Ealing: Last shipping container residents face uncertainty over evictions

Paula Aleksandros with her two children in their shipping container

The last remaining residents being evicted from a west London estate made from converted shipping containers say they do not have another home to go to.

The temporary homes on Marston Court were decommissioned by Ealing Council after a report found they were cramped and had inhospitable temperatures.

Residents have expressed their frustration at being offered temporary hotel accommodation.

The authority said all remaining residents were being supported.

But mother-of-two Paula Aleksandros said: "I have a tent. I don't sleep, I don't know where I'm going to go. I have nowhere to go."

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Ms Aleksandros was told she must evict by 12 April

The estate of metal boxes, built on the former site of a 1970s garage block, had been designed to be emergency accommodation.

A council meeting last September heard people were "suffering from violence, anti-social behaviour, fear of crime and housing that isn't up to scratch a number of years after it was introduced".

At the height of the issues in Marston Court, Ms Aleksandros said she was attacked by drug dealers who would come into the estate freely through a broken security gate.

She said she had complained to the council many times, even conducting a sit-in at council offices last year which she now fears has harmed her chances of being rehomed.

"Maybe I might not be on the street physically but what's the difference? Where are they going to put me? From one hotel to another hotel," she said.

"I have been struggling here, you can't even cook properly and have a normal meal [in a hotel it will be worse]. How long can you put up with this?

"Especially when you have kids. If I was alone it would be different but with kids it is so stressful."

Ms Aleksandros said she did not know where she would store her possessions

John, another resident who was moved into Marston Court as part of efforts to house homeless people during the pandemic, is now also facing eviction.

He said he would rather be homeless than have to deal with Ealing Council again.

"I will not have anything to do with the council under any circumstances. I have made that very clear.

"Maybe the next time you see me it might be in a park on a park bench sleeping rough because seriously I will not have anything to do with them," he said.

An Ealing Council spokesperson said: "We are obliged by law to serve all the households at Meath and Marston courts with eviction notices as part of the decommissioning process.

"We have told those being moved into alternative accommodation not to be concerned by those letters and that they will be fully supported in their move to alternative accommodation.

"Three households will be evicted where we are either ceasing our housing duty towards them or as a result of rent arrears. One of those households includes children and we are working to ensure that our Children's Act duties are observed. These households have all been updated and advised on the actions they need to take."

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