A couple and their eight children have been squashed into a two-bed flat with a "mould-infested bedroom" after being evicted from their council house.
Solly Ellis, 32, and his partner Donna Hollands, 43, were ejected after allegations unauthorised alterations had been made in the loft area as well as a conservatory being added without permission.
But they have today hit out at their new accommodation - a tiny flat in Brentwood, Essex.
Speaking today to Essex Live , Donna said: "One of the children has autism and being in a confined space he suffers quite badly. Normally he can take himself off. But here there is nowhere to go.
"There’s nowhere for Solly to go, we are all on top of one another.
"No one is giving us straight answer. I just want an answer."
Solly, 23-year-old Ryan and a nine-year-old are sleeping in the living room. Everyone else, including Donna, Robert, 23 and Connor, 18, along with four children all aged under ten, are sharing one bedroom – two children are top and tailing in one bed.
The other bedroom is inhabitable due to mould.
But Brentwood Borough Council, which is controlled by the Tories, said none of the works on the previous three-bedroom house had the appropriate permissions from building control or housing.
The family, who had been living there for 13 years, were rehomed after a prohibition order in response to a "category 1 hazard" was issued.
"I know we shouldn't have but I did it to make the family more comfortable. It was there four five years," Solly said.
"Then the council came round to do an inspection, looked in the loft and told us we weren’t meant to have a bedroom in the loft.
"But there are ten of us in a three bedroom house. We needed extra space. I didn't do it out of maliciousness. I did it to house our family."
The council says by removing and cutting away at the support joists, the remaining timbers were bearing six times their safe load.
It adds that the conservatory can be seen pulling away from the wall.
Solly said : "The engineer said it is bearing six times the weight but all I did was put floorboards down and plaster board up.
"They said I've removed joists which I haven't."
He believes the building inspector was in the property for around 15 minutes and didn't even go in the loft before making a judgement.
The couple, who don't work, say they did the work to make the three-bedroom house more habitable.
The council anticipates that there will be substantial costs estimated at £30,000 which they will charge to the couple.
A Brentwood Borough Council spokeswoman said: "We commissioned qualified structural engineers to carry out a visual structural survey which was undertaken on October 15, 2019.
"As a result of the initial visual survey the structural engineers have advised that a full structural survey is required in order to establish the extent of the damage to the property.
"This cannot be carried out until the property is empty.
"Initial reports suggest that the timber joists in the roof are no longer in place and the first floor ceilings show cracks. To make the property safe and carry out the survey, it has been necessary for the tenants to vacate the building.
"We offered to undertake the removal of items on behalf of the tenant but this has been declined so supervised limited access is being allowed given the condition of the property which is being monitored.
"The tenants have been rehomed in temporary accommodation and the council continues to liaise with them."
