Husband Gareth Cowell sleeps on the sofa and teenage daughter Gemma revises for her GCSEs on a bunk bed with her four-year-old sister Katie while twin sons David and James, two, sleep in their mother's room
A family of six living in a cramped two-bedroom council house in Cardiff have been told they could spend 12 years waiting for a suitably-sized home.
Husband and wife Gareth and Marcia Cowell, who have four children, were almost at the top of the waiting list for a new property following a five-year wait – only for the council to change how cases were ranked.
They could now be faced with an extra seven years waiting for a bigger house – even though their current crowding means 40-year-old Gareth has been sleeping on the sofa of their Adamsdown home for almost three years.
Marcia, 32, fears the current situation is hitting her children’s health and studies.
But she has been told she may have to wait another six or seven years to move home after the council changed the way it prioritises people on the list, reports Wales Online.
Her daughters Gemma, 15, and four-year-old Katie share a bunk bed room while her twin sons David and James, two, sleep in their mother’s room – with Gareth bedding down on the settee.
Marcia branded the situation “ridiculous” and added: “My husband has slept on the sofa for nearly three years because he snores which keeps the boys awake.
“This is really starting to affect my marriage as my husband and I live like friends or lodgers as opposed to man and wife.
“My girls share one of the rooms but this means that my eldest has no space of her own for studying or having friends over.
"She has no private time whatsoever.
“She is doing her GCSEs at the moment and she’s just not getting study time.”
The house, in Adamscroft Place, also has little space for storage or play areas for the children.
Marcia said: “I don’t want a palace, I just want somewhere that’s got a drive and enough bedrooms.
“My possessions are in boxes on the stairs because I have nowhere to display them and this makes the stairs quite dangerous – especially in the event of an emergency.
“I can’t put anything on show.
"Wedding photos and pictures of the kids growing up have to be stored away.”
Marcia also has concerns for her children’s health.
She said: “The house is full of damp and condensation and I have even had a doctor’s letter stating concerns for the children’s health.
“My health visitor has written emergency referrals as well because she feels the space the children have to play in is inadequate and will hinder their development.”
A Cardiff council spokesman said the authority had changed its policy because waiting lists were growing while the availability of properties to let was diminishing.
There are about 10,000 applicants on the waiting list with 175 more joining each week.
By contrast there were only 1,662 new lets in 2013-14 compared to more than 2,000 in 2009-10 and the amount of new social housing being built has also slowed.
Marcia is not top of the priority list as she is deemed to be only one bedroom short of an adequate-sized house.
Before the new system was introduced Marcia felt she was close to moving.
She said: “There has to be some common sense.
"I think I have waited long enough.”
A council spokesman said: “The new scheme will ensure that those applicants in the greatest housing need are helped first.
"The scheme also gives a clear priority to those who have a local connection to Cardiff.
“We want to do everything we can to make sure that council and housing association properties are offered to people who need them most.
“By implementing this new scheme we can ensure that our limited supply of housing is used for those who are most in need and that the system is fairer and easier to understand.
“We have recently written to all applicants on the waiting list providing information on their new position on the list.
"Many households with a high or medium level of housing need will be better off under the new arrangements.
"However they may still have to wait a number of years to be rehoused because the properties are simply not available.”