A FUMING dad couldn’t find a house for his family of eight – so he moved them into an ‘ex-Coldplay’ tour bus to avoid homelessness.
Antoni Taylor and Emma Heard, both 30, were struggling to find a property that would accommodate their five children, and Antoni’s older sister Hannah who has cerebral palsy.
The dad-of-five has slammed Cornwall Council after he claimed officials left his family at risk of homelessness.
Antoni and Emma have too much money saved to qualify for social housing – but they don’t earn enough to be approved for a mortgage.
The carer told Cornwall Live: “Because I’m Hannah’s full-time carer my employment status isn’t great so estate agents won’t even touch me.”
Renting plans were also squashed after the devoted brother failed to find a home with acceptable disability access.
Antoni, originally from Helston, came to the conclusion he would have to build a property himself.
But the dad has blasted Cornwall Council for taking too long to respond to his planning application – as his family continue to live in two former Coldplay tour buses.
Antoni even thinks they were the same buses in which band icon Chris Martin and glam ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow broke-up.
The buses have been kitted out with a boiler, hot water and heating – while couple’s five children each have their own bedrooms.
They only pay £400 a month, while a suitable home for the clan would cost them an eye-watering £1,250 per month.
Antoni forked out a whopping £35,000 to buy and transform the buses.
They were forced to dip into money passed down in his mother’s inheritance after she sadly passed away from a sudden brain aneurysm in 2019.
But, the family have now been hit by a fresh blow as the landlord they rent the land from has issued them a no-fault eviction notice.
The landlord has given Antoni permission to build his own home on a different parcel of land he owns in Redruth – providing he gets planning permission.
A frustrated Antoni said: “We don’t need social housing help, I just want to build on this perfectly suitable land.
“It would save me £30,000 to £40,000 and the council won’t have somebody like me kicking off to them.
“It’s disgraceful that I can’t do this.”
He blasted the council for handing housing developers land for luxury homes.
“Who can afford that? Who can even afford a £200,000 house right now?,” added the dad-of-five.
His application is to build an “affordable self-build property” that will have a Section 106 agreement, but Antoni claimed it hasn’t been given the green light because he has been born and raised in the Helston area.
“Then I’m just trying to build a home for my family and I’m not allowed,” he continued.
“I know so many people living in vans in laybys because there is nowhere to go.”
The “furious” dad also spoke of struggling people moving back in with their parents.
Antoni has been fighting for planning permission since July last year and recons he’s shelled out £12,000 in the process.
Cornwall Council rejected his first application, and the carer is waiting to hear back on the second.
Speaking about his sister Hannah, Antoni said she is one of the “most vulnerable” people in their county – but he feels the “council doesn’t give a cr**.”
“If I could just build a house for my family the council wouldn’t have someone like me kicking off at them.”
A Cornwall Council spokesperson said: “If anyone is threatened with homelessness, we will work with them to try and prevent that from happening.
“Under homelessness legislation the Council has a duty to provide temporary accommodation to certain households and we work with them on a Personalised Housing Plan.”
The council added that they were sympathetic to people in the same position as Antoni amid “extreme and unprecedented pressures” on housing.
Officials also stated anyone who has submitted a planning application and has been rejected can appeal.
The Sun Online contacted Cornwall Council for comment.
