A FAMILY of six has spent more than six weeks in hotels while waiting for a temporary flat to become available.

This week the four children have woken up in three different hotels as they have been moved around the city.

The mum and dad complained about conditions in the Heritage Hotel in the west end and contacted the Glasgow Times.

The same day it was arranged for them to be moved to another property near Charing Cross.

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But the family, from Glasgow, who we have decided not to name, spent only one night there due to their complaints about the conditions and the council agreed to move them to a hotel that is hoped to be better suited to their children’s needs.

The father said the Heritage Hotel was filthy and had no cooking facilities other than a microwave.

He said they have complained to staff about mice and bed bugs.

The dad said: “I don’t feel it is safe here for our children.”

He said the family, which had two rooms in the hotel, was living on ready meals and takeaways.

He said because they can’t cook in the hotel the benefit money they get is not enough to feed their children every night and he has visited the Homeless Project Scotland food kitchen in the city centre for meals to bring back to his children.

The family of six gets £936 a month in benefits.

The father said benefit paperwork shows the hotel owners were paid £1094 a week for the two rooms, a breakfast of a chocolate croissant, and a yoghurt pot with a carton of juice, each.

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The second property, they said, was damp, and dirty and had no utensils or crockery so they were unable to cook. It also had no towels.

The mother said: “My auntie had to come with towels and McDonalds for the children. We can’t spend another night here.”

The council disputes this and said it had been assured there was cooking equipment available.

After just one night the council agreed to move the family to another property and they have been told a temporary furnished flat is being prepared and should be ready by the end of next week.

The family will have spent eight weeks in hotels by that time.

The mum said her kids have missed some time off school as a result of the upheaval.

Glasgow City Council said there were personal circumstances that meant the options for housing in this case were reduced.

There is also a shortage of larger properties in the city for a family with four children.

A spokesperson for Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are in a housing crisis and unfortunately the demand for accommodation far outstrips availability which means people – particularly larger families with children – are unfortunately spending longer in emergency and temporary accommodation than anyone would want. 

“While the vast majority of homeless families are accommodated in temporary furnished accommodation in communities, we have to continually expand our use of bed and breakfast type accommodation in an attempt to meet the ever-increasing demand for homelessness assistance and to avoid people having to sleep rough.

“We are working with a range of partners to identify other sources of accommodation that will provide an alternative to bed and breakfast type accommodation.”