A SINGLE mum who says she has been living in overcrowded conditions in a one-bedroom first floor flat for almost four years has branded Redditch Borough Council as ‘cruel’ for refusing her application to relocate to a house with a garden.
Annie Hawkins has three young children and found a person in a two-bedroomed house with a garden who was willing to swap to her one-bedroomed flat.
Annie said: “I have tried to do everything possible to improve my living conditions.
“And I believed I had found the answer to my prayers by securing a mutual exchange with a person living in a two-bedroomed house who has been agreeable to transfer to my accommodation.
“But the council refused the move because they said I would be moving into overcrowded conditions.
“How crazy and cruel is that? To go from a one-bed flat to a two-bed house with a garden would have so improved our standard of living and eased the nightmare conditions we are currently living in.”
Ms Hawkins said she wrote to her local councillors, who had expressed sympathy over her situation but added they could not go against council policy.
“I am extremely houseproud and keep my flat clean and tidy but the highly unsatisfactory situation I find myself in is now impacting upon my physical and mental health.”
Ms Hawkins, who has a four-year-old son and two daughters – one aged two and the other three months – added: “I understand that the council class the exchange as still being in overcrowded conditions.
“But I would have had one more bedroom than I have now and a garden where the children could play.
“How much better would have been for all of us?”
A Redditch Borough Council spokesperson said: “When Annie was allocated her current property, she was housed as a single person.
“Her circumstances have changed and we appreciate her current experiences with overcrowding and recognise her need for a three-bedroom home.
“The mutual exchange property in question is two-bedroom which, while it would give her some extra space, does not fully meet her needs.
“Therefore we refused the exchange under Schedule 3 of the Housing Act 1985 because of this and as a landlord we could not knowingly enter into an agreement where there is overcrowding.”
They added the council’s team was continuing to work with Annie to heighten her opportunities to secure her future home which would fully meet her needs.
And they said they advised her to seek three-bedroom exchange properties going forward, whilst remaining on the waiting list.
