30-year old Janice, with her husband and two children, was evicted after they complained to their landlord that damp seeping through the ceiling was unhealthy for the baby. They have been in temporary accommodation for five-and-a-half years, in one room which has a small fridge, a couple of electric cooking rings, a shower room in a cupboard, and one double bed, which they all share. Janice says, “I never, ever expected something like this to happen to me.” She was working as an administrator at Hendon Police College but had not yet completed a year, so when she became pregnant, she didn’t qualify for maternity leave and lost her job. Her husband runs the post room in an office block, which is a secure, but low paid job. “I had a degree, a good education and a good job, so why would I expect to end up here? I feel lost and sometimes I can’t breathe. I can’t cook here, my children can’t play, I can’t be myself, all of us locked in. In winter, when it’s dark early, it’s unbearable.”