Family in Croydon emergency home with rats and sewage

Chanelle Matthews, living in Epsom and working at Greene King, suddenly became homeless with her husband and three children when their landlord sold the lease back to the company.

Chanelle lost her job at Greene King and her family was forced to go into emergency accommodation on Leslie Grove in East Croydon.

The 34-year-old told Your Local Guardian: “We moved to Leslie Grove, but the house was filthy.

(Image: Chanelle Matthews)

“My youngest son used to tell everybody we lived with Jerry and people would ask, ‘Who is Jerry?’

“Jerry was a rat who used to run across the kids’ beds.”

Chanelle explained that her adoptive son, aged six, is a special educational needs (SEN) child, and before she adopted him he went through a lot of traumas and couldn’t cope at Leslie Grove.

After the danger posed by the rat and its droppings, Chanelle and her family were relocated to another emergency accommodation at Brigstock Road in Thornton Heath on Easter Monday 2023.

However, this home – now their current home – isn’t any better.

Chanelle said: “After going to our doctor about the trauma we were having living at Leslie Grove, he said that the council making them stay there would be causing unnecessary trauma on children who already have additional needs.

“So, my doctor spoke to Epsom Council and we were moved to Brigstock Road.

“And it’s a nightmare – stuff comes up the shower and toilet, and poo floods the house.

“Environmental health should have come and taken all the flooring up and moved us straight away because we’re probably living with human poo under our floorboards.”

(Image: Chanelle Matthews)

Chanelle explained that all three of her children suffer from medical and mental issues, with her eldest son, 14, suffering from severe anxiety and PTSD, and her middle child, eight, suffering from a rare immune disorder.

Chanelle said: “She’s got a rare immune disorder, so she’s on regular antibiotics to stop her from getting infections and she’s under St George’s, St Thomas’, and Epsom Hospital, all of which are far away from where we’re having to live.

“She stops breathing in her sleep, and the damp is not helping at all, neither is the human faeces wading through the house.”

(Image: Chanelle Matthews)

According to Chanelle, a major incident happened on Brigstock Road, and this was witnessed by her eldest son Riley.

She said: “Now Riley’s too frightened to go back.

“It’s like it’s an everyday occurrence in Croydon, and everybody’s used to it, but we’re not used to it.

“I don’t want to be there; all I can hear is screaming.

“And now my eldest son – who has been staying with my sister-in-law in Epsom – won’t come home.

“He thinks he’s going to get murdered.

“He doesn’t want to come home, he’s petrified of coming home.”

Chanelle said she’s been suffering from panic attacks after living in Croydon and is desperate for Epsom Council to help her suffering family.

Chanelle said she’s stayed quiet about all the issues for nearly two years, but after getting nowhere with the authorities, she finally wants to be heard.

She added: “I just can’t live there anymore.

“I need help and I'm at my wit's end.

“I suffer from BPD, anxiety paralysis, manic depression, panic attacks, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis.

“My whole family relies on our medical support and support network to get by.

"It’s so difficult living in Croydon when all the places I need help are in Epsom.

“I can’t stay here anymore.”

Councillor Clive Woodbridge, Chair of the Community & Wellbeing Committee for Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, said: “We deeply sympathise with Ms Matthews and her family.

"Following the incident in the local area, we have offered to move the family to alternative temporary accommodation as soon as a suitable property becomes available.

"As is the case across the country, there is not enough temporary accommodation in Epsom & Ewell to meet the large rises in demand we’ve seen over the last few years.

"At present, we have 160 homeless households in temporary accommodation in the borough and more than 90 homeless households in nightly paid accommodation outside of the borough.

"Many of these families may have to wait more than three years before temporary accommodation in the borough becomes available, and even longer before a permanent housing solution can be found for them.

"The average waiting time for permanent accommodation within the borough for applicants with a high housing need is around four or five years for a two-bedroom property; and over 10 years for a three-bedroom or larger property.

"We immediately respond to, and work to resolve, all complaints of disrepair including plumbing in temporary accommodation where our residents are housed.”