A DAD from Rhyl has asked to be moved to a larger council home to better accommodate him, his partner and his four children.
Ian Hutchins, 49, lives in a Denbighshire County Council-owned, two-bedroom property on the Bruton Park estate, which he feels is far too small for the six of them to live in together.
He added that the family were “devastated” to have to give away their two dogs due to the lack of room, and that his father-in-law sadly died at the house last March, which he doesn’t “want to be reminded of” any longer.
His partner and one of his daughters also suffer from epilepsy, while their struggle to find a new home has also exacerbated their mental health problems, he added.
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Ian said: “I have been on the housing list for four years and not got a new property; now I am overcrowded with four children and two adults in a two-bedroom house.
“We have been trying our best, but the council are not helping us at all. The house is too small for us all and all of our stuff.
“We had two dogs, as well, which we had to get rid of because of how small the house is. We were absolutely devastated; we’d had the dogs since they were about six weeks old.
“In the bedroom that I and my partner stay in, we’ve got our three-year-old and our baby in with us, and the two girls are in the front bedroom.
“The house itself is fine, it’s just way too small. Even our social worker has said that you just can’t move in here.
“The older our baby gets, the worse it’s going to be. There just isn’t the space.”
Ian added that a three-bedroom house would be “ideal” for his family, as there would then be a bedroom each for him and his partner, his two daughters, and his two sons.
He said that one of his daughters is often in “floods of tears” as a result of their failure to be moved to a different house, and that his partner “doesn’t want to speak to anybody”.
Denbighshire County Council told him that he and his family are on a housing waiting list, but that there are other families “in greater need than us”, he added.
Ian has also sought the help of his MP, James Davies, on the matter, having been asking the council for a new home for nearly four years.
He added: “My father-in-law passed away in the middle of our living room last March. I had to give him CPR on the living room floor. I don’t want to be reminded of that anymore.
“It’s affecting our eldest daughter; every time we come home, she’s in floods of tears.
“My partner doesn’t want to go out, or to anybody, or to be downstairs.
“We just want to be moved somewhere bigger, or somewhere where there are no memories of last March.
“Our mental health has declined so much.”
In response, Denbighshire County Council said it does not comment on individual cases such as this.
A council spokesperson said: “There are a number of families with various housing challenges in need of a new home in Denbighshire, and we are working to find solutions for these families through our Housing Allocations Policy.
“We work with our partners, such as the local housing associations, on increasing the supply of homes, however demand remains much greater than the supply of homes.
“We continue to offer support and work with families until suitable homes can be offered.”
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