Grieving sisters face eviction from family home three weeks after beloved mother dies from cancer

Two grieving sisters face homelessness after being forced to find a new home just three weeks after their mother died from cancer.

Brogan Webb, 23, says a housing association told her and her 21-year-old sister Taylor they had to move out of their Glasgow home because they lost their mother’s address as primary residence after moving into student accommodation.

Though the sisters do not plan to stay in their mother’s home long-term, they feel they need more time to look for a new place rather then a sudden eviction while they are still grieving.

Ms Webb said: “We are willing to pay the rent. We have money, we are not destitute. We don’t need to be destitute.”

Their mother Angela Agnew was diagnosed with cancer in November 2021.

Ms Webb, who works full-time for a refugee charity, said she and her sister were “eager” to come back home when they heard their mother’s diagnosis was terminal.

“I kept my residency at the student accommodation up until December and Taylor came home in November,” she said.

Before her death their mother had tried to ensure her daughters were taken care of, as the younger of the two was re-listed as a household member of their three-bedroom home.

Because of this, Ms Webb said they were led to believe that they did not need to do anything further to retain their home.

A few days after they buried their mum, Brogan called the housing to be “proactive” and find out when the next rent is due, but they would not speak with her because she was not listed as a household member.

Soon after, the housing officer emailed her to inform her that neither she nor her sister would succeed the property and they had roughly two weeks to vacate the house. She advised them to speak with homeless charity, Shelter.

“I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t believe this was a conversation I was having so soon after losing my mum,” Ms Webb said.

“The thought of losing her and then all of her belongings, and all of our household belongings in the space of a month was absolutely mind-blowing to me and I didn’t understand it.”

Ms Webb asked her housing officer how to start an appeals process but said she received no response.

Though house association Sanctuary Scotland has now extended the time period of eviction, the 23-year-old noted this was a move they made after she shared her story on social media- before this, she says she had no correspondence or contact with them for seven days straight.

She said: “I think it’s really important to stress that it’s through the power of social media that this has happened, and would not have been an option made available without it.”

Labour MSP, Paul Sweeney, who has been working closely with the Glasgow sisters said he finds the whole situation “appalling”.

He said: “Student accommodation isn’t a permanent residence so they should have still had a right to that house which they have lived in for years, and they have been in that wider community for their whole lives.

“I hope the housing association realise that there has been a gross failure of judgement here.”

Megan Bishop from tenants’ union Living Rent called the sisters’ situation a “real damning indictment of the housing crisis we face today”. She added: “This story in particular demonstrates a real acute lack of social housing, forcing two women out of their home as Sanctuary Scotland say, to make way for another family.”

A Sanctuary spokesperson told The Independent: “We are very sorry for the loss the family have suffered and as we appreciate this is an extremely sad time, we have spoken to Miss Webb and offered reassurance she is not under pressure to move out of this property.

“We share Miss Webb’s view that this flat should be made available to a local family who are in need of a three-bedroom home and we are actively working with her to find alternative accommodation as soon as possible. We have offered Miss Webb the opportunity to view a property that may be suitable next week.”