Rebecca Fenner and her husband Yassin Amrani live separately with different children (Picture: BPM Media)
A family of eight has been split up and forced to live in two single rooms – on either side of a dual carriageway.
Rebecca Fenner, her husband Yassin Amrani and their six children had to leave their privately rented home in Yardley, Birmingham, in June.
A month later they ended up living between two different council houses on different sides of the A45.
Yassin, 38, lives on one side of the road with his two eldest daughters, in a room with one double bed and two singles.
They share a kitchen with four other families but the girls, aged 15 and 12, are sometimes left on their own when their dad goes to work.
Rebecca stays opposite them in a room with a double bed and a bunk bed with her seven-year-old, one-year-old twins and son, nine, who has suspected autism.
This living situation is specifically difficult for the mum who told BirminghamLive she ‘can’t ever switch off’.
The couple’s nine-year-old son is in the middle of getting diagnosed with autism (Picture: BPM Media)
The busy A45 runs between the family’s two homes (Picture: BPM Media)
She said: ‘My son is lashing out at me and biting me. He’s quite big and I’m struggling to control him.
‘He hasn’t been diagnosed with autism yet as there’s a massive backlog in the NHS.
‘I’m also ringing the council every day, but no-one is helping us. It’s an awful situation.
‘I can’t handle it anymore and neither can my husband.
‘They can’t leave us like this. I waited and I’ve been patient (to find alternative housing), but nothing is happening.’
The parents want to be moved into a self-contained home where their son can live in a more suitable environment and their daughter can study for her upcoming GCSEs.
Birmingham City Council said it had offered the family rooms within the same building and rooms in a purpose-built homeless centre, but these had been refused.
Rebecca explained that she had turned down an attic room because she has ‘two toddlers who have just started walking and children who could open a door and fall down the stairs’.
The council added: ‘Like all councils dealing with a national housing crisis we would prefer not to have to place homeless people in temporary accommodation
‘We will continue to look for more suitable accommodation for this household and will ensure that they are contacted by one of our outreach team who can provide support and advice regarding housing options including renting in the private sector.’
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The family have been split into two rooms on either side of a dual carriageway.
