Homeless woman who slept in tent outside South Kesteven District Council offices in Grantham hits out at housing department

A woman who was sleeping rough for at least 40 days believes a council housing department’s processes are “not up to date”, as she claims no help was given to her.

Lisa Freeman, 52, told South Kesteven District Council’s housing, overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday (July 13) how she wanted to “start afresh” in Grantham, after escaping domestic violence in Peterborough.

Ms Freeman told the committee she had been sleeping in a tent outside the South Kesteven District Council offices in St Peter’s Hill for the last 33 days, as of July 13.

She described these days as the “most traumatic of my life”.

She added: “You may or may not know me as the lady sleeping in the tent.

“Not one of you recognises me or knows that I’m sleeping there now, and this is the housing department.

“I moved to Grantham due to personal circumstances in Peterborough, where I’ve lived all my life.

“It took a lot for me to jump from there. I visited Grantham and thought this was a lovely place, I’m going to move here.”

Ms Freeman claimed she informed housing services beforehand and they said she would need a local connection, but if she did not have one she could move here and they would see what they could do.

When Ms Freeman moved to Grantham, she was “offered assistance for a small amount of time”, she added.

She was housed in a number of hotels and after this she assumed she would be sent to a hostel, but this “only lasted a week”.

Ms Freeman told the committee that she felt the council had made her “intentionally homeless” and claimed she had received “some harassment and bullying from some members to have me removed from this town”.

She told the committee she believed their services were not “up to date with current housing laws and the homeless reduction act” and she believed these needed looking at after her experience.

After her speech, Councillor Virginia Moran (Ind) told Ms Freeman that she understood that she was due to have a meeting with council officers after the meeting.

Coun Moran said she “hoped” and was “confident something would be sorted one way or another”.

Coun Moran also said she would be going back to officers to find out what happened in the meeting between them and Ms Freeman.

Since the meeting, Ms Freeman has been offered private rented accommodation in the Lincoln area.

A spokesperson for SKDC said: “The council had been exploring a range of options for Lisa Freeman and was pleased to be able to arrange private rented accommodation in the Lincoln area that meets her housing needs and which she has accepted.

“She is in temporary emergency accommodation, also in the Lincoln area, until she can move into the permanent accommodation.”