An east London council has left homeless families living in hotels for six months because its housing service is “near collapse”, according to a number of staff members who work there.
The Observer understands from multiple employees that Tower Hamlets council employs inadequately trained staff to work in the department, and that these workers have been issued with scripts to use on the phone to try to put homeless people off seeking council help.
In a letter of complaint submitted to the mayor of Tower Hamlets last month and signed by the vast majority of the council’s homelessness team, housing staff warned that the housing service is “near collapse” due to a mixture of unprecedented demand and a “complete disconnect between managers and officers”.
“Homeless guidance and legislation clearly states that hotels and B&Bs should be a last resort, and applicants should not be placed there longer than six weeks,” the letter reads. “We have nothing else to offer clients but hotels and B&Bs, and we are exceeding the six weeks, with many applicants being placed in these unsuitable accommodations for more than six months.”
The complaint also stated that there are “currently over 1,200 unread emails” in certain team inboxes, many of which are urgent requests for help from residents who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.
It warned that even staff who had worked there for decades had “never experienced such dysfunction or chaos” and that the failures were posing a “serious risk to both the public at large and employees”.
The Observer has also been told by council staff that failures in council homelessness management – specifically the placement of challenging applicants in non-supported accommodation – also recently resulted in the Premier Inn hotel chain severing ties with the council. It is understood that 160 families were forced to move to new accommodation.
Directly after Premier Inn severed ties, the head of the council’s homelessness service responded by sending out a script to staff to read to dissuade people from seeking council help, the staff members who wrote the letter allege.
The eight-page complaint letter also outlines how the council failed to purchase a voicemail system for the homelessness team, while the new council office has no signal for most mobiles, leading to serious problems communicating with clients.
The impact of these problems on frontline staff has been dire, according to the employees who spoke to the Observer, with sources at the council reporting a huge churn of housing and homelessness staff, and widespread sickness from stress.
“We’re on our knees and have passed the breaking point. Our mental health, our physical health – everything is just drained,” the council staffer added. “This is more than a job to many of us. We want to help people but we can’t offer anything, and it’s beyond embarrassing.”
London Councils, the local government organisation for Greater London, estimates there are 166,000 homeless Londoners living in temporary accommodation, including hotels. On average, at least one child in every London classroom (one in every 23 children) is homeless and living in temporary accommodation.
A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson said: “We are concerned by any complaints that staff raise and are aware of issues raised by staff in our homeless service. The council has appointed an independent investigator to examine the issues raised by staff. Where we can, we are taking immediate action now to address some of the issues raised. As this is an ongoing investigation, the council will not be making any further comment.
“Tower Hamlets, like other London boroughs, is facing a housing and homelessness crisis. There is a scarcity of available properties for us to use for temporary accommodation and so we are increasingly forced to use hotels and B&Bs.
“Naturally we are disappointed with Premier Inn’s decision to stop renting rooms to us for homeless families and we continue to urge them to reconsider, but we understand their position regarding some instances of antisocial behaviour by a small minority of people.”
Premier Inn did not respond to requests for comment.
