Afiyah Khanam lives with her husband and six children in a temporary accommodation flat

A FAMILY of eight have told of the mouldy and overcrowded conditions they face in a temporary accommodation flat they have now stayed in for three years.

Afiyah Khanam lives on the Andover estate with her husband and six children, aged 11 to 19.

Bizarrely, the former Islington Council property is now being rented out by the private landlord at a cost of £700 a week to Haringey Council to use as temporary accommodation (TA).

Similar properties on the estate are subject to the benefit cap, which allows £442 a week for families.

Ms Khanam and her children, Haringey tenants, have now spent 13 years in temporary accommodation, and hold out little hope of ever being given a permanent place.

“All my life I’ve moved. It’s all I’ve known,” said Ms Khanam, who grew up in TA. “It’s unsettling, it’s like you can’t settle in one place. You have to start again, go through the motions again”.

The family have moved four times since 2013, and say they have been told that families like theirs often have to wait 20 years for a permanent place.

Meanwhile, they are crammed into what was first advertised as a three-bedroom flat. Ms Khanam and her husband sleep in the living room with their 11-year-old son. Three of their teenage daughters share a bedroom where black mould is visible on the ceiling.

“My 17-year-old cries every day, she feels like she can’t breathe, she can’t sleep,” said Ms Khanam.

“She’s doing exams and I see her making endless cups of tea to try and cope.”

The family have said they do not need a five-bed flat, and instead would be happy with a three-bed where the conditions were improved.

Ms Khanam said: “I appreciate there are loads of families waiting, but to put us in a place that is mouldy, that’s overcrowded, that’s not really fair.”

While the mother is pleading with Haringey Council to help improve the conditions, they are paying more than £700 a week in rent to the landlord who owns the property.

A shared bedroom in the flat on the Andover estate

The flat on the Andover estate was originally owned by Islington Council, but two separate sales have now left it in the hands of private property developer, Kings Oak Asset Portfolio, according to Land Registry records.

Financial statements from Companies House reveal the portfolio held £44million of investments in 2024, and the Kings Oak Capital website described the organisation as a network of “entrepreneurial, like-minded experts”.

“Our vision is for high-quality professional homes, and commercial and hospitality spaces, enhanced by experience and guided by a clear outcome or exit strategy”, the website further states.

The flat appears to have been sold in 2011 for £220,000. It was then sold on to Kings Oak Capital in March 2023 for £565,000.

Housing campaigners have said the situation – having a private company profit from a temporary accommodation contract with a neighbouring council on a property that was originally in the Islington Council stock – is “madness”.

Morag Gillie, from Islington Homes for All, told the Tribune: “This is once again demonstrating how broken the housing system is. We are seeing bigger companies seize on a niche in the market in order to provide TA.

“That’s really worrying, and it’s growing because there is more profit to be made from temporary accommodation despite the substandard conditions”.

She added: “TA was only meant to be during emergencies, or for over the weekends, but it has now been normalised and these private landlords are earning so much money because they get paid above the benefit cap”.

Islington Homes for All have called for a mass overhaul of the system, advocating for emergency legislation which would enable local authorities to take back ex-Right to Buy homes.

Councillor Sarah Williams, Haringey’s housing chief, said: “We acknowledge the concerns raised by the family and are doing everything we can to support them and thousands of others in need with the resources available to us.

“Like every London borough facing the ongoing housing crisis, a combination of right-to-buy and a shortage of social housing has left us with insufficient permanent accommodation of our own to offer, particularly large family-sized properties.

“We have an extensive plan in place to help us address rising demand and shrinking supply, including building a new generation of 3,000 council homes by 2031 to help turn the tide on the housing emergency.

“We want all tenants to live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes and will investigate the disrepair issues to establish the level of intervention and action required. A rehousing officer will also be in contact this week to offer advice and support on the options available.”

Kings Oak Capital did not respond to our invitation to comment.