A west London woman and her 19-year-old daughter are sofa surfing after their local council refused to rehome them unless they accepted a property 275 miles away.
Soheila Serkani, 45, was told she and her daughter must move to Hartlepool after being evicted from their private rented home last month.
Hillingdon Council accepted a homelessness duty towards the pair when they became homeless in March, but made only one offer of a new home, in Hartlepool, just south of Newcastle in County Durham.
After sofa surfing for several weeks while in communication with the council about whether they would receive help, Soheila had to make the impossible decision to refuse the offer over fears the radical upheaval would have a disastrous impact on her and her daughter’s mental health, force her to leave her job and tear them both away from their support network.
Soheila told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It’s a broken system… totally broken. Even before the eviction it felt impossible to get any help… I have no idea what kind of people are working there [at the council], it’s crazy.
“Even if I can’t help myself, or my situation, I think my experience shines a light on the broken system – especially at Hillingdon. I just hope no one else would have to experience what we have.”
Soheila’s teenage daughter is autistic and has ADHD. She also has mental health issues including anxiety, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and suicidal tendencies. Soheila herself suffers from chronic depression and anxiety and she fears the radical change of environment will be devastating for their mental health.
Soheila said she has been extremely concerned about her daughter’s welfare since being made homeless. She said: “For five years she worked with CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services), and now adult mental health. She depends on me for everything and we’ve been in a state over this.
“She has a history of self-harm, and I really am concerned about what would happen if we had taken that move. Her support network of friends and family is so important, but they tried to threaten us and make us move hundreds of miles away – it would be devastating for her.”
Despite providing medical evidence of this to the council, Soheila claims her housing officer told her she is not a high priority, and she is not entitled to further help. After telling her she’d have to take a home 275 miles away, Soheila alleges that her housing officer said: “You can’t pay rent in London, you’re not high priority, if you don’t take it I’ll discharge you.”
She added: “He was so rude, so arrogant, almost like he was putting me down… trying to make me feel ashamed of myself. He didn’t even give me an address, just a postcode. No documents, no door number… he said ‘we will send you in a taxi’.”
Councils have a legal duty to help some people who are facing homelessness, but can discharge their duty if someone is deemed to be ‘intentionally homeless’. However with the crippling housing crisis in London and across the country, that term is sometimes being attached to people who refuse a move, even if accepting it would uproot their whole life and leave them unsupported in a completely unfamiliar environment, having to find a new job and schools for children.
Soheila currently works as a support assistant in a special educational needs special educational needs (SEN) school, alongside caring for her daughter. If she had taken the move to Hartlepool she would have become unemployed and unable to pay rent. She says she begged the housing officer to help her stay in London, nearby friends and family.
She told the LDRS: “I’m broken. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what we’re going to do. We are totally isolated. It’s scary, it’s really scary. I can’t believe a council can behave like that towards people.”
Before becoming homeless, Soheila had gone to the council to request support ahead of her eviction and claims she faced constant hurdles, poor communication and a lack of empathy. She claims her original caseworker told her ‘everything will be okay, just come to the council on the day you’re evicted’.
But she says a change in her caseworker and a lack of handover between them and other council staff when they went on holiday meant she had no point of contact who knew anything about her case on the day she was evicted. Forced to sleep on friends’ sofas while she continued to ask for help, she says the Hartlepool offer was the one and only option given to her.
Hillingdon Council says offers out of borough ‘are only made when there are no alternatives in Hillingdon’. The LDRS asked Hillingdon Council whether that means there are currently no properties suitable for two people in the entire borough, and why they weren’t offered temporary accommodation while a suitable permanent home was found.
Hillingdon Council said: “While temporary accommodation is available in the borough for those that are eligible, it is in high demand. We have to make placements based on what’s available on the day, which can include options in neighbouring boroughs.
“However, if you are homeless and do not meet the criteria for temporary accommodation, we will assist you to find an alternative option, most likely in the private sector, which could also be out of London based on your individual assessments and demand.”
When speaking to the Ruislip Residents Association on Thursday (April 10), Hillingdon Council Leader Ian Edwards said: “We have an unusual demand, a rise in homelessness. London is suffering from an epidemic of homelessness.
“The private rented sector is collapsing… and this is pushing more and more people onto the council… as rents go up and up and up faster than salaries have. That’s fine, that is what we are here for, we will do our level best to support it.”
Councillor Edwards went on to speak about the number of asylum seekers presenting as homeless in Hillingdon, citing it as a burden. He said: “About 80 per cent of those who turn up we don’t have to worry about them because they are young men and [we] don’t have a duty to house them.”
He adds: “However we are looking at about 20 households every month we do have a duty to, because they are a family, have children, or infirmities. We then have a duty to house these 20 households each and every month, within the UK. We don’t house them in the borough, they move into the private rented sector, in the most affordable area for us, so usually away from London, and we have to bear the cost.”
Soheila believes this raises questions about whether the council is truthful when it says there are no other options locally for her. She said: “They probably are just choosing a cheaper option… to save money over our welfare.”
When approached over Soheila’s case, a Hillingdon Council spokesperson said they cannot comment on individual cases. They said: “We always look to support and accommodate households within the borough. Due to the high demand for affordable housing across London this is not always possible.
“Whenever we offer settled accommodation, this always follows a rigorous and robust assessment with the individual of their needs and the affordability of a property. Offers out of the borough are only made when there are no alternatives in Hillingdon, and the vast majority of homeless households continue to be housed within the borough.”
Despite the shortage of homes locally, some council properties lay empty. A Freedom of Information request from October 2024 indicates that there were 130 vacant council properties in Hillingdon at that time. Additionally, Hillingdon Council was asked how many empty properties in the borough could be rented to help the housing crisis. There were a total of 1,848, with 3,092 people on the housing waiting list at the time.
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
