Mum's children 'stressed and sad' after hotel move

Michaela Evans and her family have been living in a hotel room for three months

A woman has accused Birmingham City Council of leaving her four children "stressed and sad" after they were moved into a hotel when their council flat was deemed unfit to live in.

Michaela Evans, 26, said she was moved out of a two-bed maisonette in Bartley Green in late July after a water leak.

Spending months "squeezed" into two interconnected hotel rooms had taken a toll, she said.

The council said repairs had taken longer than expected.

It said it was doing "everything possible" to get the matter resolved.

An issue with an electricity station at the property also led to the family being moved to the hotel in the south of the city, paid for by the local authority.

Ms Evans' four daughter are all under 10.

She told the BBC: "The kids are stressed and sad, they can't have their friends over.

"At first [the council] said [the stay] would be a fortnight, then twelve weeks [but] nothing has changed.

"At the flat, there are no repairs being carried out, even for minor things."

She said that an additional difficulty of hotel living was that she could not cook hot meals for her family.

She said that while they were entitled to a free hotel breakfast, she had no facilities to cook a hot evening meal.

She had to rely instead, she explained, on relatives cooking for her, or ordering takeaways, adding that as a result, her savings had depleted.

"I don't have any savings, I can't save. Birthdays have been bare-minimum, basic things," she said.

The mum, who has a part-time job at a pub, has to take two buses to drop her children off at school, as the hotel is more than five miles away from their new home.

Matt Downie, chief executive of the Crisis charity, said of such experiences: "You see families whose mental health from the parents to the children is devastated, and that means people are unable to function at work or at school.

"For many children, there is simply no room physically to grow. This is something that because it is hidden behind closed doors, the political class doesn't really see it."

Ms Evans said she wanted urgent clarity from the council over her family's future, stating: "Just be truthful and honest with us.

"I need to give my kids some stability - while all [of you are] cooped up in your nice, warm house, we aren't and we can't even have our home comforts with us."

Birmingham City Council said it was trying to get the repairs completed as soon as possible

Birmingham City Council said families from the Bartley Green property had been moved to temporary accommodation to allow National Grid to carry out emergency work, but "unfortunately the time taken to complete the works has been extended".

It said the delay was beyond its control and it was "regularly liaising with National Grid at senior level" to get the situation resolved.

The council also said it appreciated the problems families were experiencing and was in "regular contact with each of them to ensure they are fully supported".

Ms Evans' situation is not unique.

In the West Midlands, between January and March this year, 12,140 children were living in temporary accommodation, according to figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Some 900 families were placed in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels between the same period, the data also suggests.

Ms Evans said the council offered her emergency accommodation in Milton Keynes, which she had to turn down because of the distance from family, friends and schools - and the further distress more upheaval might cause.

She said: "I know we've got a roof over my head, we are grateful of that, but that is all I've got. I've got no more support whatsoever."