Family left without heating or hot water after being sent back to flood-damaged flat

A young mother and her two children were moved back into a flat without hot water, heating or a bed for the mother after a flood forced them to live in temporary accommodation for more than 10 months.

- HOLLY BANCROFT

Nicole Odafe, 33, and her two children, aged 10 and six, had to evacuate their housing association flat in Greenwich last November when a pipe burst, flooding the apartment with hot water.

The water damaged a number of their belongings and they were moved into an emergency hotel for two weeks before being put in a temporary flat. However, they were moved back into the old flat last week at the insistence of the housing association, despite there being no heating or hot water in the apartment and no bed frame for Ms Odafe’s mattress.

When The Independent went to see their home, the family were using a bucket in the bath to put boiled water in so they could wash. Ms Odafe was also putting a mattress in the kitchen every night to sleep, as her room was full of the family’s boxes and belongings.