Winchester mum fighting eviction of disabled daughter from her home of 20 years

Emma Lamb, 42, who suffers from conditions including epilepsy, mobility problems and learning difficulties, moved into her specially adapted home in Highcliffe over two decades ago and lives there with her full-time carer and beloved cat of 18 years, Nala.

She had previously shared the property with another lady who moved out in 2018, but since the pandemic hit the authorities have been subsidising her spare bedroom.

However, as restrictions have started to ease, social housing provider A2 Dominion has now said it needs the three-bedroom property back to deal with "the current housing crisis”, with executive director Michael Reece stating there is an "unprecedented number of families are in need of a home".

A2 Dominion wrote to Emma’s family in January, explaining they were unable to find a suitable tenant to live with her and her carer. The family say all they’ve been told since is that Emma will be served an eviction notice in June, despite Emma being left in the dark as to where she’d be moved to.

Her mum, Ann-Marie, said: “Emma lives a quiet life. She sits at home and watches television and doesn’t bother anybody. She’s got a lovely neighbour who looks out for her. All she wants is to be in her home with Nala, so why can’t social services find a solution?

“Why can’t they keep looking for someone to move in with Emma and until then just pay the money? Social services have a duty of care to my daughter and they’re failing her. For 35 years I’ve been fighting for everything Emma has and now they want to take away her home of 20 years. It all comes down to money and my daughter is just the piggy in the middle.”

Ms Lamb says the only alternative property which has been suggested to the family isn’t suitable for Emma’s needs.

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She says she’s tried to arrange a meeting with social services to work out a solution but has been continually told they’re too busy.

“Why can’t they find Emma a two-bed house where she can live out her life if they want her out,” she said.

“The least she deserves is a quiet life with everything she’s been through. Social services have put her through so much trauma, the support over the last three years has been non-existent.”

Michael Reece, executive director of A2 Dominion, said: "It's unfortunately no longer sustainable for us to rent out a three-bedroom property to a single tenant.

"We are supporting Hampshire County Council and Ms Lamb's current support provider, to find her a new home that meets her needs and we will continue to do so, with eviction being something we would only pursue as a last resort.

"We appreciate this is a difficult situation and would like to apologise for any stress this may have caused her and her family."

An eviction date has not been set, but Ms Lamb said the family would go to court if they needed to

She’s said the situation has caused Emma to have anxiety induced seizures which she fears could yet worsen.

She said: “Emma is just a figure on a sheet costing them money, they don’t care about her life. Any seizure could kill my daughter and I just live in fear as this goes on and on that I’ll get a call one day and that will have happened. Emma rings me up screaming on the phone saying, ‘it’s not my fault, I don’t want to leave Nala’. We need to do something, not just for Emma, but to also stop this happening to some other poor family.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “Any decision to provide an eviction notice is not taken by the County Council but by the social housing landlord. We understand that change can be difficult for our care clients whose accommodation arrangements are changing, and we therefore do all we can to work with all the parties involved to try to identify appropriate alternatives. This will often involve the relevant district or borough council which holds the statutory responsibility for housing. We will continue to offer our support to explore potential options and hope that a satisfactory resolution can be found in the near future.”

Message from the editor Kimberley Barber

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