It was the early hours of a recent weekend morning. A man was urinating outside the door of the block of flats opposite.

A row broke out between him and a resident. The man returned with a broken glass bottle and mallet looking for an argument.

The danger seemed to have been defused as he went away – only to return shortly afterwards armed with an iron bar. Much shouting ensued before the police arrived and began to chase him around the estate.

"It was like something you see on The Bill," said Gemma (24).

The situation inside the two-bedroom flat was equally alarming. Situated on the second and top floor of a block of flats in Wick in Littlehampton, Gemma describes it as 'manky looking'.

"It's not somewhere I ever thought I'd be bringing up my children, to be honest," said Gemma.

"The communal area is full of broken glass, sweet wrappers and fag butts. It is filthy and dirty and it stinks of the stale butts."

But she could well be getting used to living there with her husband Craig (33), and two children, Fenella (four) and Makz (one). This year their home was repossessed – the fallout from a serious accident at Craig's workplace.

Brought up in Bognor Regis, the couple have been married for five years. Gemma moved in with Craig, who lived in a rented bungalow in Bognor, and their daughter was born at St Richard's Hospital. Both sets of parents lived in the area.

But the couple wanted to get on the housing ladder and made the momentous decision to leave their families and move to south Wales.

In May 2006, they got a mortgage to buy a large three-bedroom detached house in the peaceful village of Fleur-de-Lys in Blackwood, Gwent, for £89,500.

Life was generally good. Craig earned £23,000 a year working for a clinical waste firm at its depot in Bristol to which he had transferred from Chichester.

Gemma gave birth to Makz there and looked after the children. She recalled: "Our bills were paid on time and we didn't have any red-letter demands. We were comfortable enough off to be able to afford things like Sky TV and broadband.

"We had what we thought was a secure roof over our heads. It was a nice way of life, though I missed our families and friends."

But the good life began to unravel last August when Craig seriously injured his shoulder at work. After going on sick leave, the bills started to pile up and they left their home in November before they were repossessed.

Unable to afford a big-enough property back in Bognor, they moved into Craig's grandparents' cramped bungalow in North Bersted.

Attempts to find a council property were unsuccessful and they moved again to a privately-rented house in Ravens Way in December.

Gemma had just started work in a bakery but soon quit when Craig was diagnosed with depression.

"I needed to be at home with him and the children," she explained. "He was depressed because he was unable to provide for us. He's always worked since he was a teenager."

He was made redundant in March when his employer closed the depot in which he used to work.

He had an operation to repair his shoulder but it failed, leaving him on 11 painkillers a day. His surgeons are now talking about inserting a replacement shoulder as the only way to restore the joint to normal.

The lease on the property was ending and Gemma and Craig were advised by Arun District Council to wait until they were evicted before approaching the council as a homeless.

On August 26 they sat in their car waiting for the bailiff rather than be forcibly turfed out.

It took them the rest of the day at the council before they knew their next address. A move to a B&B with their furniture in storage and their two dogs in kennels, was a strong possibility.

They were eventually given keys to a flat in Wick. Maintenance men were still inside when they arrived with their belongings on a borrowed flat-bed lorry and crammed into the back of their car.

The following weeks saw several complaints to Arun about their flat. Gemma has a list of 34 faults for repair, from having no carpet to having exposed carpet grippers in several rooms, a missing lid over a 240v mains cable, no heater in the back bedroom and a loose toilet.

The family wear outdoor shoes indoors because of the dangers of catching their feet on the floors. Fenella and Makz have suffered cuts and bruises from falling over on the hard surfaces.

"We would really like to know how the council feels this dwelling is fit and habitable for a family to live in with all the health-and-safety risks," said Gemma.

But if inside was bad, outside is no better. She had been in the flat for only a day when there was a knock on the front door. A friendly neighbour offering a warm welcome or a council official come to visit the family?

No – it was a policeman seeking witnesses to sightings of a wanted moped rider.

Welcome to the world of the repossessed.

This is one of five repossession cases Arun has handled in the past six months, compared with just one case in the same period of 2007.

A council spokeswoman, responding to Mrs Austin's comments, said: "We do our best to help those who approach us with housing problems and appreciate this can be a very difficult and stressful time for those involved.

"When Mr and Mrs Austin approached the council with their housing problems, this accommodation was the only property available.

"At the time, it was undergoing some minor repairs prior to being
re-let. The alternative was to place the family in a bed and breakfast out of the Arun district.

"It was considered more appropriate to place them temporarily in Littlehampton so they could stay in the area and be close to their friends and family.

"Since moving into the property in late August, Mr and Mrs Austin have twice written to the council raising some issues about the property. We responded to their first letter and are currently looking into the further issues they have raised."




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