The UK's £1,500-a-month 'shanty town' where families live in fear of orgies and crackheads

Families on an estate so grim they say it is like living in a shanty town have told how their traumatised children have walked in on “crackheads” having orgies in the laundry room and by the bins. The tortured residents of the neglected housing estate in Ealing, west London, have slammed the Labour council that housed them there and are begging to be moved elsewhere.

Some of the children living in the converted shipping containers of Meath Court are receiving specialist psychological treatment for the sex, drug taking and violence they’ve witnessed. Liss, who has lived at Meath Court for two years and like many of the residents is a victim of domestic abuse, was sickened when she realised that many of her neighbours were drug-dealers and addicts who used communal areas to take illegal substances and have sex.

She told Express.co.uk: “I have twins and I’ve got a four-year-old son. He’s in school right now having therapy because of the trauma that he’s faced whilst living in Meath Court.

“It’s traumatic for the children. They’re talking about what they’re seeing in Meath Court. My son talks about police, talks about drugs, talks about seeing people naked and sexual activity – at four years old. They do it downstairs in the bin store – and active drug use, he’s seen needles, he’s seen all of those things.”

Liss and three other residents, who wished not to be named, claim that people, including non-residents, would also use the laundry room to take drugs and have sex because it was “warm”. Another domestic abuse victim living on the estate claims her young daughter had been exposed to a four-person orgy.

The terrified resident said: “The sexual activity [they] were performing [it was] next door and the door was open. There were three men and one woman and then my daughter was coming and she saw, she even said ‘hi’.” 

Incredibly, despite the horrific conditions, residents at Meath Court pay exorbitant rents to Ealing Council. For those living in a one-bed container, their weekly rate is £279.27. For occupants of a two-bed, they have to pay £370.55 a week – almost £1,500 a month.

The desperate pleas of the residents of Meath Court to be relocated away from their rusty hell-hole are echoed by those living in nearby Marston Court, a very similar site consisting of shipping containers also run by Ealing Council.

Clizia Schifani, who lives at the Marston site as a result of having to flee her abusive partner, revealed that the same issues were prevalent there too.

Much like at Meath Court, Marston residents say they have had to contend with drug-dealing out of the communal laundry room, as well as “some sex workers” operating on the estate. She added: “You could see the queue outside. And we had the queue for the drug dealers as well.

“I remember one evening, I was coming back with my daughter around 5pm or 6pm. I couldn’t go inside. The queue was so long, they had a big dog right at the gate. They wouldn’t let us in.

“They used to come inside and take drugs in the laundry room. Selling, cutting, they were sleeping there, having sex there.”

She said that in the summer, the metal container she called home was like an “oven” and as a result her daughter would want to play outside. However, she claims that such was the level of criminal activity within their temporary gated community, her child had to stay indoors.

“Down there we have a playground for the kids, but drugs were being taking there so they couldn’t go there,” she told Express.co.uk. In February this year, fellow Marston resident Paula Aleksandro sent an email to Ealing Council claiming she was “on the edge with everything that’s going on in Marston Court”.

Her email added: “My children and I cannot take this anymore. We are scared and threatened to live here.” The Romanian-born mum said that she was “supposed” to have been moved from the site in September 2022 but was still waiting to be relocated.

Meanwhile Ms Schifani said that around 12 weeks ago the council installed CCTV and as a result the criminal activity has abated somewhat. However, with no hot running water in the two years Clizia has lived at Marston Court as well as a cockroach infestation, she said she feels like a “caged animal in a zoo”.

Ealing Council has said it is moving the residents of Marston Court and Meath Court out of the container “slums” and into new accommodation. But with vulnerable residents set to move out in a matter of days, the council still hasn’t told them where they’re going to be living.

Many of the single women living there have children, some with special needs. They fear they’re going to be made to move hours from where they work, where their kids go to school and where they have their social support network. It appears the price of leaving the drug-riddled community of sexual deviants could be isolation from the vital ties they have in west London.

The distraught mothers of Meath and Marston Court say they feel like they’re in purgatory; desperate to leave their metal pens but fearful that their relocation may present a whole new raft of problems.

Added to the stress of the ordeal, the manager of the two council-run sites has told residents to “ignore” the move-out dates on their notice-to-quit letters.

Mum-of-three Nathalie Bangama, 39, who described herself as “the face” of the campaign against Ealing Council and the treatment of residents at Meath Court, said that despite being due to move out imminently she has “no idea” where her family will be living this time next month.

One anxious Meath Court resident, who spoke to Express.co.uk from Liss’ poky living room, said that her autistic son attends a special needs school nearby.

She told our reporter: “I have two children, one who’s on the spectrum. He has learning difficulties and he attends a SEN [Special Educational Needs] school in Acton. Since moving to Meath Court he now sees a psychotherapist. His behaviour has just gone out of control, he’s throwing things, he’s hitting people, he’s constantly screaming.”

Despite her son’s behaviour deteriorating she’s concerned that being sent somewhere far away will upend his educational support network. She said: “We could be placed an hour and a half away but he’s in a special needs school”.

She said after the “trauma” that she and her children had been put through, and the challenges her family continues to face, she needed a home “in the borough”.

In response to the allegations made by Meath Court and Marston Court residents, an Ealing Council spokesman said: “First and foremost, the council is decommissioning Meath and Marston Courts directly as a result of concerns about the quality of the accommodation being provided, and the council is actively in the process of rehousing residents.

“The council’s team is working hard to make moving as easy as possible for residents, particularly families with children. Residents are being offered various housing options, with assistance available for deposits and rent.

“Ealing Council is dedicated to the safety and well-being of all residents and actively addresses tenancy breaches. 24-hour security will be in place at Meath Court and Marston Court. Marston Court is also enhanced by CCTV, alongside collaboration with police to mitigate illegal activities. The council rigorously investigates reports of anti-social behaviour in communal areas, taking necessary actions where necessary.

“The council urges residents to contact the repairs team for immediate assistance for issues like lack of hot water. The council is firmly committed to continuously enhancing resident safety and convenience and addressing their concerns.

“Ealing Council remains committed to ensuring the well-being and safety of all residents and is taking continuous steps to address the concerns raised, which is why the council is seeking to move residents out of both sites.”