Mum-of-eight complains son forced to 'live in cupboard' as family-of-10 cramped in three-bed council house

A MUM-OF-EIGHT says her son is living “in a cupboard” and her family are “tripping over each other” in a cramped council house. 

Cherie Forrest, 33, and her husband Darren moved into the property with their three children a decade ago but the family has since grown to ten – leaving them “living on top of each other”.

The family, from Solihull, West Mids, have been on the waiting list for a bigger property for three years. 

Since the family has grown they have even resorted to taking a bedroom door off its hinges to fit enough beds into the house for their six daughters and two sons.

Cherie told the Birmingham Mail: “It's difficult when there's 10 of you in one little house because you're always tripping over each other.

“We've got my three youngest daughters sleeping in my room – the little one in the bed with me and the others in their own bed.

“My son has to have his own room because he's autistic and he can't have his brother touching his stuff. His room used to be a cupboard room but we had to turn it into a bedroom and take the door off to fit the bed in.

“The three older girls are in a room together but my oldest daughter who's 16 has epilepsy so she needs her own space.

“Sometimes she'll have seizures in the night and we have to call an ambulance out which then wakes the others up, which isn't ideal.

"If the other two want to play in their bedroom it's difficult because the older one is trying to do her coursework.

She added: "My other son is sleeping downstairs with his dad. We have to sleep separately because there just isn't enough room.

"It's really difficult, we can't fit everyone in. We're all living on top of each other."

The property is also blighted by mould and a leak in the upstairs bathroom recently caused the ceiling upstairs to collapse. 

Cherie said: “You can smell the mould all around the house. It's horrible in the living room, it's all down the back of the sofa.

“People have been out to put mould paint on but it hasn't done anything.”

Cherie and Darren moved into the property from a Bromford Support family unit, where they had lived for three years after her parent’s home became too crowded. 

The couple met while working at Iceland – and said they never wanted to have a big family. 

Cherie added: “It can be hectic but it's nice watching them all grow up. We don't plan on having any more children though.

“The kids' school has even written letters to the council and said it's having an impact on the kids.

“We've had a social worker write them a letter to say the conditions aren't suitable – but we're still waiting.”

Solihull Community Housing, who manage the council’s housing stock, apologised to the family but noted it had very few four to six bedroom properties so they rarely become available. 

Fiona Hughes, chief executive, told the Birmingham Mail: "We are very sorry that on this occasion our standards have fallen below what both we and our customers demand and expect.

"We have been working at the property throughout the week and the issues with the roof have now been resolved and finished to our usual standards.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this caused the family while the work took place.

"We are also aware of the overcrowding in this home. Unfortunately, the number of four to six bedroom properties we manage is very small indeed, and they become available very infrequently.

"We are sorry about this and appreciate the frustration it causes. We will continue to work with this family on exploring a range of alternative housing options that may suit their housing needs."

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