents of the capital, and means on average there is at least one homeless child in every London classroom. 

The cross-party group estimated boroughs in the capital spend £4m every day on temporary accommodation.

In Hackney alone, the council will spend over £28m on temporary accommodation this year – 10 times more than just two years ago. 

The council said the current wait for a permanent three-bedroom home is nine years.

Councillor Etti added: “Rents and house prices have risen faster in Hackney than in any other borough, which means the cost of housing and the growing number of families who come to the council unable to find somewhere to live has expanded rapidly. On the frontline are more than 3,500 households – including nearly 4,000 children – who don’t have a permanent place to call home. 

“That’s why we’re investing in more council-owned temporary housing, where we can better control the conditions and standards, as well as building more social housing to provide much needed homes in the borough.”

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