Father of eight who turned down a four bedroom council house says he would accept one if it was ‘spacious’ enough

THE father in a migrant family of ten demanding a new taxpayer-funded home yesterday said they would accept “four spacious double bedrooms”.

Cameroon-born dad-of-eight Arnold Mballe Sube, 33, said he has a right to a council house after moving to the UK so the NHS would pay for his £27,000 degree.

The family, who cost the taxpayer an estimated £44,000 a year in benefits, say their current four-bed in Bletchley, Bucks, is too small - despite using one room as an office for storage.

They have rejected three houses, including a five-bed, and Mr Sube said yesterday: “I want four double bedrooms that have got space, because I know this house is overcrowded.

"When I move into social property it will still be overcrowded and it will have a detrimental effect... because the rooms are very small. I'm not greedy at all, I want a property."

Asked if he had plans for more children, he said: “You never know in life.”

It emerged yesterday the family turned down two homes in Luton, which were thought to be worth £270,000.

The council warned them their right to a home may be lost if they make themselves “intentionally homeless” by turning down offers.

Labour councillor Tom Shaw, in charge of housing, said: "A formal offer is going to be made in the next few days for another four- bedroom property which could be extended to a five that will be made formally in writing so we can follow the law through if he turns the offer down.

"If it's turned down the council's got the right to say that you are intentionally homeless please go and look after yourself in the private sector.

"We've got too many people waiting and other people are in all those properties now.

Arnold, who says he's now enlisted solicitors over the problem, denies knowingly turning down any properties.

He said: “The council did not give us the opportunity of viewing the property, they took advantage of our lack of understanding of the housing situation.

“If we viewed it, we would never have accepted the property because we found that it was a three bedroom only after one room had been split into two.

“There’s no space for the children to really concentrate or read which hinders their development, we are living on top of each other and there’s no space at all.”