Woman wins fight for tenancy of dead mum's house

The daughter of a woman who was stabbed to death has won a battle to be allowed to live in the family home.

Rita Lambourne was killed in her home owned by Southern Housing in Bexhill, East Sussex, earlier this year.

Southern Housing initially said her daughter, Lucie Lambourne, who had previously also lived at the property, had no legal right to claim the tenancy of her mother's home as she was not considered to be "in housing need".

But after a campaign backed by friends, neighbours and councillors, the council and Southern Housing have agreed to let Ms Lambourne take on a tenancy for what was her mother's home.

"Southern Housing called me this morning to tell me - I was overwhelmed, I was crying," said Ms Lambourne.

"It means the world to us as a family, it's everything we've been fighting for and it's the last thing we have of my mum's. We are finally going home."

Ms Lambourne previously said she and her three children had left her mother's home because it was overcrowded, but the pair had agreed to swap her Southern Housing flat with her mother's property in a mutual exchange.

However, following her death, Southern Housing said there was nothing on record to suggest they had been considering a swap.

The council and Southern Housing released a joint statement on Wednesday confirming they would now be allowing Ms Lambourne to move in.

"We sympathise with Lucie Lambourne and have been working hard to find a resolution to this difficult situation," they said.

"After taking into account the tragic and exceptional circumstances in this case, Rother District Council and Southern Housing agree it is appropriate that the home is allocated to Lucie.

"If Lucie accepts, her current property will be returned to Southern Housing and made available to another family on Rother District Council's housing waiting list, based on housing need, as soon as is practical."

A man is due to stand trial in August charged with Ms Lambourne's murder.