A homeless Kingston family who have been stuck in a Travelodge for more than four months say being offered alternative temporary accommodation out of the borough feels like a "kick in the stomach". 

Russel Harland, 50, and Selma Agirgol-Harland, 45, said the flat in Mitcham is too far from their 13-year-old daughter's school and it would not be safe for her to walk to the train station. 

The family had been living on the same street in Kingston for more than 13 years, but they became homeless on 17 July when their previous tenancy came to an end as their landlord wanted to sell the property.

Despite both working full-time, they could not find anywhere affordable to rent. Kingston Council moved them into Travelodge Chessington Tolworth that evening, and they have been living in a cramped room in the hotel with their dog ever since. 

The parents previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) they felt "abandoned" by the council after being placed in the hotel as they had struggled to receive basic updates on their housing application.

Selma said: "Since we moved here, we feel abandoned. There is no communication. We have to fight to reach someone." 

The family of three have been staying in Travelodge for months. (Photo: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)

Since being contacted by the LDRS, the council offered the family alternative temporary accommodation in Mitcham on 4 December. The parents said they accepted the offer as they felt they had to, otherwise the council could withdraw its duty to provide them with temporary accommodation. 

But Russel said it felt "like a kick in the stomach" and sent "alarm bells" ringing as he described the flat, in the Merton borough, as being too far from their daughter's school and support network in Kingston.

He added he feels people are being trapped "into making decisions against their interests… to get numbers down" by being forced to accept somewhere "substandard and out of the way". The parents requested a review of the property's suitability after viewing it. 

Russel said the nearest train stations are too far from the flat and described the condition of the block as "disgusting". He said: "It's really disconcerting. And you can imagine what it will be like in the dark, in the winter. [Our daughter] will have to walk to the train station in the morning in the dark and then come back in the dark, with potentially both me and Selma being in Surrey [for] work." 

He added: "Say… she comes home from school and something happens, or she's upset, she's stuck in the middle of Mitcham, she's attacked or anything that could go on, we're miles and miles away… we have no family, the only support network we have is some friends around Kingston and [our daughter's] good network of friends that she has that makes her life day to day and week to week manageable without having aunts, cousins and things." 

Selma said the flat is "not suitable". When dealing with each case, she added, the council should act with "care and diligence to ensure that these people have been provided with the right type of accommodation, that allows them to get on with their life". 

Russel Harland and Selma Agirgol-Harland in the Travelodge London Chessington Tolworth. (Photo: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)

Kingston Council told the LDRS it had not been able to source a home to rent in the borough. The authority acknowledged the family's concerns and said it will review the property's suitability. 

Russel said they had not slept properly since the offer and described the last few days as "awful".

He added the council told him they were a priority for being moved back into Kingston because of their daughter's education, but raised concerns about how long that would take as she starts her GCSEs next year. "All the things that we built up over a long period of time have been put at risk," he said. 

The dad told the LDRS: "To move there and out of the borough is not a step forward. Basically our daughter… has had to endure a mini-trauma, so it's not a step forward, and once we moved in there it would create all kinds of fiascos and God knows how long we would be there for." 

He continued: "How can we have a balanced family life spending that time travelling in the morning, that time travelling at night… I don't know what kind of quality time we're meant to be having." 

Selma added: "I feel so emotional. I find it difficult to get my head around at the moment but, at the same time, as my husband says, we can't lose the plot and we have to stay focused because we want to make sure that our daughter doesn't see how we have been affected. We are strong and we will get through all these difficult times." 

A Kingston Council spokesperson said: "We have no wish to cause distress to our residents. We are committed to doing all we can to support struggling households and ensure residents have a safe place to live. The national housing crisis is a critical situation affecting people and local authorities all over the country. Demand for properties is increasingly outstripping supply as landlords leave the market due to high interest rates and central government's changes to tax relief on buy to let properties. 

"We appreciate the concerns raised by the family in their request for a review of the suitability of the property that has been offered to them where we have not been able to source a home to rent in Kingston. This review will now be undertaken."