A couple who fear their council-rented house could collapse around their young family are desperate for a new home.

Naomi Porter, 37, and her husband Wayne, 34, say the subsiding property in Downs Road, Canterbury has cracks in the walls of almost every room - some wide enough to fit a finger - and is not safe for their six children to live in.

They say the structural problem causes damp and drafts and has even led to the front door of the semi-detached property flying open in the middle of the night because it no longer aligns with its frame.

Naomi and Wayne’s youngest child, Ellie, is one and suffers breathing problems after being born in an incubator at 36 weeks, while Naomi has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a long-term condition linked to stress which causes pain all over the body.

But although Canterbury City Council says the East Kent Housing property needs underpinning, the necessary work to strengthen its foundations cannot take place due to the house next door’s insurance company taking a different view.

The Porters believe the stalemate means their only hope now is to move, but they recently found out they had been classed as Band C housing priority - the second lowest category.

This is despite a letter from their occupational therapist, who has recommended the family move urgently.

“We just want somewhere safe for the kids and to be moved out of this house..." Naomi Porter

“We just don’t feel like we’re going to get anywhere,” Naomi said.

“Up until now we have been quite amicable, even to the point that we gave them a year to sort this out.

“We just want somewhere safe for the kids and to be moved out of this house.

“We want something to be done about it, rather than waiting for an accident to happen.

“Being here is really affecting my mental health. My anxiety is through the roof.”

The city council says it cannot give a precise timeline for when a suitable house could become available, but has deemed the family in need of a four-bed property - of which only four have become available in the past 18 months.

Of these, only one went to a family in Band C, who had been waiting for five years.

Naomi and Wayne say they would be happy with a three-bedroom house, but have been told this would constitute over-crowding.

“I can’t see how it’s fair that we should still be living here with our young kids,” Wayne, who works part-time as a cleaner, said.

“I’m worried a wall could fall down.

“The council have told us that if the house next door wasn’t private, they would have underpinned a long time ago.

“For them to say that, it can’t be that safe. I just think it’s horrendous. The cracks have got worse. They have seen it for themselves, they know the measurements.

“It’s frightening. Put them in our shoes. Would they like to live here? They wouldn’t, they would kick up a fuss.”

Council spokesman Rob Davies said: “This is a very complicated situation, which we are working to try and resolve.

“There is structural movement at numbers 11, 12 and 13 The Close, Downs Road, but only two of these are council properties. The third is privately owned.

“We have been inspecting the properties regularly and at the last one, on October 11, they were considered safe and habitable.

“Our view is that all of the properties require under-pinning, but this is not shared by the insurers of the privately owned house.

“We are currently trying to sort out this particular issue and the situation is being kept under regular review.”