A mother-of-three says her autistic son is "really suffering" because her family lives in a one-bedroom flat as they wait for somewhere where he can have his own space. LeedsLive reports that 29-year-old Sophie Light had her third child less than two weeks ago to leave her and Tommy, three, Vinnie, two, and baby Teddy all living in a one-bedroom council flat in Leeds.
She has been on the waiting list for somewhere bigger for years and has been offered several two-bedroom properties, but Sophie says that two bedrooms is not enough.
Tommy is autistic, and can become easily overstimulated without his own space to relax in. "We're all living on top of each other at the moment, and that's had a big strain on him," Sophie said. "Sometimes he will lock himself in the bedroom or throw things."
Late last year when she realised Teddy's birth was imminent, Sophie changed her council house application to properties with three bedrooms so Tommy could have his own room. But she said they haven't had success with any of the properties they've bid on.
"It's having a really bad impact on Tommy, " Sophie told LeedsLive. "And even beyond that they're kids who need space to play - we have no garden or anything and it's hard for me to get them all out with a newborn.
"I suffer with depression and have done for years and it's really stressing me out too. I don't get much time to myself and at the moment it's really upsetting me to see my son suffer like this. There's just no room for anything. I know it's my choice to have more kids but they deserve a home with their own space too."
There are more than 26,000 households waiting for council homes in Leeds, according to Leeds City Council. Almost 6,000 of these are in urgent housing need. The average waiting time for a three-bedroom home for a 'priority A' family like Sophie's is 193 weeks. Leeds has the third longest waiting list for a council home of all local authorities in the country, according to data acquired by the Big Issue last year.
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Full-time mum Sophie has been in her current flat for several years, but decided to apply for somewhere bigger when she had had Tommy and was pregnant with Vinnie. Sophie said there was originally some confusion with her application and she was refused for band A priority.
After contacting her local MP, she said she was accelerated to priority A in 2020. Sophie, who receives Universal Credit, was eventually offered a few two-bedroom properties last year, but by this point she was pregnant with Teddy and Tommy had been diagnosed with autism - and she realised two bedrooms wouldn't do much to help.
"I changed my application to three bedroom houses around October 2022 time," Sophie said. "We're very far back in the queue - we haven't been offered any three bedrooms yet. I just want Tommy to be able to have his own bedroom - he can't settle when he's sharing like this."
Sophie added that she has been told to become band A+ priority they will need a medical assessment of the family's needs - though she hasn't heard when this could take place yet.
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “While it would be inappropriate to discuss the specifics of an individual case, every household on the Leeds Homes Register has an account which is reviewed regularly and updated to reflect any changes in their circumstances and their housing need.
"In Leeds, we operate Choice Based Lettings where homes are advertised and customers bid for homes that they would like to be considered for with priority given in accordance with our Lettings Policy. To increase the likelihood of being rehoused more quickly we encourage customers to bid regularly for available homes and consider widening the areas that they are willing to consider.”
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