Mum's 'tough life' as family-of-six forced to live in hotel room with no kitchen
A mum with five kids has revealed how her family were forced to spend two months sharing one hotel room - with only food made from the kettle to eat.
Melanie Kivlin, 40, said she and her children relied on pot noodles and similar kettle-based meals in their cramped accommodation for two months. They were then moved to temporary housing - where they are still stuck 17 months later.
Left in what she describes as a "dire" situation for her family, Melanie told the Daily Record that she has only spoken to her appointed homelessness officer with Edinburgh City Council once in that period.
Melanie and her family were made homeless after their home was ransacked while they were away (Reach plc)The UK-wide housing crisis has hit hard in Scotland, where a record number of families and children are living in temporary accommodation. Melanie said: “The situation is dire and all I want is a safe roof over my children’s heads and a stable school life for them all. I couldn’t really believe it when we were told last year that the best the homelessness services could offer was one hotel room.
"They said that the budget didn’t allow two rooms, so we had six people in one hotel room. Hotel staff were and they went beyond the call of duty for us. But they couldn’t believe we were living like that.”
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
She added that at the time, the family were having breakfast boxes supplied to their room - but the kids "soon went off them", leaving them to resort to porridge pots and pot noodles. Melanie went to her mum’s house twice a week for a meal and have her laundry done, but said it was a "tough life living in that one room with five kids".
The family was moved after more than six weeks at the Travelodge in Dreghorn to a temporary four bedroom property in Edinburgh, where she has now been for 17 months. But Melanie revealed that within a day of moving in, a bedroom ceiling collapsed. She said: “That was patched up with a bit of plasterboard but it’s still a mess and it still leaks. We’ve had loads of repairs that have needed attention but they don’t get done.”
The mum says they were forced to eat Pot Noodles and other kettle-based foods while staying into the hotel rooms (PA)
A ceiling collapsed at a council-provided temporary house just a day after they moved in (Daily Record)The exhausted mum has now given up hope of getting a four bedroom home, as there are "virtually no" properties available, and will probably put in a bid for a three bed instead - meaning the three boys will share a room, as will the two girls. Melanie, who is originally from Edinburgh, became homeless after her house in Doncaster, South Yorkshire was ransacked by burglars while she was visiting home.
Commenting on her case, Shelter Scotland assistant director Gordon MacRae said to the Daily Record: “The sad reality is that Melanie’s experience is one shared by many, many, families. In the last year, 45 children lost their homes every single day, and many will also find themselves trapped in completely unsuitable temporary accommodation. We don’t need more summits or round tables; we need action, we need ministers to deliver social homes and we need them get on with it - now.”
Cllr Jane Meagher, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener at Edinburgh City Council, told the newspaper: "This summer Shelter Scotland described the housing situation in Edinburgh as ‘desperate’. We completely share their concerns and are working really hard to find housing solutions. Ending homelessness is a key priority for the Council.
"We sympathise with everyone living in temporary accommodation and I know that we are trying to support this tenant as much as we are able to. It is against a backdrop of an acute shortage of homes for social rent, particularly larger ones. I can understand the stress Edinburgh’s long waiting times must be causing and I am also concerned to hear about the repairs issues they face. We are investigating this."
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