Little Alex has never had his own room

Since the day he was born almost two years ago, the Worcester tot has had to share a room with his mum Danielle and her partner, delivery man Dean Taylor, in Danielle's parents' small three-bedroom house in Warndon, Worcester.

The bedroom the new family share is so small they have had to move the wardrobe out just to squeeze in a cot for Alex. Danielle's parents have moved into the box room, and her two older brothers share the house's third bedroom.

The strain is beginning to show on the whole family. "It's causing lots of arguments," says Danielle, aged 20. "It's really, really difficult. There just isn't enough space in the house for all of us - but we've nowhere else we can go."

Although Dean, aged 23, is working full-time, he is not earning enough to be able to rent even a small house for the family in Worcester's increasingly expensive market.

Danielle is pregnant with a second child.

The young family have been on Worcester City Council's housing waiting list since mid-2005, but are apparently no closer to being offered an affordable home than they were two-and-a-half years ago.

Their plight is typical of that shared by an increasing number of new households in Worcester. The housing report revealed in your Worcester News today says 72 per cent of newly-formed families with children in the city can no longer afford to rent their own house. More than half have to share with family or friends.

With a typical waiting list time of five years, and a second child on the way, Danielle is desperate.

"We just need a place of our own," she says.

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