Alan, Rachel, David, and Hugo

In the morning, Rachel changes into her school uniform in the toilet. There’s no privacy in the bedroom with her three brothers around. Rachel is thirteen, and has lived in this flat all her life - her mum moved here when she was born. Now they are a family of six sharing the same small living space.

Theresa makes packed lunches while the children get ready for school. They don’t have free meals.

‘We pay the rent and we buy the food,’ she says. ‘But they might have to wait for new shoes...’

There’s no lift in the building, which is a strain for

six-year-old David. He has joint immobility and delayed development. Theresa has to help him up the stairs while carrying the shopping in the afternoon. She has back ache, but her priority is

her sons’ health. Alan, a toddler, has a hearing impairment, and Hugo has Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

‘I know there’s other people that are worse off than us, but on a daily basis our life is hard.’

Annyka and Rahul

Annyka, eight, Ruhel, eleven, and their mum, Imelda, are about to be evicted from this room. They have been living here for seven months. They don’t know where they will go next.

They can’t go back to their dad’s. He was hurting their mum and they had only made that stop by coming here.

Annyka says when she’s older she will buy her mum everything. A car. A house with a garden. Ruhel gets upset that he can’t have toys like his school friends. When he grows up he wants to be a policeman.

Antousha, Gabriel and Moses

‘T-rex, Stegosaurus, ’Patosaurus, Triceratops…Velociraptor, Pterodactyl…’

Five-year-old Antousha is interested in dinosaurs. He wants to be a vet. His sister, four-year-old Gabriela, says that she will be a princess. They live in South London. One-year-old Moses sleeps with their mum and dad in this room with all of their belongings; books, toiletries, sewing kit; some toys and suitcases of

clothes. Most of it has come from charities including Antousha’s winter coat.

They used to go to the food bank once a week but now, due to high demand, they can only go monthly. They eat here in the bedroom. When they need to, the parents miss meals.

Christopher and Simon

Christopher, four, and Simon, two, are always at home with their mum, Sainey, in South London. She was trafficked here from Ghana by her relatives as a domestic slave. She has not left London in 17 years.

Now free, she is in debt, and can’t afford clothes for her growing children.

Daniel, Nick and Theo

Daniel misses home and asks his mum to forgive his dad.

He is seven and has been living in this single room with his mum and little brother Nick for over a year. Now there is baby Theo too.

Social services finally moved them here after six months of living in hostels. They had to leave home when Daniel told a teacher that his dad was hitting his mum. She was pregnant with his brother at the time and they were financially dependent on his dad.

Daniel’s mum is happier. She can’t give her son his home back but her children are everything to her; ‘Apart from my kids I don’t have nothing.’

Darshna, Gita and Dipesh

Darshna, Gita and Dipesh are triplets. Their mum, Paulina, is a beautician and Ashwin, their dad, is a postman. He works nights as a chef at an Indo-Chinese restaurant. He gets home at 1am to eat dinner with Paulina.

The couple have no savings: the money they had stored in cash was burned in a house fire five months ago. They lost everything they had for their children.

Dillan and Rachel

This room is shared by Dillan, eight, and his little sister Rachel. They live in temporary accommodation with their mum. There is no space in the flat for their older brother Kyle, who lives with his grandma.

The kids were split up in 2016 when they left their home for a women’s refuge. Their mum, Deborah, was being raped by their dad.

Four-year-old Rachel still spends time with him in Sussex. The court permits these visits if he locks himself in his bedroom at night, but Rachel says she sleeps in her dad’s bed.

Social Services say they can’t do anything, and they shift the conversation towards Deborah’s previous drug addiction.

Edward

Four-year-old Edward has delayed development and cries a lot. He has been through a lot already in all the places he has lived.

When his dad kicked them out, Edward’s mum couldn’t afford her own home. They moved in with his grandma who was an alcoholic and was abusive to them both. Social Services re-housed them again and again all over London - at the same time his mum was trying to hold down a job. They moved in with someone from church but he became aggressive towards Edward and they had to move again. The temporary rooms aren’t comfortable and they usually have bed bugs.

Now Edward and his mum live in a nice area but there are cockroaches under the bathroom sink. Edward cries all the time and his mum can’t provide for his basic needs. A charity gave him a train set and they get food from a bank.

‘I can’t even afford to buy him an apple some weeks. I don’t want much. Just a bit more,’ says his mum.

Fabrice

Fabrice, 19, is in his second year studying politics and international relations at a Russell Group university.

He is on the American football team and has won a scholarship to play for a college in the States. In his room in North London, a Miami Dolphins running back jersey takes pride of place above his bed. He has only just found somewhere to fit in.

‘I really never wanted to be street or chill, or be a bad man or a gangster or anything like that,’ says Fabrice.

A few years ago, Fabrice was being bullied at his under-performing secondary school. He developed an eating disorder and became overweight. Then he was picked for tuition by an educational charity. Now he can see a future for himself.

‘When I show I’m a boss is when I’m actually the boss, like of a company or as a MP … What’s funny is that I’ve felt discriminated against by both sides. So by my own people, my own working-class people, thinking, “Oh, he thinks he’s better than us,” it’s like crabs in boiling water. And then if I do go to a more upper-class area I look like the guy that’s going to rob your house.’

Fabrice wants to start his own mentoring charity.

Matthew and Grace

Matthew, seven, and Grace, five, share a room with everyone’s stuff. There is no storage space in their flat.

Their parents and baby brother sleep on a mattress in the living room, finally clear of rubble from when the ceiling caved in. Luckily Solomon was doing a night shift and Yvette was putting their children to bed when it happened. Like the last tenants, they had complained about the leak but nothing was done.

The family have been living in temporary accommodation for the past three years, since bailiffs took their home. They are still technically homeless and could be moved again at short notice.

Both parents are working but they rely on charities for food hampers and day trips. Yvette is philosophical; ‘All our wants are never enough. That’s the truth about human beings. If there’s any means for you to actually get more, you’ll get it. That’s how it is.’

Jane

‘At the beginning I didn’t have benefits, so I didn’t have food either.’

When Amelie’s partner left, the household income suddenly halved. After paying bills, she couldn’t afford to buy food. She wasn’t eating properly and she was five months pregnant.

Amelie and her daughter, Jane, have moved into this bed-sit in North London. Amelie now claims Housing Benefit, which subsidizes their rent (£1,096 per month) for a privately leased room. It’s still expensive. When Amelie’s maternity leave ends she will need to pay childcare costs too and her teaching assistant salary will not cover it.

The mother and daughter share a kitchen and bathroom with other tenants. Amelie has to put her towel under their door to stop the neighbours’ drug smoke from coming in.

Laurel

Mai and her baby, Laurel, live in a kitchen. They were moved here by Social Services because Laurel’s dad is a registered sex offender.

Mai had to give up her PhD and has lost her student visa. Until it’s renewed, she manages on sixty pounds a week, paying for nappies and some groceries. Mai eats on her feet over the sink beside Laurel’s high chair. ‘We copy each other sometimes,’ says Mai. ‘She’s a little bit clever.’

Leona and Emmanuel

Leona is four and her brother Emmanuel is three.

Both children have autism. This council flat is their fourth home.

Their mum Kathani is a qualified special needs teacher but she can’t work until Emmanuel starts school. At the moment he is only eligible for 15 hours of free childcare.

Kathani needs the income. She has to use food banks when her benefits are cut. She has furnished the flat using charity donations but will have to start over if they are moved again. The last place they were allotted was above a nightclub and there were cockroaches.

‘I broke off with family and friends because I didn’t want them to see what I was going through,’ she says.

Leona is there for her mum; ‘She wipes my tears, gives me a hug and kisses me… and it kind of gets me back up.’

Jason and Maria

Jason, eight, and his sister, six-year-old Maria, live in a big hostel in North London with their mum. The one room they share is so small that Jason has to do his homework in the bathroom. He sits on the floor and uses the toilet seat as a desk.

The children moved here four years ago because their father was abusive. They lost their home and their mum lost both her jobs in the process. If she had refused the hostel placement, they would have been declared ‘intentionally homeless’ and Jason and Maria would have gone into foster care. They were only meant to stay here temporarily.

Gangs run the area they live in now, and pimps lurk in the hostel’s corridors. Some of the women have become prostitutes. The children’s mum has found legal work but she can’t save enough for the deposit to rent anywhere else.

Michael

Michael, two, rarely leaves the flat in outer East London. His mum, 26-year-old Rose, is agoraphobic. She has developed a fear of climbing the stairs with him. Michael has clubfoot and his brace makes him cumbersome to carry along with the buggy.

Rose is a single mum, separated from Michael’s dad who is pursuing his dream to be a rap star. Once a week a charity volunteer accompanies her to the supermarket and they go to Michael’s playgroup together. If Rose has a panic attack, the volunteer is there. Trips to central London for medical appointments are more complicated.

Rose took her first job at 14 years old and was in constant work until she took maternity leave. Now she

is in debt and will have a bad credit rating for years to come.

Miles

Kelly and one-year-old Miles live in West London. They rarely leave their borough because travel is too expensive.

Ten years ago Kelly was trafficked as a domestic slave. She had gone through a job agency looking for work abroad so that she could support her son and husband in Indonesia. The agency sent her to Syria and then to Manchester, England.

Following her escape, Kelly had to wait five years before she could get her British Leave-to-Remain visa. Now she can’t work until Miles is old enough for free childcare. Her son in Indonesia doesn’t speak to her. Kelly spends her time in their empty flat cleaning so that she doesn’t have to think.

Nadine, Crystal, Peter and Simone

Nadine, 17, Crystal, 16, Peter, 15 and Simone, 9, share one room between them. They are at home from four o’clock and spend their free time in their bedroom after studying and tidying the flat with Gloria, their mum.

She is worried Peter will join a gang so she doesn’t let him have friends. She wants the kids to earn enough in the future so they can be free of the burdens of money trouble.

Gloria works in childcare and her partner drives a mini-cab. Nadine, their eldest, wants to study counselling.

Jayesh and Ojas

This is where the family sleep. Baby Ojas, Jayesh and their mother Melissa.

As a single mother, Melissa can’t work nights any more and she isn’t receiving child support. Her area has changed over to Universal Credit and because she doesn’t understand the new system, Melissa isn’t getting her usual benefits.

Jayesh, four, has autism and Melissa hopes that watching TV will help to broaden his vocabulary. She finds it hard to keep up with her son whose disorder makes him hyperactive. Jayesh likes to climb things and the terrace door in the kitchen doesn’t lock. He could easily let himself out and fall.

Melissa objects to these living conditions. Their home is cramped and hazardous and the family can’t afford to buy food.

‘Everyone around here relies on food banks,’ she says. ‘There is a very wide gap between the rich and the poor in this country. And the council are selling flats to private tenants.’

Ollie and Finn

‘Whenever their father was angry, I would send the boys to their room to play…’

When Florence and her children arrived at this London women’s refuge, they had nothing but a small bag and the clothes on their backs. They were given a starter pack: toiletries, slippers, toys, tinned food and cooking utensils. Ollie and Finn didn’t know why. They didn’t know what they were doing here.

‘The first few days were incredibly hard. My children kept asking when we were going home.’

The boys are finally settling in and are getting to spend more time with their mum. She’s feeling more like herself now.

Patricia

Ten-year-old Patricia has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Her figurines and Lego pieces are highly prized and have been collected over years.

Patricia is the only person in the family with her own bedroom. Her two younger brothers share and her parents sleep on a sofa bed in the living room with the baby. The family also eat there because there is nowhere else to sit.

When her parents contest their cramped living conditions, they are told to throw away toys and not to complain.

Jesse

This is Jesse’s room. From his window he can see West London in miniature below; Canary Wharf is on the skyline.

Jesse and Philippa live with their mum on the 27th floor. She married their dad at 18, the same age Philippa is now. He was a drug dealer, and used the crystal meth that he sold. The kids still see him, and keep his portrait hanging on the wall in the living room, their mum’s room.

London is expensive and even though their mum works, she can’t afford to take the kids out for fun. Philippa will be independent soon. She is 18 and wants to go north to study criminology. Jesse has just started sixth form.

Rory and Vanessa

Six-year-old Rory has behavioural issues. He is in year one at school and has already been suspended. He sleeps in the blue bed next to his sister and their mum in this one room accommodation.

Social Services moved them in two years ago when they were living in a flat with no electricity or heating. Paramedics found them when their mum had a seizure. They were under her duvet wrapped in clothes. ‘It was cold,’ says Rory. His little sister, two-year-old Vanessa, needs physiotherapy, though she is no longer malnourished. She likes to sing.

Rory likes playing with his friends at school but worries about his mum when he is out. The last time she had a seizure it was Rory who phoned the ambulance. She washes his uniform in the shower and stores their food on the bathroom shelves.

Sabrina and Andrew

‘It hurts when you go to the shop, seeing your kids picking something they want, and you can’t buy it for them. But what can you do?’

Daniela is an illegal immigrant. She was brought to London in her teens by a sex trafficker. Without a visa, her aviation degree is void here. Her husband can’t work either - his spouse visa was revoked when he and his first wife divorced. Stuart’s savings are nearly gone and Daniela’s hairdressing barely covers their meals. She has just started using a food bank.

‘I wasn’t comfortable … begging for food. What I want to do is work to feed my children.’

Now they are being evicted. The couple live in a council flat they share with other tenants. They have paid their rent, but the legal occupant who sub-lets to them hasn’t been passing the money on to the council.

This is the family’s bedroom. Andrew, two, and Sabrina, four, sleep in the bunk bed next to their mum and dad. At the weekend, Daniela takes the kids out to the library and they read Peter Rabbit and Peppa Pig.

Paul and Sade

It’s hard to sleep. The toilet needs fixing and it’s always cold. Seven-year-old Paul shares a bed with his mum; his baby sister has a crib. They use the portable heater once a week, when it’s their turn.

Three other families live in the East London flat with one room each. Everyone eats on the floor; they get tinned food from charities. There’s no space for their children to play inside, and outdoors in the park Paul feels left out of games. He comes from a black family in a predominantly white area and there are no children’s centres nearby.