Is there a law that say after a certain age my children can no long share a bedroom even tho they are the same sex?

[Sadie845]

I have 3 boys 2 of them share a bedroom but its only a single room and there is not enough space in there for the both of them, does the council have to give me a bigger house? they have said that they can share the room they r in, they are 8 and 10.

[Ethel]

No - there is no such law. There is nothing at all wrong with two, three or four or more children sharing a room if the room is large enough.

For the legal purpose of overcrowding, the number of occupants to the number of rooms is considered., Rooms for this purpose includes bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms and even large kitchens.

Children under 1 are discounted; children under 10 count as a half.

Assuming you have a partner and your youngest is over 1; there are 3 and a half people in your house; If you are a single person there is 2 and a half.

3 rooms can house 5 people - remember this is not 3 bedrooms, the other rooms are counted as well.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advic e_topics/repairs_and_bad_conditions/overcrowdi ng

I suggest you buy bunk beds

[Sadie845]

The room that they share is only 2x6m they have bunk beds but there is still no room for them they got about a foot of space between the bed and there draws and wardrobe the only time they can both be in there at the same time is wen there are in bed. the room is far too small. My youngest child has just turned 2. and there is my husband as well. There is no way i could of fit 2 single beds in thier bedroom.

[Ethel]

Well it still doesn't count as overcrowding, sorry

[redcrx]

if there was a law that said such a thing then people in council houses would deliberately have more children to get a larger house.

and what about those who own their homes?

if you think you ned more room then theres nothing stopping you from seeking to privately rent a property is there?

[danchip]

its up to the discretion of the council/housing association, chances are if they had a bigger house to offer you then they probably would of by now

you could always try renting somewhere privately

[Ethel]

That room is 12m squared - the law states a minimum size of 10.2m squared is suitable for 2 adults. Your two children count as one.

You could get a double bed in that room - would you be better to make that your bedroom and put the boys in yours?

[danchip]

if your house is o cramped why are you having more children and making it even more cramped

[bednobs]

actually ethel makes a good point - adults probably use their bedroom far less time than kids do in general (ie they are asleep less and they generlly dont have their friends round in their bedroom!) if your bedroom is a double then you could do a swap and put 2 beds in the double (or a bunk bed and have more space). Perhaps then all of thefamilies wardrobes and drawers could go in this room too. Or the other thing is the boys could have a bedroom each and you and hubby could get a sofabed for the lounge.
Or i guess you could try as others have suggested and rent prvately - if you qualify for housing benefit it may well cover it. or if you are in a good location, perhaps you could look for a council swap

[pink-kittens]

You can apply to do a mutual swap with someone who wants to downsize?
Might be worth consideration, but this can only happen if your rent is paid up to date

[Twenty20]

6 metres is actually quite a long room. Ok, its quite narrow, but should be more than adequate for two small kids. There's plenty of adult couples who have bedrooms much smaller than that.

[Whickerman]

that's a 138 square foot room - may be narrow but that's a lot of space, they could have single beds end to end with a stack of room to spare?

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree with 20 and Whickerman. The room hasn't got a great deal of width, but a bunk or single bed's only 3ft. wide, so they've got more than that again to get by. The length of the room's fine for 2 boys, even to include a wardrobe.

[dot.hawkes]

there is a law about children over 13 of different sexes sharing though isn;t there?

[Ice.Maiden]

Think Dot's right about that, although it doesn't effect Sadie's situation.

[pink-kittens]

I'm almost certain that applies to children, for example, who are in care or non related - not for siblings
I certainly cannot find any specific law relating to bedroom sharing for siblings anyway