Mother 'has had enough' (From Free Press Series)

Mother 'has had enough'

A HOMELESS mother from Torfaen had her dreams of being re-housed shattered when the offer of a council house was withdrawn the next day.

Tracy Griffiths, aged 29, is now coming to terms with being homeless again and is desperate to get her life back on track.

She said: "I have really had enough now, it has been really rough, I have even ended up sleeping on the platform of Pontypool train station."

Torfaen council allocated her a property in Sebastopol after she paid them £100 rent arrears that she owed.

But the flat was withdrawn when a further debt to the council was uncovered.

Ms Griffiths said: "They said I owed them another £400 from 12 years ago. I have offered to pay it off in instalments, but they won't have it."

The council are unable to comment on anyone's personal finances. Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Gwyneira Clark, said: "It is council policy that council properties are offered subject to debt checks and clearance of all outstanding monies owed to the council."

After five years of being on the registered homeless list she has not been able to keep a job and has had to leave her seven-year-old daughter in the care of her family.

The constant uncertainty of homelessness has left her feeling desperate. She said: "When is my life going to get better? Even a simple flat would make all the difference to me, because I could have my daughter with me again."

A homelessness charity may be able to provide some answers for anyone in similar situations. Although unable to comment on individual cases Shelter Cymru's head of Housing Services, J J Costello, said: "Local authorities have a duty to provide accommodation for priority groups of homeless people.

"Under the Homelessness Act where a local authority exclude people from waiting lists because of rent arrears, previous debts have to be quite serious and there will be cases where people who have owed money, should still be entitled to be offered a property from the council's waiting list."

He advised Ms Griffiths to go along to one of their advice surgeries held in Pontypool and Cwmbran on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for help. However life for Ms Griffiths continues "from moment to moment."

"I feel like I don't exist," she said.

"What I don't understand is that if the council gave me a property, I could then get a job and have a much better chance of paying them back.

"I don't know how they expect me to repay any debts while I am homeless."