My 19-year-old son and his 17-year-old wife were made homeless more than a year ago after being unscrupulously evicted from three different, privately-rented properties.

With the agreement of their homeless officer, they eventually moved in with my daughter-in-law's mother, who lives in a two-bedroom council flat in Hove, and, after several months, it was agreed Brighton and Hove City Council would move her mother out and sign the lease over to my son and his wife. This was more than nine months ago and, in spite of all the pressure we as a family have brought to bear, they and their two young children are still sleeping in a room approximately 10ft by 8ft.

As a direct result of this terrible overcrowding, my son became very depressed and has been unable to work. Their marriage has been at breaking point.

I am aware there is a severe housing problem in the Brighton and Hove area and, in desperation, we have tried to find them something in the private sector again, even though this will indebt us. Now there is a new problem. The gap between what housing benefits will pay and the rents being charged is so great it is impossible for anyone on low income or income support to make it up. Landlords are reluctant to accept housing benefit because the council can claim back rent from the landlords up to three years later if it finds a tenant has claimed fraudulently.

What on earth is going on? Wake up, Brighton and Hove City Council, before things become really desperate.

-Veronica Bower-Feek, veronica@bowerfeek.com