Woman in despair and having to sleep on pal's floor after seven-year home wait
A woman says she has “lost the will to live” after having to sleep on a friend’s floor as she waits for seven years for a council house to be available.
Debi Lepley, 32, first applied to the local authority for a two-bedroom residence in 2016, which could also accommodate her disabled mum, in Leyland, Lancashire. She then spent the next four years registered homeless as she slept on friends' floors and sofas before moving into her 60-year-old mum's one-bed flat in a retirement housing complex in 2020.
Debi says the pair had looked at renting privately, but the cheapest two-bed flat they could find was £850 per month, which is outside their budget. Although she bids on council housing as it becomes available each week, she has never come close to being selected.
Debi and her mother are unable to afford a private home (Debi Lepley / SWNS)She said: “The situation is becoming intolerable and I can't see a way out. I've never been higher than 80th place in all the years I've been on the waiting list. We don't expect much. We would just like a two-bed place to share on a ground floor, but we're not considered a priority.
"We don't meet the criteria. I don't think I'm ever going to get a place. But what then? Where do I go from here? I'm losing the will and there doesn't seem to be any real help out there. I feel lost. I've been waiting for seven years, and for the past three years me and my mum have been holding out for a place together, so I can continue to care for her. It's starting to have a real effect on my mind, my mental health, and no one at the council can tell me it's going to get any better.”
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
Debi, who suffers from fibromyalgia, moved into her mum's one-bed retirement flat, managed by Progress Housing Group, during the pandemic in 2020. She had hoped to get a property not long after she first went onto the waitlist for homes from South Ribble Borough Council. Her disabled mum has a degenerative spine condition, several damaged nerves and discs, along with arthritis.
She added: "My mum's flat is far too small for the two of us, and I'm not even supposed to be staying here. There's no space. No space to think, no privacy. I'm a 32-year-old woman and I have my own health problems. This is not how I expected my life to turn out."
The leader of the Labour-run South Ribble Borough Council, Councillor Paul Foster, said Debi's situation was a consequence of "cuts in funding" from the government. He said: "It's a real consequence of the cost of living crisis and the cuts in funding to help people who are in need of support that we do see people struggling to access the accommodation they may need.
"Waiting times for social housing properties vary, and while we wouldn't comment on an individual's circumstances, shortlisting is based on a criteria of bedroom need, banding, local connection and date of application, as all residents who apply for social housing are assessed in line with an allocation policy.
"Although it is unusual for someone who is in need of support to be waiting for such a long time, cases can be complicated, however, we recognise that there is an acute shortage of housing. "We're doing everything within our power, with key stakeholders, including speaking with Progress Housing Group about this situation. We've also stepped in ourselves and built high quality affordable homes that have just been completed in Bamber Bridge."
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