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  • Mohammed Ali, from Birmingham, wants to live under the same roof as his wife, Sumayah Zaman, who has terminal brain cancer

A despairing father has begged his local council to give his family a home so he no longer has to sleep in his car and can take care of his terminally ill wife.

Mohammed Ali, 32, has been sleeping in his Toyota Yaris while his 26-year-old wife, Sumayah Zaman, sleeps at her mother’s house who is also ill with their one-year-old son.

His wife has terminal brain cancer and has been told by doctors that she may only have months to live.

Despite this, the family are separated due to not being able to secure a home together. Ms Zaman used to be a teacher and Mr Ali still works full-time as an area manager while caring for his wife and son. 

Mohammed Ali, 32, has been sleeping in his Toyota Yaris while his 26-year-old wife, Sumayah Zaman, sleeps at her mother's house who is also ill with their one-year-old son

Mohammed Ali, 32, has been sleeping in his Toyota Yaris while his 26-year-old wife, Sumayah Zaman, sleeps at her mother’s house who is also ill with their one-year-old son

Mr Ali is from Sheldon and told BirminghamLive: ‘My wife has terminal cancer. At first the council wouldn’t accept us on the housing register even with her condition.

‘They said we didn’t meet the criteria. We then went to our MP and she got us put into Band A. But since then the council doesn’t reply to us. It doesn’t help us.’

He works for a cleaning company and said his wife will be undergoing surgery soon. 

Mr Ali added: ‘According to the doctors she doesn’t have very long left. We have a young son and we don’t live together as a family. I sleep in my car sometimes. I just want us to be a family even for a short amount of time.

‘My wife sometimes stays with her mum, but she also has cancer – stage four bowel cancer. So she can’t help us as much as she’d like to. I have been in care and now work as an area manager. My wife was a teacher. We’ve made a go of our lives – it’s not as if we’ve been on benefits. It’s just an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in now.

‘I feel like giving up. I’m trying to keep a full-time job as well and look after my wife and son. I have hospital appointments to go to three or four times-a-week. I don’t know what to do.’

The family reached out to their local MP, Jess Phillips, for help after being unable to buy a house themselves and receiving no response from the council when making inquiries there.

Birmingham City Council has not yet rehomed the family despite the MP’s attempts at helping them by moving them Band A of the council housing ladder which is for people with an extremely urgent need to move. 

Mrs Phillips said: ‘The lack of social housing is a nationwide problem and I am supporting a number of constituents who are struggling to find stable accommodation.

His wife has terminal brain cancer and has been told by doctors that she may only have months to live

His wife has terminal brain cancer and has been told by doctors that she may only have months to live

‘This family are in a dire situation and I have been working with Birmingham City Council in the hope they will be able to move somewhere suitable and permanent as soon as is possible.’

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: ‘We are very sorry to hear about the housing challenges faced by this household. Unfortunately, they are not alone, due to the ongoing national housing crisis, demand for accommodation in the city has never been higher.

‘There are currently over 22,000 households on the housing register in Birmingham – of which nearly 7,000 are band A. There are around 7,000 families seeking a two-bedroom home.

‘The shortage of accommodation is severely restricting the options we can offer to people in need, and we know many people across the city are in difficult situations like this family. Mr Ali has been accepted into Band A and an officer has recently reviewed their case to note the mobility issues they are both experiencing.’

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This post first appeared on Daily mail