Mum's tears at new home after decades on the move

A woman who has spent much of the past 20 years moving between temporary homes said she had cried when she walked through the door of her new social housing property in the West Midlands.

Sunita Kaur Singh, a victim of abuse, told how going from temporary accommodation to women's refuges and back again had been "absolutely heartbreaking".

Her emotional move into social housing came as West Midlands mayor Richard Parker revealed there were currently more than 60,000 people on the region's housing waiting list.

He said 6,520 households, including more than 13,000 children, had started the new year in temporary accommodation.

Ms Singh said, after she first stepped into her home: "I was overwhelmed and broke down in tears, I was so happy I had finally got somewhere."

The mother-of-three said her children had not believed her when she told them about the move and showed them the property.

"They thought I was lying because it was so nice. They said, 'take us to our real property'. I said 'this is your home now'. They couldn't believe it," Ms Singh added.

"Getting this house feels like the answer to all my prayers. I am so happy. I never want to move from here."

Parker revealed the city's latest housing waiting list figures as he confirmed £1.7m funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority for 124 social and affordable homes at Port Loop, Edgbaston.

The number includes 103 for social rent and 21 for shared ownership.

The mayor has set a target of creating 20,000 new social homes over the next decade.

The Port Loop site in Birmingham - a former industrial site surrounded by canals - is being developed into an island community, with 105 homes built so far.

The mayor's funding announcement will be used for the site's first dedicated social housing, Parker said.

Glenn Harris, chief executive of Midlands Heart, which is managing the site's social homes, said their first tenants would be welcomed this year.

Henriette Breukelaar, regional director at West Midlands Canal & River Trust, said the canals around the site, a corner-stone of the city's industrial past, were now at the heart of its regeneration.

She said the development reflected a shared vision with the developers of making canals and their surroundings "places where people want to live, work and thrive".

Away from Birmingham, the government has said it is trying to tackle England's housing shortage by setting ambitious housebuilding targets.

In the Midlands, Shropshire and Herefordshire councils have pushed back on housebuilding targets.

Similar concerns have been raised in Warwickshire and in Staffordshire, with residents saying that "the infrastructure cannot take any more houses".

The BBC has created an online tool to enable people to track the government's progress towards its goal where they live.

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