Three-year-old Ezaan has been homeless his entire life. Instead of making memories in a childhood home, he has spent his formative years stuck in hotels and a cramped student dorm.
His mother, Sumaira Fareed, was made homeless more than three years ago. She was asked to leave her single persons hostel – where children were not allowed to live – after giving birth. She tended to her newborn for a month in hospital as the pair had nowhere else to go.
They were eventually placed into Oscott Gardens in Birmingham, which once housed students before being bought up and converted into temporary accommodation by the council, which also manages the site.
The sprawling complex about four miles from Birmingham city centre houses hundreds of homeless families. Those living inside face strict rules that would not go amiss in a low-security prison: no visits from friends and family, and a 10pm curfew.
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