A Norwich couple have spent more than half a year living in their car despite promises of a council home months ago.
Aram Sarbir and his wife Shahla Qadir have slept in their Ford Mondeo and on friends' sofas while having to overcome a miscarriage and needing surgeries.
When Norwich City Council showed them a house in March it said it should not be long before they move in.
But seven months later the pair are still living in their car.
"They said one or two weeks when I went to view it but it has been seven months and we are still not moved in," Mr Sarbir, 47, said.
"They said they will contact me soon, then they said it will be next week, it keeps moving on. On March 10, I went to view the house but they still haven't given me a key."
At the time, Mr Sarbir - who works at Plumstead Road Mini Mart - said he was told repairs were needed and the rubbish had to be removed from the house.
Growing frustrated with the situation, Mr Sarbir has taken to calling the council to get an update on the Heigham Grove property. On one day he had to call 33 times before he was able to speak to a case worker.
"When I speak to them they say little jobs are left, I've said can't you fix it after I move in or can I fix it myself but they said no."
This has all happened while Ms Qadir, 28, has had to overcome a miscarriage, which has seen her require hospital treatment after getting infections.
Mr Sarbir has also needed surgeries for issues with his feet and has been unable to see his daughter until he has a place for her to stay.
"My daughter has not been able to stay with me, she wants to come and stay but she has to stay with her mum [Mr Sarbir's ex-partner]. There's no place for her to live.
"Sometimes I will pick her up from school and take her for KFC or she will visit me at work but she's 11 years old that's not nice for her. I care for my daughter she should be able to stay with me. I don't want to lose her, I don't want her to forget about me.
"I don't care about myself, it's my daughter and wife I care about."
Mr Sarbir said he and his wife have to sleep in the car or occasionally on a friend's sofa. Other times they will be able to visit a friend to shower and eat but they then leave to sleep in the car.
Unfortunately, his friends do not have the space to let them stay permanently.
Before seeking a council flat, the couple had rented a house but issues with the landlord's mortgage meant they had to move out.
The Green group's Jamie Osborn has raised the couple's predicament with council officers but the issue has not been fixed.
He said: "It is unacceptable that anyone is having to live in a car while council homes are standing empty.
"The council urgently needs to get on top of this problem so people who have been promised houses are not left homeless for months.
"Green councillors have consistently raised concerns about the backlog in repairs to council housing and yet there seems to be no sign of improvement.
"We are demanding that the Labour-run council immediately sets out a plan for how it's going to learn from its mistakes and get much-needed housing back into use."
A spokeswoman for the city council said: “We’ve been very open about the fact that our repairs backlog has created some unacceptable delays.
“This is exactly why we appointed additional contractors to address this and they are making good progress to reduce the backlog.
“We were upfront about the fact that we didn’t expect the backlog to be cleared before the end of the year.
“Work is under way at Mr Sarbir’s property and we’ve been in touch directly to reassure him and let him know about moving in timeframes.”
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