Housing Crisis - 5 in a two bed flat

My 85 year old mum grew up in a tiny terraced house and slept in the same room as her three sisters they even shared beds. Her only brother had the tiny box room and the loo was at the bottom of the yard. She LOVED her childhood always said it was one of the happiest times of her life. They remained a close family too.

Bunk beds

Me and my siblings shared a room when we still lived in the family home, we lived in a three bed flat, but the biggest bedroom was rented out to help cover the rent.

Our two children have their own room, if for some reason we were to live apart we could both afford a three bed property, we are incredibly lucky that that would be possible.

Not sure that I would call this a “housing crisis”. The word “crisis” suggests that it’s sudden and urgent.

In fact, it’s always been pretty common for people to live like this (am interested to know how old the MP you refer to was). It really only seems to be the current generation that expects a bedroom each. And anyone who chooses to have more than two kids will, in all likelihood, end up with some of those kids needing to share. Of course housing has always been built smaller, and cost more, in large cities so more likely for people to be in a small flat than a big house. More so in a big city where houses (or flats) are often built smaller and are more expensive.

Of course it’s not ideal, I’m not saying that it is. But just meaning that people who would consider this a “crisis” clearly have no idea about how people have lived for years.

Surely 2 or more is more sensible in this economy.

It's not unusual @Westcountrygal . Many siblings share bedrooms. Not so many years ago people had much larger families eg 10 children and in back to back terraces. It is possible not to need lots if space and get on.

It's always happened, not related to current house prices at all. I grew up in a 3 bed flat in a family of 6. I shared with 2 sisters (my brother was the only boy and had a bedroom to himself). I hated the lack of privacy and moved out as soon as I could, and never went back to live with my parents after going to uni. I can never understand why my parents continued to have more children living in a small flat.

Just because I grew up in cramped conditions I never considered it to be acceptable. I have 3 dcs and we are in a 4 bed house. I would have stopped at 1 or 2 dcs if I couldn't afford a house with a bedroom for each of them.

I agree, but will probably get a pasting.

Why have 4-5 kids if you only have 2-3 bedrooms?

Of course contraception can fail, but multiple times?

Isn’t the responsibility on adults to only have as
many children as you can afford, the same as any lifestyle choice?

That’s why in villages when they built the council houses to replace the wayside cottages they have three big bedrooms. One was for the parents, one for girls and one for boys.

I’m sorry….but this is the reality against the super wealthy having 4-5-6 huge homes all over. There is no housing shortage ANYWHERE. The housing is just in the wrong hands. Certainly in developed nations, this should absolutely not be the case. Tax the assets of the wealthy. No one NEEDS more than one place to lay their head.

I’m currently living in a one bedroom flat with my two children (DS and DD) 5 and 2. 2yo is outgrowing the cot and I have one bed in the flat while we wait for a house. I fled domestic abuse and was put here. I’m still so far away I worry about what living conditions will be like in a few months. It is dreadful. I must say I have heard of some horror stories where people have had rats etc. count ourselves lucky we only have mould, damp and silverfish! 🤢

I think if you have 4 or more DC you should probably think about how you would cope if circumstances change before planning to have that many children

Our s21 ( we were served before 1st May) ended on July 17th so we are supposed to be out of our property by now. We haven’t found anything suitable and the council have only just accepted us. There are currently 8000 people on our local register waiting for a house.

its absolutely crazy.

Tell that to the people on here saying that others should only have kids they can house then. At least 3 posts stated that

How old was the Scottish MP-makes me think as my gran used to get mad at Billy Connelly for saying he grew up in poverty, saying he lived near her and had pretty much the same, and that they were the first lot not to have outdoor toilets (not sure if that's true, but they did have lots of kids in 2 bed tenements). When they built the high rises, everyone wanted one thinking they were luxury.
So depending on his age, I can believe it-looking back I don't know how my grandparents put up with things, and even thought they were lucky.

People lived in waaaay more crowded conditions until just a couple of generations ago. I personally think people shouldn’t have more kids if they don’t have room for them. And yes I know, people’s circumstances change. But a lot of people choose to keep having kids when they don’t have the room or money for them.

There is obviously a difference between choosing to squeeze too many bodies into one house and circumstances changing.

What when circumstances change?

There was 4 of us sharing a bedroom when I grew up 60s/70s. It wasn't unusual.

People now seem to think that children need a bedroom each. They don't.

My daughter (7) and I have a small one bed flat. Until I can afford decent bunk beds, she's in my bed with me.
I shared a room with my two sisters until I left at 18.

Only have the amount of children you can house… problem solved! We have one and can afford him and so we stopped!

See before I had my 2 bed flat I was in a 4 bed house with 2 reception rooms. But a relationship breakdown screwed that up and I couldn't afford to but similar on my own so I had to downsize. So not always a choice

Up until recently, I had 4 children in a 3 bed. None of the bedrooms were big enough for the 3 boys to share. Ended up with eldest (15) having the smallest room to himself, the middle two (boys aged 13 and 11) sharing and my 6 ywar old daughter co slept with me. Husband slept on the sofa. He had to get up in middle of night for work 6 days a week, so I woukd be in my room with 6 yesr old from 7.30 onwards and hated it.

We now live in a 4 bed so have the eldest with a room to himself, the two middle ones share a (big) room and daughter has her own room, and husband and I have our own room finally.

Overall living conditions are was cramped, people generally live in larger homes and have less children than they did a generation ago.

When I was a child I knew a family with 6 kids all in one bedroom. There were 3 sets of bunk beds and not much else, it was a standard 2 bed council house so not huge by any stretch.

Each to their own but I do think people should prioritise their existing kids welfare instead of warehousing kids they can't adequately house whilst demanding help they only need because of their inability to make adult choices.