A MOTHER in Rhyl has told of her joy at finding a new property for her family in the town after they were made homeless last month.

Stevie Allen-Thomas’s tenancy expired at the three-bedroom town house near Rhyl skatepark where she lived in with her partner, John, and the five children they have between them, ranging from ages one to 10.

From January 9-23, the family were “sofa-surfing”, after Stevie had told the Journal earlier last month that she had been “crying myself to sleep” due to the stress of their predicament, which she called a “living hell”.

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But a landlord then reached out to her and John, and offered them a three-bedroom house in Rhyl, which they were “over the moon” about, and quickly moved in to.

While there is much to still sort out, Stevie, a 33-year-old stay-at-home mother, said a great weight has been lifted.

She said: “I found the property on Facebook, so John and I both messaged the landlord.

“He shortlisted us for a viewing, and he said he’d seen the article about us in the paper, and that it was between us and another person.

“He offered us the property the following day, so we signed everything over on January 23, and we’ve been here since.

“I can safely say that a lot of stress has been relieved. It’s definitely been a ride, emotionally and physically, but we’re over the moon.

“As soon as we found out we had the house, we were ecstatic. Things are going to take time to get where we were, but they’re definitely going in the right direction.”

John and Stevie have moved into their new house with their three children together, while John also has two other daughters, who stay with them for a couple of days each week.

At most, then, there are seven people living in the house, but thankfully, there is comfortably enough room for them all in their new home.

And after being split up from one another at times during their homelessness, Stevie said it feels like they are a family again now.

Stevie and her children had also spent the festive period apart due to her desire not to have the predicament overshadow the celebrations for her children.

She added her gratitude to her new landlord for offering them a “perfect” new home, and is looking to return to work soon now that her family are settled once again.

Stevie added: “We were sofa-surfing between my brother’s, John’s parents, my mum’s… it wasn’t a great situation.

“When John was at his parent’s, I was at my brother’s, so it didn’t feel like we were a family. We couldn’t have all of the kids in our place; it just didn’t feel right.

“We’ve now found somewhere where we can bring the family back together. We’ve still got stuff to move from our storage unit into the house, but we’re pretty much in.

“It’s closer to the children’s schools, as well, so it’s perfect.”