Family forced to leave house in Peterborough's St Michael's Gate still looking for new home three months later

A family who were forced to leave their house in St Michael’s Gate in Peterborough three months ago are still looking for a new home.

Families living in St Michael’s Gate in Parnwell were told to leave their homes in August. The estate was being used by Peterborough City Council to provide emergency accommodation for families in the city.

However, the estate is owned by Paul Simon Magic Homes, which bought it six years ago. The council said they had to move people on from the street as they could not afford to keep running the homes.

In October, The Peterborough Telegraph revealed seven families of the 82 households who had been forced to move out were still living in hotels and B&Bs having been moved out of the street – with four households not even having an offer of accommodation at the time. The council said it was costing £360 per household per week to put the families up.

Today, the authority has confirmed most of those families have now moved into a home – but one household is still living in B&B accommodation.

A spokesperson for the council said: “We have one household remaining in B&B accommodation that moved from St Michael's Gate.

"They are a large family and require a large property, which are in particularly short supply.

"The cost to the council for this accommodation is £787 per week.”

Now the council are appealing for landlords to come forward to find a more permanent solution.

The spokesperson said: "Any landlords in the city which might be able to help us find a large property for this household are encouraged to visit https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/residents/housing/landlord-incentive-scheme for more details."

In 2016 the estate hit the national headlines, when all 74 homes on the estate were brought by Paul Simon Magic Homes and were then to be managed by Stef & Phillips. All of the residents at the time were issued with eviction notices, so that their homes could be leased to Peterborough City Council to provide houses for the homeless.

This year residents were told they were told they would have to leave the street earlier in the summer.

MORE: Mum of five facing eviction from St Michael's Gate home speaks of worries of what future will hold