Housing Crisis - 5 in a two bed flat

Sorry what? 19 children?! And in a 3 bed house?!!!

As I understood it - may have been wrongly - it was a 3-ROOM house i.e. 3 rooms in total. 3 separate bedrooms would be crazy enough for that many people, but it sounded even more drastic than that to me.

There has to come a point after which you're no longer housing people but rather storing them.

Sorry what? 19 children?! And in a 3 bed house?!!!

I also agree that having your own private space is important, even as a child. I know it's a bit 'first world problems' and all that, and people used to share a bedroom with 2, 3, and 4 siblings (even more sometimes) but still, that doesn't change the fact that people need solitude and their own private space. Coming from a huge family (who are not rich, and living in a normal house or flat, with 4 bedrooms or less,) and never having your own space is exhausting and not ideal for anyone...

In the families I knew in the 1970s, and 1980s the people who shared a room with a sibling - or 2 or 3 siblings, hated it, and couldn't wait to leave home. In every family, the older girls left home and got their own place before they were 20, because of having to share with 2 or 3 sisters... Boys stayed longer with mum and dad, but even then, they would usually leave by 23-24 at the latest.

Apart from couples, NO-ONE wants to share a room with other people, not even family, and if people were really honest, they would admit they would have preferred to have their own bedroom, rather than sharing one. At least after the age of 8 or 9. My brother and I had a bedroom each, and both of us would have been mortified at the idea of sharing, but we still always had a good, close relationship. We didn't need to share a bedroom to be close.

I think it depends on the set up of the place. A two storey two bed with a garden is different to a two bed flat.

My neighbours are in a 2 bed no garden flat with two kids and expecting a third. I can't speak for them, but I imagine it will get increasingly difficult for the eldest to focus at school and have privacy. We can hear the toddler through the walls already - he screams a lot so I can't imagine the mayhem with another baby!

It’s a relatively new concept that children need their own room. I shared a room with my sister growing up as did my brothers. My children have their own rooms and we have one spare. I would have liked more children but it didn’t happen. Bedroom numbers weren’t a consideration tbh as my two slept in the same room for a few years anyway.
My mum grew up in the 40’s / 50’s in a 2 bedroom cottage with 5 siblings, it can’t have been comfortable but I have never heard her complain about her childhood. Thats just how things were when you owned your home and had a big family.
Our closest neighbours have 3 children in a two bedroom cottage inherited from a grandparent. They just get on with it. I think those who own are less likely to complain.

Indeed. There have been families living in cramped conditions forever - I lived in a 2 up, 2 down house (with no bathroom, just an outside toilet) with parents and 2 brothers until I was 16 and finally gained the privacy of a room to myself and the luxury of a bathroom!

I don't mean that this should be acceptable - but if overcrowding for some families is a housing crisis, then there's been a housing crisis all my life (I'm 58) and much longer.

Unfortunately, the need to build more houses has simply resulted in the building of more unaffordable (to those living in such cramped housing) dwellings.

Yes, I'm amazed at this. 19 children (& parents) in a 3-room house is ridiculous. Surely, it's because it was just what they knew. If you gave a starving person a bag of flour, they would be so happy; but it doesn't make it a delicious, well-balanced nutritional meal.Thankfully, they had opportunities to have enjoyment in life in spite of their appalling living circumstances.

If they'd ever had chance to experience living in a house that was sufficiently big enough for them all, I doubt they would have such fond memories of their severe overcrowding.

Space and rooms aren't necessary for happiness or quality of life.

Of course they are - they have a direct impact on quality of life. Space to study, privacy, ability to have people over, space to pursue hobbies. All things that impact quality of life!

Space and rooms aren't necessary for happiness or quality of life. The happiest days of my life were the summers I spent at my grandparents house in rural Ireland. There would be my grandparents, my parents, 2 cousins and me and two siblings in a two up, two down cottage with no bathroom, just an outside loo.

My MIL was the youngest of 19 children. The family home was even smaller than my GPs, just three rooms on one level with a loo at the end of the garden. When MIL developed dementia she relived those childhood days. It was a joy to watch her obviously happy memories play out.

After his parents marriage broke down,DH f got custody, because his mother went off with another man,he ended up sharing a double bed with his b and f, sister and gran shared the other bed.... not bedroom

If you cannot afford to buy and don't have social housing, it's a very precarious situation to be in. You can be in a lovely 4 bed rental long term then suddenly the LL says they are selling and you can end up in emergency accomodation. Rental properties are not only increasing in cost very quickly, but extremely competitive as the demand gets higher.
There needs to be a cap on private rentals and more SH for people who are working.

I had 5 children in a 3 bed for a few years . Oldest 2 boys had their own room each. Then dd and 2 youngest boys shared but i partitioned the wall. So the youngest boys were in a bunk bed and dd was the other side. Dd had a lamp and led lights her side. They shared a window. It meant the room was long and narrow. It worked though. And i was in the living room on a sofa bed.

I'm not saying they should. And as I said I would prefer to have my own bedroom. My point was about the PP sectioning off a part of her living room and making a 'windowless cupboard' (I think this is what she said.) for her to sleep in. Being in the same situation to her I commented that wouldn't it be nicer to just sleep in the sitting room. Then I responded to comments about people wandering around you and having to 'stare at' your bed as reasons for not sleeping in the sitting room! Honestly out of all the issues those 2 are not problems! I'm not sure if these posters slept in a 'windowless cupboard' themselves and prefered it to the living room, but their responses didn't tell me they had much experience of the issue!

I completely agree housing should be more affordable so people can sleep in bedrooms. But unfortunately the reality is there are many of us don't have bedrooms. Yes, it was a bit of a derail but the 'windowless cupboard' sounded awful!

So if you get divorced or become disabled abd can only afford one bedroom you will return the child I guess?

But isn’t the point of this thread that these sorts of living situations are indicative of the housing crisis we are living in? People shouldn’t be having to eat in the same room that they sleep because there is nothing else affordable

I imagine they top and tailed. When I first got together with my ex- husband as teenagers we shared his child size bed (smaller than a standard single) at his mum's flat!

While I would prefer my own space, I don't stare at my bed as it is a sofa bed. However, my best friend has her bed in the sitting room and it's not unpleasant to 'stare at her bed' - it's a nice bed. It's what people do in a bedsit after all,

I sleep in the sitting room. Noone is wandering around me - they are sleeping in their rooms. Much nicer to sleep in an airy room that what she describes and plus her set up would make the sitting room smaller - neither of which I would like.

Me & my OH have one bedroom. My 37yr old Son has the 2nd bedroom. My 30yr old Son has the 3rd bedroom & my 40yr old daughter sleeps on the sofa in the living room.
She's just split with her partner.
They all work full time but on nmw. They can't afford to buy on their own. The rentals in Stoke-on-Trent are slums & I would not want them to be living in one so they just stay squeezed in at home. There's no assistance for people who work & who have a roof over their heads even if your bed is a settee.
I don't know what the future holds but this lack of decent affordable one bed rentals for working people isn't on any politicians to do list.

4 bedroom = (1) parents (2) child 1 (3) child 2 (4) guest bedroom or study

Not possible for everyone but not "bonkers"

I shared a small bedroom with my sister.. both in our 20s. That was in a council house

I used to go out with a guy who shared a room with his teen sister.. he was 17 and she was 15. There was a sheet separating them. She had a kid at 15 there too. Parents owned their home.

We were 5 kids growing up. We had a two bedroom flat. 2 kids per room and parents sleeping on a bed in the living room with a baby then toddler in a cot with them.
Not ideal by any means. I've always loved my own space so tnat was hard.

Until I was 11 we slept Mum, Dad me and Sister in one bedroom, Unmarried Uncle has the box room, Nanny and two unmarried Aunts in one bedroom. Shared bathroom and kitchen, front living room for us and back living room for them,

Far too many judgemental responses. Don't comment until you have walked a mile in their shoes! Cost of renting often defines where people live.

I grew up in a family of 5 in a 1 bed flat. We just didn't have much stuff and spent alot of time outside. I had a very happy upbringing.

Having lots of children is a massive risk. Even if everything in your life is perfect, if the wheels come off, the more kids you have the more problems you'll have.