Elgin single mum forced to flee emotional abuse told single bedroom with no space for cot is ‘suitable’

The mum and her baby are expected to share a room that won't fit a cot and a single bed. She has described the experience of dealing with Moray Council housing officers as "disheartening".

By Sean McAngus

March 13 2023, 11:45 am

A single mother has raised concerns about plummeting down the council housing waiting list. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

A single mother has voiced concerns about plummeting down the Moray Council housing waiting list.

The woman wishes to stay anonymous due to safety reasons.

In October, she and her nine-month-old baby moved into her parents’ home in Elgin.

She says she was forced out of her own home to escape the bad relationship.

Her parents’ only spare room is a box room – but it doesn’t have space for a single bed and a cot.

So she is sleeping in the living room with her child, but hoped this was a temporary measure.

The living room is where the mother and her child are sleeping. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Media

Last July, she applied for council housing.

But after a recent visit from a housing officer, she watched their position in the queue for council housing fall from second to 53rd.

In a letter, a housing officer said the mother would only be entitled to 100 overcrowding points and 100 sharing points.

It meant the total points changed from 300 to 200.

Why the drop in council housing points?

The reason given was the size of the single bedroom was suitable for one person.

She was offered a home in Lhanbryde by the local authority, but it failed to materialise.

The mother said: “As a young mother who turned to Moray Council for help, after being forced from home in an emotionally abusive relationship I feel deeply let down.

“I think the worst part was having a potential property dangled in front of us to then find out for myself that we’d been bumped down the list instead.

“They never even called to notify me, which they said they would do, it was devastating.”

The bedroom in question. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

How is she feeling about the situation?

She says it has been a “disheartening” experience.

She added: “Everything is up in the air, we just want our own home.

“I’m glad she wasn’t aware of us being thrown out of our home by her father.

“The living room has lost its function as a family room.

“It has taken a toll on all the family.

“I hope something can be done.

“I only sleep in the living room to be with my child as the bedroom isn’t big enough.”

Concerns over mother

Moray Lib Dem leader and Elgin community councillor Neil Alexander has written to the local authority raising concerns.

He said: “This is a shocking situation. We have a mother and child who were next-in-line to get a much-needed home being put to the back of the queue. This is despite them already living in an unrealistic living situation.

“If Moray Council can’t help a single parent and a young child, who will they support?

“They need actions now, not just words. I’ve written to the Moray Council housing department asking for an explanation. The mother and child deserve better than this.”

What is Moray Council’s response?

There are currently 3,500 people on the local authority’s waiting list for social housing,

A Moray Council spokeswoman said: “We are sympathetic to the circumstances behind the housing application and while we don’t comment on the specifics of individual cases, we are confident our Allocation Policy has been applied in an objective, consistent and fair manner, complying with relevant legislation and best practice.”

UPDATE: A housing association got in touch and managed to sort out accommodation for the mum and her child.