Frustration as council house demand 'outweighs supply'

A single mum on the highest priority band for council housing says the wait for a larger home is a "daily frustration".

Dawn lives in a three-bedroom council house in Fawley, Hampshire, along with her three sons.

Two of her sons have disabilities which mean they require additional support and supervision.

Dawn thinks those living in council houses that are bigger than their current needs should be downsized, but New Forest District Council said it "cannot require people to leave their home" for that reason.

Dawn ended up living in a bed and breakfast above a hardware store after having her first child as she was not able to live with her mother.

She said it was "full of drug dealers", and ended up in council housing.

Now with three children, she is in a three bedroom house, but she has been assessed as needing a larger home due to the needs of her children.

"It's heartbreaking because, especially with my oldest, he's in daily pain", Dawn said.

Her eldest son sleeps on a mattress on Ikea units in his bedroom as there is not enough room for a proper bed, she said.

He has low muscle tone which often requires him to use a wheelchair, Dawn says, and he should be using special chairs to help his posture but she cannot fit them in the house.

Her middle son has complex additional needs and suffers with extremely disrupted sleep.

He shares a room with his younger brother who, as a result, also misses out on sleep.

Dawn does not work as she has to constantly supervise one of her children to ensure he is "safe" because of his complex needs. She says a larger house and individual bedrooms would alleviate some of the pressure.

"I wouldn't necessarily need to do 24-hour supervision because I'd know he'd be safe - because there's no other person that he can hurt in that bedroom", she says.

Because of their level of need, the family has been put at band one on the housing priority list under New Forest District Council.

This means they have an "emergency need" for housing, which they have been waiting for since April.

They need to bid on a new property but it is proving difficult to find somewhere suitable.

The council said demand for larger family homes "significantly" outweighs supply.

"I think unless you're in that situation, it's hard to explain how bad it is," Dawn said.

"The daily frustration of going on that website to bid for a house and there being nothing there and then just being told, 'bid on a house'."

New Forest council said indicative figures suggested about 1,000 sole tenants may be occupying homes larger than two bedrooms.

Currently, 318 applicants in the council's area are waiting for a three-bedroom property and 111 applicants are waiting for a four-bedroom property.

"Knowing that there's people out there living in family houses that don't need a family house, that frustrates us even more," Dawn said.

"If the council were to say 'right, okay, you're a single person in a four-bedroom let's help you move so this family can have that house... I think that's what the council need to do."

The council said it "cannot require people to leave their home simply because it is larger than their current needs".

Those living in council homes larger than they need can be supported by a new Right Home, Right Time policy.

It means they can have incentive payments to downsize if they are under-occupying their council property.