‘There’s nowhere to go’: a family made homeless in the UK housing crisis

Colin Booth and his partner, Gemma Bull, with their four children, Quinton, Amity, Obi and Phoenix (left to right) in their living room. Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

When Colin and Gemma Booth were told a little over a year ago they would have to find somewhere else to live after the owner of the flat they rented in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight died, they didn’t panic.

“We thought it was a push to find a bigger place,” says Gemma, as Quinton, eight, Phoenix, seven, Amity, three, and Oberon, 22 months, vie for attention around her. “We had no idea what was coming.”