Residents still in limbo two years after flats blaze

Emma and her four children have moved eight times in two years and are currently being housed in a caravan

Residents who had to move out of their homes after a devastating fire at a block of flats are still in temporary accommodation two years on.

They include Emma, a 26-year-old single mum, who has had to move eight times since the fire in Gosport, and who has spent the past three months living in a caravan with her four children aged eight, six, two and one.

The residents say their housing association Abri has not provided any timescale for a return to their homes.

Abri apologised for not keeping residents up to date with progress and said it was "currently working very hard to get everything put back in place and the building up and running again."

It was shortly after midnight on 10 May 2023 when fire broke out at Somerset Court.

Most residents in the three-storey block were asleep at the time. Some had to jump from first and second- floor balconies to escape the flames.

"Two years on, I can still remember it all, the fear in everyone's face that night, it's horrible," said Emma, whose flat was on the top floor.

"I woke up to screaming. Me and my children were in bed. I literally just got them out of bed and ran downstairs and knocked the doors of everybody else and we just went straight outside.

"We didn't even have shoes on because we didn't know how fast it was going to spread."

The fire on 10 May 2023 destroyed the central section of Somerset Court

Lily, also 26, and her nine-year-old son lived on the ground floor.

She was woken by firefighters.

"I had floodlights coming through my window from the fire brigade saying 'evacuate, evacuate' - I woke up to that, I didn't know what was going on.

"I came out to the car park and there was people everywhere, no shoes on, kids with blankets wrapped round them... we were then stood in that car park for four hours watching our flats just burn."

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, residents went to stay with family or were put up in hotels.

When the scale of the damage became clear, those who lived in the most severely affected central part of the flats were offered new permanent homes.

Residents living in the two outer wings of the block were put into temporary accommodation - and they remain in the same situation now, with no firm date for a return to their home.

Emma squeezes a paddling pool into the shower to bath her children in the caravan

In that two years, Emma and her children have moved eight times. First, through a series of five different hotels. Then into two private rental properties. Both landlords served her with no fault eviction notices.

In February she was housed in a caravan. She believed it would be short term, but she is still there three months later.

The space is tight for a family of five. Her one-year-old's cot has to go in the living area because there is not enough space in the bedroom. And she bathes her children in a paddling pool in the shower tray.

"It's not a place I can be bringing up my kids giving them a routine, giving them stability. I can't do that here.

"They've lost out on that for two years now and I think that's absolutely wrong. My children need stability as much as any other child does."

Both Emma and her older children have been affected by the fire, and would prefer not to return to Somerset Court. She has asked to be found an alternative permanent home.

Helen Wilson, Abri's regional managing director, said dedicated support was available for all Somerset Court residents and that will continue to be provided "until people feel like they are homed in a place where they feel safe and comfortable".

In regard to Emma's case, she said: "I'm hoping we can move forward and find something very suitable in the near future."

Lily and her son are currently facing eviction from their temporary accommodation

Emma is not the only resident unhappy with the situation.

Lily - whose nine-year-old son has autism - has just been served with a Section 21 eviction notice by her landlord, who wants to sell.

"I'm back in that situation of having to find somewhere to go.

"Is any temporary [accommodation] going to take me because of my two dogs, and such a short-term lease? It sends anxiety to another level, and it's really upsetting. I want to be able to give my son answers."

She said she had not been told when she might be able to return to Somerset Court.

"I've been in limbo for two years now and it would be nice to be kept in the loop, to be given an actual date.

"It feels like our lives are on hold."

Other residents are similarly fed up.

They have gathered together outside the flats to speak to us.

Sevgyuzel and Sali Davud are among other residents who want answers

Sali Davud and his wife Sevgyuzel also have a short-term tenancy about to come to an end.

"We are in temporary accommodation at the moment - just until 20 May, but I don't know where we are going after this, just waiting.

"With two small kids, it's just stressful. We need to know exact information about when we come back."

Jodie Mills is worried about the impact on her three children.

"It's just so unfair, because not only for the trauma of the fire, the unsettlement of our children as well which is not good for their mental health."

Dianne Rose jumped from her first-floor balcony on the night of the fire.

"We just keep getting the run around. We just don't know where we stand. We keep getting told we're moving then we're told another six months and we don't understand why."

Arson probe closed

Abri accepts communications over recent weeks regarding timescales has been poor and says it is sorry.

Abri's regional managing director Ms Wilson told the BBC she hoped residents could move back in September.

"We're expecting that in June all our work will complete and then we have regulatory sign off that needs to happen," she said.

"If people want to return to Somerset Court, absolutely yes, [September] is when we're working towards."

A spokesperson for Gosport Borough Council said it had not been responsible for providing temporary accommodation and Abri was regularly updating the authority on the repairs.

Meanwhile, a police investigation into the cause of the fire, which was initially thought to be arson, was closed last year.

With September still five months away, some of the residents may have to move again before they can finally return home.