Beyonce: Enfield homeless families lose Travelodge rooms due to price rises

Up to 30 homeless families are having to be relocated from a north London Travelodge into temporary accommodation, after a council was priced out of their rooms during Beyoncé’s upcoming tour.

Enfield Council, which had based the families in the Travelodge in Great Cambridge Way, said the hotel does not allow for long-term bookings, meaning rooms need to regularly be re-booked.

When looking to pen in the next block of dates, including the five nights Beyoncé is performing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, May 29 to June 4, the council however found it could no longer afford the rooms, meaning some of the families are having to be moved elsewhere.

Colette Collington, 42, told The Guardian she has been living in the Travelodge since the start of May, alongside her four-year-old daughter and two-year-old twin sons who have autism. She was told on Monday (May 22) that she is being moved to a new Travelodge in Hertfordshire, and will not be back in Enfield until June 4.

She said: “I don’t sleep as it is but this news is very distressing. It’s not good for me, my mental health and for my two youngest children who need stability because of their additional needs. Every environment we go into, it takes time for them to settle in. They have to be in the same routine. It will be very distressing for them.”

“It’s crazy how the council manages this, it’s like pot luck,” she added. Ms Collington said she had been made homeless after her private landlord increased the rent, adding seeing the other families in the Travelodge came as a “shock”.

A Travelodge spokesperson said the company has been working with Enfield Council “for many years”, and that the arrangement is “temporary” until a more permanent solution can be found. They added they have “ample availability” in their Enfield and nearby hotels for the dates in question “that the council are welcome to book”. They said: “Our rooms are subject to availability but we will always try our utmost to support Enfield council where we can.”

An Enfield Council spokesperson told Londonworld cost constraints mean if room or rental rates go up, such as due to a concert, they have to find affordable alternatives. They said: “The Travelodge booking system does not allow for long-term reservation of rooms and therefore regular re-bookings need to be made. We will continue to work closely with Travelodge and other hotels to find suitable, affordable accommodation. Council officers are visiting families to explain the options available to them and if direct contact cannot be made we are writing to them to outline next steps.”

The spokesperson said the situation “exemplifies” the current state of London’s housing, with not enough appropriate properties available. This was demonstrated in the latest government figures, they continued, which found the number of families living in B&B and hotel accommodation in the capital for longer than six weeks had increased 823% between February 2022 and February 2023.

“We will continue to assist people to move with practical solutions and our lobbying of the government to urgently address the rental and housing crises will intensify.”