A family of ten who demanded a six-bedroom home and turned down three properties have now been warned they face becoming ‘intentionally homeless’.
Arnold Mballe Sube, his wife Jeanne, both 33, and their children live in a three-bedroom, end-of-terrace home in Luton, Bedfordshire – which they describe as ‘the worst place they’ve ever lived’.
The couple turned down three properties including a four and five-bed home thought to be worth between £250,000-£270,000 – and are demanding a property with at least six double bedrooms.
The family received more than £100,000 last year in benefits and while they waited to move into their current home, Luton Borough Council housed them for almost four months at the town’s £160-per-night Hampton by Hilton hotel, costing £38,400.
Arnold Mballe Sube and his wife Jeanne, both 33, currently share their three-bedroom, end-of-terrace home in Luton with their eight young children but describe it as ‘terrible’
The family claim the conditions of their current home in Luton, Bedfordshire (pictured) are ‘terrible’, but turned down the chance to live somewhere roomier over a lack of storage space
One of the houses the family turned down was a £250,000 terraced three-storey townhouse in Luton
However Luton Borough Council today issued an ultimatum to the couple – either they accept a formal offer of another available four or five bedroom property or make themselves ‘intentionally homeless’.
They will then be required to find their own home through the private rental market.
Labour councillor Tom Shaw, who is in charge of housing at Luton borough council, revealed the family only viewed one property before turning down two others they were offered.
During their stay at the hotel, the family ran up £21,000 in room service which they refused to pay, leaving the council to foot the bill.
The family have received annual hand-outs worth £44,000 since they arrived in the UK – made up of housing and child benefits, as well as child tax credits and NHS course payments.
Their hotel stay has pushed that total to more than £103,000 in the last 12 months.
Their current home: The family complain they are living in overcrowded conditions with a lack of storage
The main bedroom Arnold Mballe Sube and his wife Jeanne, 33, share with their baby
Describing the family’s all-expenses-paid stay in the Hilton hotel, Mr Sube told the Sun: ‘We couldn’t cook. Children were eating on the carpet.
‘We were ordering room service, chicken and chips, Chinese food.
‘We had to order it twice per day for all the kids and all the family. The council said I had to pay a bill for living in the hotel.
‘That was very traumatizing because we didn’t ask for them to put us there.’
Originally from Cameroon, Mr Sube moved to France at the age of 18 and moved his family to Britain from France in 2012 so that he could study mental health nursing at the University of Bedfordshire.
The NHS agreed to fund the £27,000 degree for Mr Sube and he uses one of the bedrooms in the home as a gym/office, the Sun reported.
The family claim the conditions of their current home (pictured), are ‘terrible’
Despite their current cramped conditions (pictured), the Sube’s rejected the larger house due to its lack of space
They claim the conditions of their current home are ‘terrible’, but turned down the chance to live somewhere roomier over a lack of storage space.
Mr Sube said: ‘Me and my family have been neglected, we are living in a three bedroom house and there’s not enough room for us to live – there’s ten of us.
‘It’s so cramped and the conditions are terrible, my children are starting school and we can’t stay here any longer – we need a bigger house.
‘The council is trying to make things hard for us, my wife is a full time mother and I am a student.
‘They’re just making excuses, we need a five or six bedroom house with double rooms to comfortably fit our family in.’
Mr Sube said there are ten people in his family and they need sufficient space to live. Pictured, one of the bedrooms in their current home
Due to the size of their family, there is very little floor space left in the Sube family home
The couple insist they require at least six double bedrooms for them to live comfortably – and their three-bed home, pictured, is not big enough
Their youngest daughter is just three-months old but even after viewing a new, five bedroom house, the family refused this property because of the lack of storage space.
Mr Sube added: ‘There wasn’t space for the things of ten people, it didn’t even have a dining room.’
A spokesman from Luton Borough Council said: ‘Housing stock in Luton, is under constant pressure and on occasions we may have to locate families temporarily outside of Luton.
‘Despite difficulties we managed to find Mr and Mrs Sube affordable housing in Luton that is large enough to house them and their eight children.
‘After a generous offer on our part, we have done our bit and if housing is offered and declined without, what we judge, good reason, then we will offer the property to another family.’
Luton Borough Council said they were able to find a suitable house for the Sube family in the area within the budget, but they declined it ‘without good reason’
Mr Sube said he was a student and his wife was a full time mother for their eight children
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