Lee-Anne Saunders

Lee-Anne Saunders literally wept for joy when she found out that she and her daughter could move out of a hostel into a two-bedroom flat of their own. The move has changed her life.

“For the first time in years I feel settled,” she says. “I’ve got a home that I’m proud of, and a stable environment for my daughter Kelise.”

Four years spent in a hostel had left Lee-Anne depressed. 

“I didn’t think of it as home,” she says. “It was disgusting. It was infested with cockroaches, and there were some really dodgy people coming and going at all times. I never invited anyone round. I’d get up every morning and leave. I didn’t want to be there.”

During those bleak years, Lee-Anne often went to her mother’s house in Hornsey, an area she knew well from childhood. The bus route took her past Westpoint Apartments – she watched them emerge from the ground.

“I didn’t think I’d get a place there. I’d been on the housing list for years. I was told that I’d need to have another child to get enough points to move out of the hostel.”

Salvation came through a fast-let scheme. “I heard that three flats had become available at Westpoint, and I applied for them all. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that I’d got one. I broke down in tears,” she says.

“Now I actually look forward to coming home.”
 
The £10 million Westpoint scheme was developed by London and Quadrant Housing Trust and Tower Homes, with more than £2.3 million of funding from Housing Corporation.