Inside London’s temporary accommodation timebomb

When you are forced to share a shower with 16 other people, social distancing isn’t just difficult... it’s impossible. Flavia Cappellini speaks to some of the 612 families holed up in hostels in Southwark about London’s ‘Achilles heel’ in the fight against coronavirus

There are 612 households living in hostels or shared facilities in Southwark (Getty)

It’s early morning: time for Gaby to give her two-year-old daughter a bath. She takes the child out of bed and puts her in the kitchen sink. “We are lucky she still fits in,” says Gaby, who sleeps in the kitchen along with her husband and their youngest. The small bedroom is for their 11-year-old daughter. The parents start washing the baby. “She has low immunity defences and bone issues. Doctors told us that we need to be extremely careful because of Covid-19. We cannot risk using the shower.”

When the worldwide pandemic first emerged, Gaby and her family were under the housing responsibility of Southwark Council. Now – when it is killing hundreds of people a day in the UK and the country is in lockdown – the family only have access to one shower shared with five other families who live in the same building. In a five-storey hostel with shared facilities, social distancing is next to impossible. Gaby and her husband are unable to give their vulnerable child the protected environment she needs.

“The rest of the family wear trainers when showering, but the situation is outside our control,” Gaby tells me. Their case is not exceptional: there are 612 households living in hostels with shared facilities in the Borough of Southwark alone.