A mum rejected for social housing because of her chequered past fears her three-year-old daughter is being made to pay for her mistakes.

Emily Gibbs, from Faversham, says she has turned her life around after a spell in prison seven years ago and is desperate for a permanent home for her and little Billie-Ann.

But after being left ecstatic following an offer of a house last month, she was devastated to learn officials had pulled the plug on the move after learning of her previous troubles.

Hyde Housing rejected her bid because she had been evicted over anti-social behaviour at a social tenancy seven years ago. Emily believes she was being “cuckooed” at the time.

The 29-year-old does not deny her past misdemeanours but says her child should not be punished for it.

She is now even considering putting Billie-Ann – who has lived in eight different temporary homes – into care.

Emily told KentOnline: “It’s left me in a state of desperation. Where are we going to go from here?

“It feels like I’m never going to get a chance and neither is my daughter.”

After two years of being shunted around temporary accommodation in Ashford, Faversham, Folkestone and Sittingbourne, Emily moved in with a friend last May as she feared the instability was harming her daughter’s development.

“I have fought my way through a very hard life and came out the other side with my daughter..”

After several unsuccessful council housing bids, the mum was “ecstatic” when an offer for a property came through last month.

She said: “To say I was over the moon is an understatement. I finally felt as though my new life would begin.”

Emily began making plans to finally have a settled home for her daughter, who has a developmental disability.

Upon hearing the news, the friend kindly hosting Emily and Billie-Ann made arrangements to move herself, assuming the pair would be soon settling in at their new house.

But after not receiving an update on the property, Emily contacted Swale Borough Council and was informed the offer had been withdrawn as Hyde Housing, which manages the residence, did not believe she was a suitable candidate.

She was told that because she was forced to leave a previous social tenancy in 2016 due to anti-social behaviour, she did not fit Hyde’s criteria.

“I was going through a very desperate time in my life after I lost custody of my son, and that was the period in which I was evicted and went to prison,” she said.

“I wasn’t in a good place but since then I’ve had a little girl and I’m nowhere near the person that I used to be.

“I don’t understand how they can look at a bit of paper from seven years ago and decide that me and my little girl don’t deserve to have a place to live.

“After I lost my home and had my daughter I completely changed my life around. I surrounded myself with a very few good people and I am no longer that person I was all those years ago.”

“My life has been hard but I have made sure that my daughter will never have to have the same struggles as I did when I was young.

“Trying to keep my head above water by staying on my friends’ and family’s sofas has been nightmarish for the last three years.

“I own my past. I am ashamed of it but it is what happened. I have fought my way through a very hard life and came out the other side with my daughter.”

It is now seven years since Emily lost custody of her son, who she fell pregnant with at just 16 years old.

It was in the following months that Emily faced eviction and began a nine-month prison sentence for assaulting a woman in Canterbury’s McDonald’s.

While she takes full responsibility for the assault – telling police at the time “I’m as guilty as sin. Drinking just sends me into someone I don’t even know who I am” – Emily now recognises her vulnerability allowed people to take advantage of her former home.

“There were times when I’d be sleeping in the middle of the night and people would be climbing through my window...”

Cuckooing is a term used by the police, in which the home of a vulnerable person is taken over by a criminal in order to use it for activities like drug dealing or storing contraband.

Emily now believes this is what happened to her in the months before her eviction.

“Cuckooing is exactly what happened to me back then and it has taken me years to admit it,” she said.

“I wanted to believe they were my friends but I was just a vulnerable young person. They treated me like I’m nothing.

“They’d turn up at all hours, wouldn’t leave and made me feel intimidated in my own home, to the point where I was too scared to do the right thing and call the police. But I was so young and I didn’t know what the best thing to do for my own safety and the security of my home was.

“There were times when I’d be sleeping in the middle of the night and people would be climbing through my window. I’d try and stop them but they’d ignore me and clamber over me, saying ‘well, I'm already in now’.

“It pushes you to your limit and makes you so anxious you let them do what they want and just try and blend into the background.”

With her friend relocating and no home to move into, Emily fears how returning to temporary accommodation would affect her daughter - in particular moving her away from the place she holds to join Davington Primary School in September.

“Moving around and being forced to sleep on sofas with my child ruined her main developmental stages of life. She is now three, nearly four, and has lived in eight properties in her short life,” Emily said.

“She has zero social skills as I could never get her settled in a nursery for longer than a couple of months. It’s ruined the first years of her life and it feels like they are doing nothing about it.”

Emily launched an appeal into Hyde’s decision after discovering that the firm’s own allocations and lettings policy suggests only taking into account anti-social behaviour that has resulted in an eviction within the last two years, or a conviction in the last five.

“It is the last thing I want to do but last night I was crying thinking that I might have to put my daughter into care just to give her what she deserves...”

Despite this Hyde refused her appeal stating the policy was merely guidance and the time limits listed were meant to help determine whether an applicant was appropriate, but that they were not bound by them.

A spokesperson for Hyde Housing, Emmanuella Edokpa, said: “We have a comprehensive lettings policy to ensure we prioritise housing offers to those with the greatest need whilst considering the suitability and appropriateness of the accommodation.

“The local authority provides us with details of applicants they feel may be suitable when a property becomes available.

“This process is not a formal offer, but an opportunity to ensure we explore and consider the suitability of the home and the customer whilst ensuring we take into account the interests of the neighbouring community.

“During this process, we review how the individual has met with previous tenancies, which may indicate a concern, and use this to inform our decision.

“When we refuse an applicant, the local authority will continue to work with them to help identify suitable accommodation.

“We reserve the right not to house any applicant.”

While Emily knows she can bid for other properties, she fears the same thing will happen were she to receive another offer.

She added: “Obviously it is the last thing I want to do but last night I was crying thinking that I might have to put my daughter into care just to give her what she deserves - because I can’t give that to her as her mother because this whole system is just failing us.

“Yes, I made mistakes but now you’re not punishing me – you are failing a three-year-old autistic child.”