A mother says she feels like she’s been "stabbed in the back" after her council used a photo of her six-year-old son to market a new housing scheme which meant she would have to be evicted.
Lindsay Gibbs, 34, had been told her family would have to leave home as part of a Lambeth Council plan to hand back its properties to social tenants.
But, just a month later, she saw that a photo taken of her son, Jake, was being used to promote said plan - leaving her furious.
The Gibbs family, who live at the Central Hill Estate in Gipsy Hill, South London, were just one of 150 households across six Lambeth Council estates who had been told to expect Section 21 eviction notices if they didn't find homes by June.
Lindsay Gibbs "couldn't believe it" when she saw the picture of her son in the council leaflet
Gibbs said she "couldn't believe it" when she saw the picture of her son had been used to promote the same scheme which is forcing them out of home.
She told MyLondon: "My mother-in-law showed the newsletter to me and I couldn't believe it.
"It feels like a stab in the back, considering what we're going through... The council is using him to show community values on the estate, but at the same time are evicting us."
Gibbs said the image in the council leaflet had been taken at an event last summer, and was unrelated to the housing scheme - but if she'd known what it would be used for, she would never have allowed photographers to take it.
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The Central Hill estate in Lambeth is one of six where residents are being asked to leave by June
Lambeth Council
Gibbs has even had to push back her wedding until after June - but she said the stress of the news has left her unable to look for a new home.
She said she had only been proposed to in January, and thought 2024 was going to be a "really happy year", but the news left her really upset.
"I've been so stressed I've not even been able to look for somewhere else, but I know everywhere nearby has become so expensive. I've lived in Gipsy Hill for more than 20 years and my partner grew up on the estate - I fear it will force us to move away," she continued.
Gibbs said eviction has also left her worrying for her son, who suffers from ADHD.
She said Jake benefitted from a routine, as his condition means he finds it challenging to adapt to change, and stressed the need for her son to stay at his current school.
Staff at her son's school have already applied for an an Education, Health and Care Plan to assist with his learning, and have written to the council to stress just how disruptive a move would be.
The scheme has its origins in March 2017, when Lambeth Council passed plans to knock down the Central Hill estate, alongside five others in locations including Clapham, Stockwell and Kennington.
The plans saw social tenants in the estates turfed out to other council properties in favour of private rentals so Lambeth Council could account for interest on loans it had taken out to finance the demolitions.
When the demolitions were called off, the social tenants thought they would be able to stay in their homes - but, in January, the council told them they would have to leave by summer in order to reclaim social housing for vulnerable people in the borough.
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said it obtains written permission for all photographs used, but it "appreciates the concerns raised".
The spokesperson added: "The properties in question are former right-to-buy homes that the council has bought back and we are planning to use them to provide vital housing for homeless families in our borough.
"The offer of support to help find alternative accommodation is being made where appropriate."
