Living on a state pension and disability benefits, and faced with rising London rents, she found herself unable to find another private tenancy.
“I’m unacceptable to housing agents, they simply wouldn’t take me on,” says Susan.
So she turned to her local authority to put a roof over her head.
Councils have a legal duty to house the homeless. But with an estimated 183,000 people in London living in temporary digs supplied by their local authorities, external, this small hotel room was the best Havering Council could offer her.
Opposite her single bed, within touching distance, sits a microwave, her only means of food preparation.
But there are only so many ready meals she can stomach, she says.
“Feeding myself is practically impossible here, I just have fruit and biscuits until I can get to my daughter’s for a proper dinner.”
There is no sink in the room, so any washing up has to be done in the small bathroom wash basin.
The basin is also where she washes herself, because a large step to get into the shower makes it impossible for her to use, she says.
With no washing machine, she says she has to rely on others to do her laundry.
