Housing Crisis - 5 in a two bed flat

[Westcountrygal]

I was flabbergasted to recently learn about so many people sharing incredibly cramped living conditions. A Scottish MP saying on the radio that he grew up sharing with his two brothers, effectively three kids to a bedroom.

A colleague living in a two bed flat with her three kids, older ones sharing and baby in with the parents- where will they all go as the kids get older?

I live in an incredibly expensive city and coming across so many people living in very cramped living conditions must be so difficult. Where do people even keep all their clothes/ endless washing/ belongings?

I know! It's genuinely an absolute sh!t show in that household. I know some women who have large families and run the house like a military operation and it works. It seems hard to strike a balance.

Some of the children from the large family used to come round mine for some peace, quiet, food and attention. One of them has ND and would fall asleep at my house because it was so quiet compared to their home. I had to limit it as they'd be round mine all the time if I let them.

I always imagine how awful it must be to live in an over crowded home when we go on holiday. ...DH, me and our two DC sharing a hotel suite or a very small apartment. It's fine on holiday for a week but by the end of it we are all looking forward to our own space. I would genuinely find it tortuous to not be able to retreat into a quiet room on my own.

It’s a tale as old as time though!

If you never had the opportunity then you wouldn't miss it

I just don’t recall it ever being mentioned as an issue among all the families I knew growing up and as an adult who only had one bathroom. Not that they ever got tummy bugs etc but it never seemed to happen that 2 people desperately needed the toilet that much at the same moment that it was worth mentioning. Yes the inconvenience of 2 people wanting to use the bathroom at the same time definitely but not that people were having accidents or any public health issue. I don’t recall my older children who only had one toilet in the house being more poorly or even having any more accidents than my younger ones who have grown up spoilt by 3 bathrooms in the house

I don’t think that’s true. I’ve never had a home gym or a dishwasher. I definitely miss them!

Yes I shared a room with my two sisters until I left aged 18, and I absolutely wanted my own space when we were growing up.

Well yes.
My Catholic greatgrandparents were living in a cellar in Manchester with their 7 children and 2 'children others' ( presumably relatives orphaned by the Irish Famine of 1845-51). Fortunately they had been taken in by my dggm's sister I believe, or they might have been living in caves in the banks of the River Mersey as the destitute did then (1850s).

I agree at a certain age there is usually a preference for your own room. But I think 8 or 9 is quite young. At that age my DC had only been sleeping the whole night in their own beds for a couple of years. The eldest was 15 when they got their own room through their own choice. I think this is on the late side, though.