Madam,

I am writing to you from a point of desperation and hopelessness. My partner and I are both Welsh, I have lived in this area all my life, went to school here and now my own children (two and four years) are growing up in the place I have always called home.

However, although my partner is working full-time, buying a home is beyond our means and we cannot afford to rent privately. The council has no housing stock and despite being on the housing waiting list for over two years we have no hope now of finding accommodation.

I suffer from herniated discs in my back and struggle with mobility. It’s a condition that is worsening with severe sciatica and excruciating bouts of pain. However, I am an independent mum and manage to carry on despite these challenges. Yet the council cannot offer us an appropriate and affordable place to live.

The four of us are sharing a house with my two parents, my younger sister and my brother.

It’s hard and this overcrowding is causing conflict within our family.

Yet when the council did offer us a house last year they said “I acknowledge that manoeuvring and supervising buggies and children is generally burdensome, but this is a normal parenting role”. The house was not in or near to town, had no bath for the kids and was up a slope with steps to the home - all aspects that would really challenge me when the pain was at its peak.

We reluctantly declined the offer for those reasons and we’ve been put further down the housing list as a result.

I am now desperate and despairing. Is this the caring Wales I was brought up to believe in?

Yours etc, Name and address supplied.

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