The little girl who's been trapped in Kettering General Hospital for ten months because of a lack of social housing

A young girl has been living at Kettering General Hospital for ten months because her own home is not fit for her to return to.

Kyra, who lives near Wellingborough, is trapped at the Rothwell Road site because there’s no suitable social housing in North Northamptonshire for her to go to.

The 11-year-old has a rare genetic disorder and was admitted to KGH last September with breathing problems. She was declared fit to leave after four weeks but a Channel 4 News investigation has found that she cannot go home because the house her mum rents is no longer considered a suitable house for Kyra, and there are no other homes in the area for her to live in.

Her mum has been bidding on houses every week but has never managed to secure one.

Reporters from the flagship news programme spoke to Kyra’s grandmother Wendy Horn, who told them her and Kyra’s mum have to travel an hour every day to see the little girl.

Wendy told the programme: “People looking in and listening in to the situation must be thinking ‘Oh my God that’s awful, how do you cope’, but it’s gone on for so long that to us it’s just normal now. This is our life.”

“There’s just not enough adapted properties. We can only assume she’s not top of the list. Can’t really expect to be I suppose. We’ve gone to a lot of lengths to try and find something. I even drive around looking for empty properties.

"I miss her no end. It’s gone from us all always being together to.. not so much now.”

Channel 4 News Reporter Amelia Jenne said: “This is a family in limbo, desperate for a home with wheelchair access and a wet room. Their pleas to the council for help finding on have, so far, been ignored.

"This child has been made homeless. Forced to live in a hospital for ten months.

"Last week following our interview we asked North Northamptonshire Council about Kyra’s case. Also last week they started actively trying to find her family a property.”

There are 1.2 million households on council housing waiting lists across the country, with 104,000 people in England waiting for adapted housing and a further 20,000 waiting for homes suitable for wheelchairs. Just 427 wheelchair accessible homes are currently being built in the UK this year.

The private rental sector has very few wheelchair adapted homes on offer, and people who own their own home often struggle to afford the huge cost of adaptations.

Cllr Jason Smithers (Con, Oundle), Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said: “Whilst it would not be appropriate to go into detail on an individual case – we accept that this situation is not acceptable and apologise to the family concerned.

“We are working with the family as a matter of priority and are aware of the need for adapted accommodation in North Northamptonshire."

He also told the programme: “I unreservedly apologise on behalf of NNC. It’s not acceptable, the situation they find themselves in but we’re learning lessons from this.

"I’ve encouraged my senior officer team to look at how we can make sure this doesn’t happen again.

"We’re ensuring she’s now at the very top of that priority list.”

A Government spokesperson said: "This situation is completely unacceptable and the council must treat this case a priority - disabled people must have access to suitable housing. That is why we have invested over £4.8 billion to deliver 490,000 home adaptations since 2010.

"Councils manage their social housing waiting lists and we expect them to give priority to those who need to move for medical or welfare reasons.

“Local authorities can facilitate adaptations without the landlord’s permission if their assessment is that consent has been unreasonably withheld in breach of the Equality Act 2010."

Last year this newspaper reported on serious delays to convert a former gym in Corby to five desperately-needed wheelchair accessible homes. The conversion, which will cost £1,490,000, is yet to start.