I AM writing in response to the article about Andrea Newton (Guardian, April 22) and her overcrowding problem.

You quoted Peter Mercer as saying "three-bedroom houses are normally allocated to families that have been on the waiting list for two years".

That may be the case but I know of a couple across the road from me who were given a three-bedroom house after just one week on the list and they only have one child. On the bus the other day, I overheard a conversation between two women where one said that as a single parent with one-child she had been offered a three bedroom house.

I am also on the list, due to overcrowding. I have got two daughters aged nine and 11-years-old and a one- year-old son. Because of the age gap my son shares with my partner and I can and we can only just fit our bed, his cot and a small three-drawer chest in our room.

Why are people with one child being given the extra room they do not need, when people like Angela and myself are desperate for that extra room? It is just not right. I have been on the list for 19 months and I was around 10th or 12th on the list until a couple of months ago - now I am 35th!

Not only this, but I reported my kitchen was in disrepair on October 3, 2002. The units are falling to bits and the damp was so bad it was rotting the sink unit and the skirting boards were crumbling.

It was not until I had written two letters of complaint that they sent someone to treat the damp in February this year. I am still waiting for the rest of the kitchen to be done.

My partner and I pay rent for this property, but we are so disgusted with the way the council is running things that we no longer wish to be council tenants. If we could afford to rend privately we would.

HELEN IJICHI

Gerrard Avenue, Bewsey