Rochford mum living in cramped bedsit pleads for help

Mikaela Logan, 33, was born and raised in Rochford but moved to Kent for a period before going to Texas to study for a nursing degree for nine months. 

Earlier this year, she returned to Rochford in the hope of “creating a better life” for her two children – a ten-year-old son and her daughter, five, who has cerebral palsy. 

Bedsit - Mikaela and her two children have been moved into a bedsit with no idea of what will happen in the future (Image: Mikaela Logan)

However, Rochford Council has allegedly told the mum “she is not a Rochford resident” and should seek support from Kent County Council, despite growing up in the area. Both her children are going to school in Rochford. 

The council has insisted it is working with the family when contacted by the Echo. 

Since returning to the UK on September 20, the family have lived in a hotel and a caravan, before being placed in a bedsit by Rochford Council which she claims is “badly cramped” with just one bed, a bunk bed, a sink and a microwave. 
 

Like a prison - Ms Logan likened the current bedsit to a cramped prison space, with no idea if this arrangement will be changed (Image: Mikaela Logan)

“I have six suitcases, it’s all I have to my name to make sure my children have a roof over their heads,” Ms Logan said.

“I’ve been completely hung out to dry and was told that if I was deported from America, it would have helped.

“I was referred to a housing officer and the way she made me feel was awful, it was disgusting, I was begging her and telling her it wasn’t my intention to come back.

“I’ve never had to ask the council for anything, but I really needed it, and she did not want to help – she made it clear – you can’t just leave and come back,” she said.

Ms Logan said she feels like “a total outsider” despite her mother living in Rochford and “my passport and birth certificate saying Rochford”.

“I have no idea what my future is looking like, private rent is not affordable for me: I can’t do this on my own.”

A Rochford Council spokesman said: “We were contacted by the applicant last month who had returned from America where they had been living. Prior to leaving the UK, her long-term settled accommodation had been in another county – which under the legislation for a homeless application, means that county would be her local connection. She has also applied to the housing register. 

“Miss Logan and her children are currently being supported by the council in suitable temporary accommodation until we receive acceptance of the referral from another county. We will continue to support Miss Logan and have given her advice regarding private rental accommodation in the district.”