Latvian mother-of-ten demands bigger council house despite raking in £34,000 in benefits
- Linda Kozlovska pays £100 a week rent for her three bedroom terraced home in Boston, Lincolnshire
- She earns £10,000 a year more than the average British worker in benefits
- Her children share bedrooms in their home and a mattress has been placed in the living room
- Council says the family are 'vulnerable' but workmen say they are frequently called to fix damage at the property
By PAUL BENTLEY
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Claiming: Linda Kozlovska, 31, pays a reported £100 a week rent to a private landlord for her three-bedroom terraced home in Boston, Lincolnshire
Neighbours reacted with outrage last night after an immigrant mother of ten who receives £34,000 a year in benefits demanded that the council gives her a larger home.
Latvian Linda Kozlovska, 31, arrived in Britain with three of her children in 2008 and moved into a council-maintained three-bedroom house.
Four years later, however, the single mother says she is unhappy living there – because she has had three more children and four others have moved over from Latvia.
‘I have ten children living here with me,’ she said. ‘I’m the only adult. I am on the council waiting list, but we’re still here.
‘They don’t have a big enough house. I want a bigger house. I don’t like it here. When we moved in it had bed bugs.’
Her neighbours are fuming. They say up to 18 people lived in the terraced home at one point, creating mess outside.
One claimed the property was, essentially, a ‘halfway house’ for Latvians when they first arrive in the country.
Another neighbour, Neil Blanchard, 39, said: ‘This kind of thing is beyond belief. If they want a bigger house they should have to earn it like everybody else.
‘It is not for the taxpayer to pick up the bill for a bigger house.’
But the council appears to be supporting her, with one councillor saying he is ‘sympathetic’ to her demands.
Home: Nearby workmen said they are frequently called to the privately-rented three bedroom house in Boston (pictured) to fix damage caused by the children. They said they constantly slam windows and break hinges
Miss Kozlovska, a self-employed cleaner, pays only £100 in rent a week to a private landlord for the house in Boston, Lincolnshire. The property is maintained for her by Boston borough council.
She claims working tax credits, child tax credits and child benefits. Every week, she receives £527 in child tax credit and working tax credit as well as £127 in child benefits. In total, she receives £34,000 a year from the state – far more than the average UK salary of just over £26,000 before tax.
The amount is also much higher than the £9.26 per child she would receive each month if she were still living in Latvia.
There, couples can claim up to £1,865 per baby, but payments dip after children reach 18 months.
Miss Kozlovska claimed she has ‘no choice but to move’ from the house because her children are crammed inside, with some having to sleep on mattresses in the living room.
‘I came to England to live – because we are from Latvia, which is in the EU, I could just come,’ she said.
Up keep: The backyard of the three bedroom house has cracked paving and furniture sacked outside
Miss Kozlovska added that she was concerned the council ‘may be angry now and make me go back to Latvia’.
'I came to England to live – because we are from Latvia, which is in the EU, I could just come'
Linda Kozlovska
She lives in the house with Russandra, 16, Liene, 13, Julian, 12, Sandija, 11, Marko, ten, Janis, eight, Diana, seven, Rolands, four, and twins Edvard and Alan, three.
The three youngest children were born in Britain and the others have joined her from Latvia over the last four years.
Miss Kozlovska will not reveal how many men fathered her children. One of her neighbours, who asked not to be named, said: ‘There have been up to 18 people living there.
‘There have also been complaints about the rubbish which has been put outside the property. The council know about it.
Plea to move: Writing on the wall of the rented home. Ms Kozlovska says she's the only adult living in the house and she doesn't like the home as when she moved in it had bed bugs
General street view: Ms Kozlovska privately rents the house and all the maintenance is carried out by the landlord. A general view of the road is pictured. The average income for a UK taxpayer in 2008 was £24,769
‘It is almost like it is a halfway house for people arriving from Latvia, who then move on.’ A builder, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I often do jobs on the house.
'I am sympathetic to her needs. I am also sympathetic to the needs of ten children. It is not ideal that they are living in overcrowded accommodation'
Mike Gilbert, Boston council
‘The kids are everywhere. There is nothing wrong with the house. There was nothing wrong with it when she moved in, anyway.’
But Mike Gilbert, the councillor in charge of housing at Boston council, said: ‘I am sympathetic to her needs.
‘I am also sympathetic to the needs of ten children. It is not ideal that they are living in overcrowded accommodation.
‘On the other hand providing accommodation for a mother with ten children is a fairly big ask in most areas, let alone Boston where that isn’t readily available.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2206255/Latvian-mother-demands-bigger-council-house-despite-raking-34k-benefits.html#ixzz275QZm2gP
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