When Anthony Brathwaite was told he and his two children were no longer eligible for council housing in Lewisham, south-east London, and was offered a property he could not afford outside the borough, he decided to fight back. Having left a council property that was in his name after his marriage broke down, Brathwaite was housed in temporary accommodation for two years. When the council reassessed his case it ruled he had made himself intentionally homeless, and as a result was not eligible for council housing. After offering him a property outside the borough that cost more than half his pay as a London bus driver, Brathwaite decided to fight the eviction with the help of his union, campaign groups and local people
