Tenants say they were given 12 hours to leave homes

Kayleigh Jackson was evicted from her rented home in Eltham

Dozens of families have said they were given 12 hours to pack and leave their rented homes in a south-east London block of flats.

Kayleigh Jackson, 23, who had been paying rent for her flat for seven months, was one of 40 tenants, including several children, evicted.

She told BBC London she had been given just half an hour to pack and leave the block, in Eltham, and consequently a lot of her possessions were still left there.

JM Housing Developments Ltd, which managed the building on behalf of the owner, said they had been told there was an issue with a planning application for the building and that tenants were "fully aware of the situation and that we were trying our level best to get them the extended stay for 60 days".

The BBC is attempting to contact the owner of the building for a comment.

Ms Jackson said: "We sat there for 12 hours until they could find suitable accommodation for us.

"My cats were in the box for over 12 hours, there was no way I could let them out. At the moment, I have no idea where we’re going to end up."

Her post on a community forum alerted Greenwich Council, which organised a bus to take the tenants to the Eltham Centre and, later that day, found them temporary accommodation in hotels.

Children's toys and bicycles left outside the boarded-up building in Eltham

Also evicted were older people with health problems, working families - including 11 children - and Ukrainian refugees.

Local councillor Lauren Dingsdale said she found a "chaotic" and "confused" situation.

She said some people had gone to work or to take children to school, "not realising they wouldn’t be coming back".

'Incredibly emotional'

"It was incredibly emotional and one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen," she added.

Pat Slattery, cabinet member for housing at Greenwich Council, said: "Investigations are going on at a pretty senior level in the council because some of these folks had deposits taken, rent taken."

The accommodation at Court Yard was managed by JM Housing Developments Ltd, which said tenants would be repaid within three weeks.

It said the tenants were "fully aware of the situation and that we were trying our level best to get them the extended stay for 60 days as there were elderly and minors in the site who would require more time to vacate and find alternative housing".

Greenwich Council said: "Prior to the eviction, the council was investigating the premises over a potential breach of planning permission, and we are now considering whether any civil or criminal breaches have taken place."

'Housing emergency'

Ms Slattery added: "We’ve stopped calling it a housing crisis - we’re calling it a housing emergency now - and this is a good example of it."

Eltham MP Clive Efford said the "issue of no fault evictions" was "putting more pressure on local authorities".

“This issue of temporary accommodation is costing my local authority, this year, £20m, picked up by Greenwich Council tax payers."

Having delayed the ban of Section 21 or "no fault evictions" last year, the Housing Secretary Michael Gove said it would be made illegal by the next general election.