A hotel getaway should be a time to escape the stresses of everyday life – but for Nicole Bent, life in a hotel has become her everyday. “It’s been demoralising, to be honest. That’s the word I would use to describe this whole experience,” she said of her ongoing three-month stay in a north London Travelodge.
Bent, 28, and her three-year-old daughter have been living in the hotel since the beginning of March, when she was made homeless after her tenancy came to an end and the landlord wanted to sell the property. She is one of dozens of homeless families being housed there by Enfield council while it tries to find her a permanent home.
When the Guardian visited the hotel last month, the onsite restaurant was filled with families. Most said they had been evicted from their privately rented properties due to rent increases or because the landlord wanted to sell their property.
Enfield has the highest number of no-fault evictions in London, and the number of households recorded as being at risk of homelessness due to a no-fault eviction rose 140% from 2021 to 2022.
Long-term hotel usage in the borough has risen sharply in the past year. Enfield Dispatch reported this month that 113 families were being kept in hotels or B&Bs by the council past the six-week legal limit by the end of March 2023, up from one family in April 2022.
Under Travelodge policy, guests have to move rooms every 28 days, but Bent has had to move rooms eight times in the space of 10 weeks. “We’ve had to move a tremendous amount of times. One time there was an issue with the heating and the other time it was the bed. I’ve been on three different floors,” she said.
There have been numerous reports of other families being moved out of the hotel with no notice because the council often waits until the final day of their booking before extending their stay.
Collette Collington, 42, a mother of three, says she was left in the hotel lobby with her belongings earlier this month after the council failed to extend her booking. She was eventually booked into another room in the hotel on the same day.
Another woman with three children was left stranded outside the hotel for almost 12 hours after being moved out in the morning. She waited outside the hotel with all of her belongings until night-time when the council booked her a room in a Travelodge in Hertfordshire.
The council has said keeping families in hotel accommodation is costing it about £850,000 a month. It projects a £20m deficit for this financial year, citing the cost of hotel accommodation as a factor.
The government has frozen the local housing allowance (LHA) – the amount to which people claiming housing benefit who rent privately are entitled – at 2020 levels. LHA rates vary depending on location and the number of bedrooms in a property.
If a claimant’s rent is more than the LHA, they are responsible for the remaining amount. In Enfield, the shortfall between the LHA and the average rent of a four-bedroom property in 2022 was £595 a month.
To address this financial hole, the council said it would have to start rehousing residents living in hotels and temporary accommodation outside London and south-east England, where rents and the LHA are more in line.
Families living in the hotel are desperate to leave. Among those being housed there are people with serious mental health and drug abuse issues, and police have been called a number of times.
“Safety is an issue,” Bent said. “I feel uncomfortable. [People with these issues] hang around the front of the hotel when you’re going in and they always try to speak to my daughter as well. There is an air of discomfort. They also know which room I live in.”
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There are also concerns about the welfare of Travelodge staff. Some have apparently been attacked, with one having a hot drink thrown over them. Bent said: “The staff have been very kind and accommodating to me. They’ve obviously had a huge change in the duties their jobs require.”
Some families have been in the Travelodge for more than 10 months and counting. “Morale is very low in the hotel,” Bent said. “I’m trying to be optimistic but it’s hard to remain positive.”
An Enfield council spokesperson said: “The Travelodge booking system does not allow for long-term reservation of rooms and therefore regular rebookings need to be made. Council officers are visiting families to explain the options available to them and if direct contact cannot be made we are writing to them to outline next steps.
“This situation exemplifies the deteriorating state of housing in London and the collapse of the private rental sector.”
Travelodge said: “We have been working with Enfield council for many years to provide short-term accommodation. All parties understand that this is a temporary arrangement until the local authority can find a more permanent solution.
“If a customer that has been booked via Enfield council has an issue regarding their temporary accommodation requirements, they need to liaise directly with them who has made their specific booking.”
George Savva, the council’s cabinet member for social housing, said: “We have no alternative but to follow the approach of many other local authorities and help find homeless households decent, stable homes in affordable areas outside of London.”
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