Housing

[Annonmous]

I’ve just found out I’m pregnant with twins. I’m currently housed by the council in a 2 bedroom flat. I already have a child. My bedroom will not fit two moses baskets/cots and my children’s bedroom definitely will not fit 3 children in.
Does anybody know if I’d be eligible for a bigger 2 bed or a 3 bed property with the council??
Im on a low income so private renting isn’t an option for me currently.
I cant swap my double bed for a single as there would be no room for my partner and still wouldn’t have enough room to fit the two babies into my room. I know the babies would be in with me for at least 6 months. However, when the time comes, there literally isn’t enough room to fit 3 children/beds in the smaller room.

Can your partner increase his income to help with the cost of private rent?

Try not to give up secure council accommodation. Speak to the council and put in for a bigger house. Depending on availability in your area there may be a wait. I'm not sure of the criteria for being classed as overcrowded, or at what age they consider a child needs their own room, hopefully others will know.

Yes you would be eligible for a 3 bed (depends on your council but maybe when the twins are born or maybe when they turn 1) but there will be years of waiting I'm afraid. Would bunk beds fit in the kids room?

It would be a very long weight for rehousing.

Could you repurpose the living room as a bedroom for you, with a sofa bed, and the children have two rooms between them?

Or for while they are small maybe switch to a single bed in your room, to fit the cots?

After a conversation today I was horrified to discover the waiting list for council housing in our London borough is TEN YEARS. They put you into temporary accommodation and you have to hope the landlord doesn’t decide to sell because then off you go again to elsewhere. Utterly appalling

If you look at page 7 onwards of this document researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01013/SN01013.pdf

It details what the criteria for overcrowding is.

If you have a living room in the flat as well as the 2 bedrooms it looks like the expectation is that you would use that as a sleeping space.

My daughter is too young for a bunk bed, she’s absolutely feral atm and wakes a lot during the night. There’s a high chance she’d fall out, but that might be an option in the future.
My partner wouldn’t change our double for a single to then have to sleep on the sofa. Tbh I don’t blame him. We couldn’t afford to rent privately. My credit score isn’t great and we have no money for a deposit or to be able to move. Also this property is the only security I have. After being homeless and sofa surfing for 7 years, I’d be really reluctant to give up a property in my name, to move into private renting with no option of having my name on the tenancy. I’ve been diagnosed with BPD and autism, I’ve been told that may help my application but I’m not sure how it works.
Thank you for all of the advise

In that case I think repurposing the living room as a bedroom with a sofa bed is your most likely option.

Under the statutory overcrowding rules the living room would be included as a sleeping space, so you would only count as overcrowded not statutorily overcrowded. Your priority for moving will be low.

You can gain some priority on medical grounds but you have show, with professional evidence, that your living conditions are having a significant direct impact on your conditions/disabilities.

Unfortunately you and your partner are going to have to make compromises and accept that this will be less than ideal.

You need to think pragmatically about the space that you have and how you can make it work because according to the report i shared and the guidance on Shelter.com your twins won't count towards overcrowding at all until they are 1 and even then if you have a living room that meets the minimum size required to be considered a suitable bedroom you won't be in a situation where you're classed as overcrowded till your twins are over 10 years old.

So

• could the living room fit a double bed and cots? If so make that the bedroom and your bedroom the living room.
• if your bedroom could fit a single bed in and the cots then your partner may need to decide if he wants to sleep on the sofa or somewhere else
• can you fit 1 cot in the bedroom with you? I've seen that sometimes twins share a cot but you'd need to look up safety guidelines.

Once they are old enough to be in a room without you, can you fit bunk beds/pull out beds in your daughter's room to accommodate all 3 kids, could the living room accommodate all 3?

Can you not go on homeswapper and see if someone else will swap with you for a bigger 2 bed or even a 3 bed if they are looking to downsize?

Have you made the definite decision to continue with the pregnancy? Is doing so in your daughter's best interests given your situation?

I’m more than happy to compromise, that’s what parenting is all about in my eyes. But getting my partner on board will be difficult, unfortunately.

Im on all the swap and exchange sites. Nobody wants my property as it’s on the first floor. And the garden isn’t attached to the property.

I’m definitely not going to abort my twins because I lack living space. I’ve experienced 2 still births and had to bury 2 children, so that is absolutely not an option. I don’t believe for a second it will have a negative impact on my daughter.

I understand you’re just giving advise which I appreciate. However, I’d think carefully before giving that option as advice in the future. Many people do not believe in abortions. You never know what somebody has been through and this type of advise is likely to cause a lot of upset.

Thank you all for the advise. I didn’t realise they’d ask you to use the living room as a bedroom. We’ll make it work one way or another.

I think when the kids are old enough you’ll have to put a double bed into the second bedroom and have all three of them sleeping in it

Local Authorities have been telling people to use the living room as a sleeping space for over 26 years. I used to work for a London Council.

You need to find out if your current flat is a 3 person or a 4 person.

Then find out when children in your area count as people or half people and when babies even count,
someone suggested upthread that it is at 1 year old. and that may be as a half person, the children may not count as ' people ' until they are 10.

Is your partner on the tenancy ? or did he move in afterwards.

you may find that right now you and your child count as 1.5 people in a 3 or 4 person property, even taking into account your partner that will be 2.5 people in a 3 or 4 person property.

Twins would count 1 person, upon the age of one year old ? so if you are in a 4 person property you may find that legally you will not be overcrowded.

once the twins reach the age of 10 you may find that your local authority classify you as overcrowded, but if the children are all the same sex then priority re rehousing may very well go to a family with different sex children.

Second what everyone else has commented here- recently gone through this with my relative. I think it very much depends on area. Here they are classing a 2 bed flat as suitable for up to 5 adults! Not sure if thats an error or maybe expecting a living room could become a sleeping space if necessary.

Either way you are looking at a very very long wait as I know of people who waited > 10+ years and only got something when facing no-fault eviction in their private tenancy.

Ignore the insensitive comment about ending your pregnancy.

I'm sorry for your losses.

In my area of London, your daughter will be doing her GCSEs before you are rehoused from that situation. So it's not an unreasonable question to ask as to whether bringing two new people into an already cramped situation is a good idea. You absolutely want to do that so good luck to you.