Mum's plight over eviction

Emma Paterson - Emma Paterson • Published 17 Jul 2008 09:55

A WOMAN with five children, two of whom have special needs, has slammed housing authorities who have left her family facing homelessness.

Deborah Gordon is being evicted from her four-bedroom home on the Churchill estate - part of the Defence Estates (DE) housing provision belonging to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) - after separating from her sailor husband almost four years ago.

Mrs Gordon, who has since remarried, placed her name on the list for council housing immediately after the split because she was no longer eligible for accommodation from Defence Estates - who oversee homes for service personnel and their families - but has still not been offered an alternative permanent home nearly three and a half years later.

Mrs Gordon said: 'It has been unbearable for my family, we are facing so much uncertainty. I can understand why we are no longer able to stay in the Churchill estate but it seems ridiculous when there are so many houses lying empty there.'

'My eldest sons, who have considerable additional support needs, are very distressed about the situation. My 15-year-old keeps asking why they can"t just put us in another house here if they need this one back so badly, and I am struggling very hard to understand it myself, let alone explain it to him.'

She added: 'We started receiving letters from the DE in recent months and they have informed us that if we aren"t out soon the bailiffs will arrive to retake the property by force. "

An MOD spokesman defended DE"s decision to evict Gordon family and said: 'Our policy is to provide housing to serving personnel and their families as part of the conditions of service, but where that entitlement ends we try to accommodate family requirements as far as possible, working with local authorities and housing authorities. However, we also need to manage our housing stock in support of wider basing decisions, to ensure that sufficient houses are available for serving personnel.

He added: 'It is not as simple as saying that houses are in short supply and therefore we should provide them to the public. We are in support of a much larger issue - the delivery of naval services."

See the full story in this week's Advertiser.

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This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 17 Jul 08

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