Temp accommodation unsafe - baby overheating - what can I do

[yoghurttops]

I’ve been renting for years, but after my landlord decided to sell a year ago, I was evicted and just can’t afford anything on the private market.

We have a baby, and so received help from the council. Me and my partner do work, but we have been looking for better paying jobs for almost 2 years now.

The council have put us in temp housing, it’s on the 20th floor and the heat is absolutely awful! The aircon/heating system is controlled centrally and so I have zero control over it. The flat feels like an oven and the windows all have a plastic barrier with about 3mm gaps which let air in, but it’s just not enough. We get zero fresh air.

My baby has overheated about 3 times in this hot weather - once he was sick and threw everything up - the other times he is drowsy. In the past we have had to take him to A&E for not waking up without a prick from the nurse.

I don’t know what to do - who to complain to. My housing officer won’t help and doesn’t answer my emails and I am on stage 2 of a formal complaint via the housing ombudsman but the responses take weeks!

The building has negative reviews on Google and Housing websites - the lifts never work, it’s too hot and I am so so scared for my babies health. I can’t believe people are housed here.

Why can I do - I so wish I could afford to privately rent.

I saw that it is illegal to not live in the council flat - I want to stay with a friend for a while, at least until the weather cools down.

AIBU to leave the flat for a while - what do I need to do? Get council permission first? Can I ask them to move me on health grounds?

Most housing departments are very clear that they don't consider GP letters which they haven't requested.

This is dangerous if her toddler is at a climbing stage

It seems extraordinary to me that the only way to make windows safe in the UK is to use these awful window restrictors which only allow you to open the window a few centimetres. I've come across them in UK hotels and always hated not being able to let air in, even with air-conditioning it is oppressive. I had no idea that they were being used in residential accommodation, it must be horrible. I've never seen them in Europe - windows always open fully.

Surely, with the climate getting hotter, there must be a better way - maybe some sort of railing outside the window.

Ours were put in in 2004 Absolute hell

Not if they only open a few centimetres, which she has said is the case.

But you said she needs to find a way to open the windows and then open them as wide as possible. She is already doing that as wide as possible, the 3mm gap, they have restrictors on them

I was going to suggest similar: damp towels hung in front of the windows. A friend suggested it to me when it was very hot the other year.

I put some towels in the washing machine on a rinse cycle, took them out once they'd spun and hung them from the curtain rail with the hangers that they hang skirts etc with in shops, that have a clip at each end.

As the damp towels dry, the moisture seems to cool the air. It really worked.

ETA: You can also get heat-reflective window film that you can stick on your windows to reduce solar gain. I've seen it online.

The most low tech technique I have used in the past is to have a damp towel over me while a fan blows over me, it actually cooled me down so much that I had to put the duvet over me. Obviously the towel dries out after a while and then you just re damp it. Have to be careful it doesnt make a child too cold, its really effective.

You would think they could do an sash type window that can open at the top close to ceiling.

Yes, there are lots of options. You'd think, in 2025, it wouldn't be beyond the wit of architects and engineers to design something better than bloody window restrictors, especially when we know how important good ventilation is for physical and mental health, and for preventing damp.

Sameasiteverwas8 GPs can and do provide evidence in support of people's attempts to secure suitable housing. Some people though are dickheads and by the law of averages that will include some GPs.

We are considering moving North as have family elsewhere too - does anyone know how that would work with the council? Do we just tell them our preferred location. Then again we’ve looked at rents and we would be able to afford it - only thing is partner doesn’t have the luxury of working from home.

OP you tell your current council that you have family connections in another area and that you'd be happy to live outside London. If they decide to house a bunch of people elsewhere and they know you'd welcome it, you might be more likely to make it onto that list. You have a bidding portal for permanent properties? Somewhere on there will be a section containing your housing application. Update that to show your willingness to live anywhere in UK and your family connections in the other area. Also tell your housing officer, do you meet them regularly? If so, tell them during this time.

Contact the council in your family's area and ask if you can apply for housing, I don't know what priority you'd have, probably very low because that council doesn't have a duty to house you as you're not homeless in their area, but they may let you onto their bidding list due to local connections (your family). If you get a job in the area, maybe one where you work from home and fly up to the office once a month or whatever, update your housing application to show that local connection too.

You need to forget about the flat as a place to hang out whenever you're not at work. Flats, especially ones in a large block, don't really work like that. If it's not heat, it'll be cannabis smoke leaking in from others flats or outside, mould and damp issues that either just aren't fixed or can't be fixed without demolition and rebuild, noise nuisance from neighbours, antisocial behaviour from neighbours or outsiders, lack of space in the flat for your family's needs, infestations that you can't fix because other surrounding properties aren't treating theirs etc etc etc. There's often something. If you've buggies left in a stairwell that aren't stolen 5 mins later you must live somewhere nice! Build a life outside the flat and just think of it as a base. Somewhere to eat twice a day, store possessions, sleep, bathe. If you stay out all day you only have to do the stairs once too.

I know it doesn't feel like it right now but you're lucky to have a flat as temporary accommodation, they're like hen's teeth. At least you're not paying for a storage unit on top of your rent (yes people, they have jobs so they'll be paying the rent themselves, albeit perhaps with a top up from universal credit if their income is low enough versus rental prices in the area), which is the situation for those in B&B or hostel (if they can afford a storage unit that is, otherwise they just lose all their possessions/furniture/white goods etc upon becoming homeless).

Your situation could be a lot worse. Either find a way to make it work by adapting your lifestyle or reconsider your other options. Teaching jobs are everywhere and senior jobs more likely to have flexibility to WFH perhaps? Find where in the UK you can afford to live. Lower your expectations. Maybe you need to consider one bed flats for a few years while you look at how to raise your family's income to afford a 2bed. Or live in a rougher area. Maybe you can afford to buy a fixer upper somewhere and gradually do it up over the next decade. Maybe you can share with friends in a similar situation, the rent/mortgage on a 4bed split between two families might be cheaper than a 2bed paid for solely by yourselves. If you want social housing via homelessness route then a long uncomfortable wait in temporary housing is what you have to accept in order to obtain it.

Oh really? I'm not from London so not 100% and it's been a while since I was in temp

Sorry I should have added that my salary is pro rota and I’m only on 1 day a week (reduced hours) and I only bring in £500. I have been looking for other work but it’s taking a while. Everything I earned went to nursery anyway. But I have asked for more hours too.

We have lived in 3 homes over 8 years because the landlord has wanted to sell up - we must not have luck on our side. Our friends that seem settled have either inherited their house or are on social houses - and a few have bought - it’s so disheartening when you’ve had to move so many times.

Id love tips on finding a landlord that’s looking long term.

In terms of the window they are acrylic like panels that run from the outside of the building. So I can open the window wide, but there is a massive acrylic covering with about 5 large slit in it for air. M so annoying!

If you contact housing and tell them you are willing to move North or out of London. They will take action to support this. It helps to reduce the housing situation in London. They may help you with advanced rent deposit and moving costs.

Also if one of you is a teacher you are a key worker and Housing Associations have especially in London such as L&Q have specific housing options for Keyworkers have you explored these? Or even shared ownership which I would consider moving out of London for as it would be much cheaper.

You work 1 day a week, your partner is a teacher and you've no ties to London - move somewhere affordable. There are no 'tips' to finding a landlord who will want to rent to you long term, and even if there were could you afford it? It's nothing to do with luck, it's just reality.

You're not going to be offered nicer social housing than where you are, the waiting times in some boroughs are over a decade for families who are overcrowded or have health needs, you frankly just can't afford to live where you live. Move now before your child is settled in school and it's more difficult, your partner can get a teaching job anywhere and you can get a job paying more than you make now anywhere.

Vicky Spratt the housing correspondent from the i newspaper is asking ppl to contact her about homes that get too hot @yoghurttops

I’ve been meaning to share these. Here are pictures of the plastic panels that are blocking the windows. They go down the whole building from the outside so there is no way that it could be removed. It is a very badly built set of flats and it has been in the press due to pieces falling off etc.

Thanks. We are looking into moving. I do have family in the city who have helped with childcare and I am job hunting which should help - so I do have ties to London. But I’m also not happy with our standard of living so I’m keen to move.

Those are awful @yoghurttops, no wonder the flat overheats, you've no chance of even a tiny breeze with those blocking the windows!

I hope you manage to find somewhere more suitable soon.

Thanks. Our borough seems to have stopped doing these flats for public sector workers - we couldn’t get through to anyone and the information on the websites were outdated (learned after calling them up). This was a year ago,

I will keep an eye on them again.

That's horrendous, I can see how it's impossible to cool it down.

If you could afford to rent privately elsewhere in the country, it's definitely worth looking into rental deposit schemes. So that might be through your local council or you may be able to get a loan through work that you pay back over 12 months.

Thats disgusting The contractors that didnt turn up to repair a leak at mine on 16th July im being forced to give a second chance to on Monday, something home owners arent forced to do Lets see how they like working in the fourth heatwave in a top floor flat. Should have turned up when they were supposed to i WONT be going for the hat trick!!!!!!!!!

I will look into this - thanks. Waitlist are ridiculous

Honestly OP just get out and move somewhere else where you can afford rent. Your DH is a teacher, he can work anywhere and get a decent salary, you have good experience and could also earn well. If you were in a cheaper area you could give your DC and yourselves a very good life and also save for a deposit for a mortgage if you wanted to. There’s no point staying in London in awful temporary accommodation, disadvantaging your DC just for some family ties. Even if you went 1.5 hours out of London you’d be able to live more comfortably.

It’s a sad state of affairs when a working couple with baby can’t afford to rent somewhere private. In fact it’s disgusting.

OP - move. I know you shouldn’t have to but if your partner is a teacher he’ll get work anywhere, even if it’s supply. Go to the north east. Cheap and beautiful. A great place to raise a family and start fresh. I had to move from my home town years ago. We have settled now. I miss my family but we can still visit and we have made great friends where we are now.