Family of six sleeping in same bedroom plead for new Northampton home

A family of six, who are living in a one-bedroom flat, are appealing to be moved to a bigger home so they can have their own separate bedrooms.

Paul Simpson, of Lings, lives with his partner Natasha, a support worker, and their four-year-old son and six-year-old daughter, who he doesn't wish to name.

During the school holidays and some weekends, his partner's two other children, aged eight and nine, stay with their mum but they are not registered as living at the house full time.

The Wilko supervisor has said the pair have reported their cramped conditions to Northampton Partnership Homes who 'have shown them little empathy'.

Paul said: "It's been a nightmare and we can't seem to get anywhere with the council. Everyone is sleeping in one bedroom, there are two lots of bunk beds and my son's toddler bed.

"I've ended up on anti-depressants because my mental health broke down at work and they have seen how bad I've been feeling.

"The role I have I need to be focused, and if I'm not focused I struggle to think what I'm doing.

"We've both worked through lockdown and it's been really stressful all living under one roof with all of this going on, it's just too much.

"Sometimes you break down in tears in front of your family."

But Northampton Partnership Homes says the family are living in a suitable-sized flat for their large family, and dog, and the children could sleep in the living room.

Nicky McKenzie, assistant director for housing said: “We’re sorry that Paul and Natasha's living conditions are difficult for them at the moment. We had already passed the instruction for the bathroom to be completed to our contractors, as they have been working through a backlog of indoor jobs caused by lockdown, over the past weeks."

Before lockdown the family had their bathroom stripped out and had their bath replaced, although no plumbers have returned to fit a shower, leaving exposed copper pipes hanging over the tub.

After the Chron viewed the house, a housing officer did revisit their property but Paul said it seems like there's a long wait ahead of them for a new bathroom.

His last resort was turning to the Chronicle & Echo for help as the flat also has many damp ceilings, which the tenants say is affecting the asthmatics in the family.

"It's hard trying to be strong for the kids half the time," Paul added.

"A bigger house would benefit us amazingly, the kids would have their own space to play and the dog would have more space."

Natasha has her dog, Milo, because she suffers from anxiety. She said the worse thing about being on a ground floor flat is security.

She said: "If it wasn't for him then I wouldn't sleep at nighttime, I would barely be able to function without him.

"Lockdown made me feel like I was suffocating, there's no room in here to be able to take five minutes."

Nicky added: "In relation to Natasha's application for a bigger home, it has been assessed and the family can express an interest in available properties according to the details on the application. The application was made in 2017, and reviewed earlier this year. We encourage people to keep us up to date with their circumstances, as we need to know about changes so we can make update their application if necessary. One of our applications team will contact Natasha to review the family’s situation, make sure everything is up to date and see how we can help.

"Although we know this doesn’t help Natasha and Paul, and others in their situation, immediately, we are committed to building as many new homes as we can to meet the housing demand in Northampton, which we know is a serious issue.”