Serap (42) lives near Bounds Green and has three daughters and one son aged between six and 10 years old. Around six months ago she split up with her partner and had to apply for Universal Credit.
However, as she lives in a council property and her former partner is still a joint tenant, she doesn’t receive the full housing allowance. This means she is paying £300 a month extra on her rent and also a couple of hundred a month extra to clear her arrears. As she points out, this is money which could go towards clothes for her children.
Her former partner has now agreed to relinquish his half of the tenancy but because of the lockdown it’s taking a long time to organise. Moreover, Homes for Haringey has written to inform her she may be at risk of losing the tenancy even though her partner has willingly relinquished his half.
“I’ve put all my savings into this house to make it a liveable place for my children and thinking we’d be here until they’re 18 years old.
“I’ve got four kids, I can’t risk losing the property.”
Serap has been taking a nutrition course and is hoping to become a personal trainer. However, she would have to pay for the course so she can qualify.
Thankfully the children’s school has been very helpful, she says, and provided laptops for the children to do their school work from home. Two of her children are on the autism spectrum though which means they can still attend school during this lockdown.
She says it was a huge relief when the school referred her to the foodbank for extra deliveries.
“I had a weight lifted from my shoulders, not having to think about food and shopping so much,” she says. “It’s covered my kitchen essentials.
“My kids are, thank God, not starving because I get support from the community and the foodbank.”