News / Housing
Young family face eviction as they fight intentionally homeless ruling
A family with young children is fighting an intentional homelessness ruling that could see them evicted from their temporary accommodation.
Jess Rumble-Bear, whose five children are aged as young as 19 months and seven months, said the decision by South Gloucestershire Council is “ridiculous”.
Rumble-Bear moved her family out of her rented accommodation in Lansdowne Court, Easton in March 2025 after her doctor advised her the mouldy and damp conditions were causing her baby’s rash.
She and her children moved in with her husband at his rental property in Emersons Green, which is under South Gloucestershire Council’s jurisdiction.
The council then advised the family that their new accommodation was unfit to be lived in due to overcrowding.
The family was moved into temporary accommodation in St Werburgh’s in August 2025, which the council set up.
However, it later ruled that the family had made themselves intentionally homeless when they opted to move out of their original house, despite it being the council’s decision to move them out of their Emersons Green house.
That means they could be evicted at any time from their current housing.
On Monday, Acorn members gathered at council offices trying to force a meeting with the housing lead
Rumble-Bear, who is fighting to overturn the decision with the aid of housing union Acorn, said: “I feel so insecure because we don’t know when we’re going to lose our housing.
“Our family has suffered. We don’t know how long we’re going to be here in our temporary accommodation.
“We’ve got five kids; we deserve security. We deserve to have a home where our kids can all have their own beds.”
On Monday, Rumble-Bear and around ten Acorn activists went to the council’s offices in Kingswood in the hope of talking with councillor John O’Neill.
They had emailed the adults and homes lead asking for a meeting but he had not replied in time.
Instead, the activists tried to get into the main bit of the offices, despite the receptionist telling them they could not go in, and with security placed on alert.
Finding the doors locked, they then rang O’Neill and demanded a meeting with him, pushing for him to overturn the intentional homelessness decision.
In an increasingly irate call on both sides, O’Neill said he would go over the facts with the legal team and officers again, but refused to promise a meeting with Acorn and Rumble-Bear.
Campaigners were disbelieving that he could not overturn the decision himself, making the point that as an elected politician he should surely have that power and should not be beholden to unelected officials.
“It’s just not right,” Acorn member Ellie Nethercott said after the meeting. “We think this is a clear case where a mistake has been made leaving young children vulnerable.”
Overturning the ruling would be “a common-sense decision to keep a young family safe”.
Rumble-Bear said the situation has had a significant impact on her family, particularly her husband
Rumble-Bear outlined the impact the situation has had on her family, in particular her husband who had previously been campaigning for the change himself.
“The way he has been treated, I couldn’t let him keep doing it,” she said. “He doesn’t sleep; he’s sad; he’s stressed all the time.
“We want to be able to afford to private rent. (But we) know that we would probably get into arrears and then be put back into this situation.”
If that happened, she said, they would likely be deemed intentionally homeless again for renting a property they knew they couldn’t afford.
“That’s the catch-22 we’re in.”
A council spokesperson said: “The family approached the council and presented themselves as homeless, so we provided temporary accommodation under statutory homelessness powers.
“Following an investigation into the circumstances, it was found that we have no ongoing duty to provide housing. However, we are still accommodating the family on a discretionary basis and continue to offer our support to help them resolve their situation and find a settled home.”
All photos: Molly Pipe
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