Family on waiting list 12 years finally get Gateshead home

Nov 13 2011 Sunday Sun

A FAMILY on a waiting list for 12 years have been offered a new house after their plight was exposed by Mr Justice.

Darren and Pat Cook were originally just a couple when they put their names down. They now have a six-year-old daughter, Marci, but think their third-floor flat is an unsuitable place to bring up a young child.

Now Gateshead Housing Company have offered the family a two-bedroomed house with a garden. The property is currently being cleaned and the family are due to move in shortly.

Darren said: “They have made us an offer on a house on The Teams. We’ve just been to look through the windows and it looks brilliant for us.

“I can’t see any problems and we should get the keys soon. The house is in a quiet little side street with a garden where Marci can play to her heart’s content.”

Pat said she was delighted the long wait was finally over.

She told me: “I don’t know what you said but you have our eternal gratitude.

“It’s like our numbers have come up on the lottery – that’s what it feels like.

“Marci can at last be a proper six-year-old and play outside, the house is close to my parents, and the neighbours seem nice.”

The couple said there was nowhere for Marci to play outside their old flat in Melbourne Court.

They were also keeping her quiet in case neighbours were annoyed by the noise of family hustle and bustle.

Darren had earlier told me that until now he did not hold out much hope of a new house.

He claimed the housing company had failed to recognise the changes in their circumstances following Marci’s arrival and that they felt they were stuck on the waiting list forever.

He said: “Gateshead Council are going to pull down the flats in Clasper Village, which will mean more people on the housing list.

“On top of the 1200 already looking for housing they could now give priority to people living there.

“What makes someone in Clasper Village better than me, my wife, or my daughter?

“Most of the houses over the last 18 months have been given to people moving from the bottom of Dunston, so we had no chance regardless.”

A spokesman for Gateshead Housing Company said the family had been in genuine need.

A spokesman said: “Our scheme prioritises very urgent needs such as medical issues, homelessness and severe overcrowding.

“But we also reserve a proportion of homes in each area for customers who have built up waiting time – and by bidding for these properties the family increases their chances of getting a home.”

I held off giving a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down in my original story last month when it was still uncertain how things would turn up.

Now I am happy to give Gateshead Housing Company a definite thumbs-up.

A spokesman said officials were improving the lead-in times for allocating new homes.

He said: “After giving the family advice about which areas they were more likely to succeed in bidding for they were able to find a two-bed family home.

“They were awarded the home on November 2 and we are currently carrying out some minor repairs to ensure their home is up to our required standard.

“The target date for completion of that work is November 10 – ensuring that we continue to let homes in almost half the time it took before the company was set up.”