Helena works 25 hours per week in accounts. Her low income means part of her rent is paid by Housing Benefit. When the benefit cap was introduced, she was evicted from her flat and spent two nights in a bed-and-breakfast with her seven-year old daughter. She was so horrified by the experience that she is now sleeping on friends’ sofas, in rotation, leading to tensions between friends. The bed-and-breakfast room was filthy. It had no window, just a small skylight. There was blood on the duvet sheet and the kitchen was encrusted with dirt. Helena says, “I wouldn’t put my daughter in a position of living in that kind of squalor.”