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The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
10 News+ is being thumped by its rivals. Can it be saved?
It's tempting to assume the death of 10 News+ is imminent: in its first week on air, Network Ten's bold prime-time news and current affairs offering, which debuted on June 30, averaged just 211,000 viewers nationally. Four weeks later, its audience had dwindled to 149,000 – while the 6pm bulletins on Seven and Nine each attracted a viewership around nine times this size. 'They need to double their ratings, at the very least, to be sustainable,' says Pearman Media analyst Steve Allen, noting the challenge is compounded by the network's financial constraints. 'Ten don't have the luxury of choice; they don't have a cupboard full of programs they can pick from if this fails – which gives them an even stronger incentive to make it work.' Ten news boss Martin White admits the one-hour program, which airs at 6pm between Sunday to Friday, has a long way to go. 'I have no illusions about the task we're facing, given we're in one of the most hotly contested time slots in TV,' he says. 'But we're not in as dire a position as some have suggested.' Indeed, the program's co-anchors, Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock, take comfort from other Ten series that got off to an equally dismal start. Chief among them is Have You Been Paying Attention?, which debuted with 301,000 viewers in 2013 before sinking to 168,000 the following year. Had it aired on Seven or Nine (the owner of this masthead), it almost certainly would have been axed in its infancy – but Ten stuck with it. Now, HYBPA? is one of the network's biggest hits, regularly exceeding 1 million viewers. Likewise, The Cheap Seats fell to 255,000 viewers a few weeks after its 2021 launch; since then, it has roughly doubled its audience. And The Project – which notched up almost 16 years before being cancelled in June due to high production costs – was first reported to be on the chopping block a mere 10 days after it premiered in 2009. 'Ten has a unique position in the marketplace in that it can take more risks and give things more time to grow,' Brace says. 'Historically, they've been rewarded for that, which certainly gives us confidence.' Adds Hitchcock: 'We were sitting opposite [Ten network president] Beverley McGarvey at the Logies the other night. She told us, face-to-face, that she loves the show and that this is a long-term project.' This doesn't mean the 10 News+ format won't evolve: recently, Ten commissioned market research to gauge viewers' opinions about everything from its 'tone, pace and delivery' to the length of its reports. '10 News+ is actually quite a hard sell; it's tricky to explain to the public.' Network Ten insider 'We're not making huge, wholesale changes, although those decisions ultimately rest with the network,' says Dan Sutton, the program's executive producer. 'What you might see are some little tweaks as we go along. It's a smart move by any network to do market research on a new show, and we're listening to that feedback so we can deliver a show that people love to tune in to.' Allen sees Ten's investment in research as proof the network is not giving up on 10 News+, although he remains sceptical about its long-term prospects. 'Ten are very strong at 5 o'clock [with their state-based 10 News First bulletins],' he says, 'but I'm not convinced that another hour of news and current affairs at six o'clock is going to work.' To some inside Ten, Allen's observation about 'another hour of news and current affairs' sums up their challenge. ' 10 News+ is actually quite a hard sell,' says one journalist who is not authorised to speak publicly. 'Here at Ten, we know it's not just a replica of the straight news bulletins on Seven and Nine, but it's not a completely new, out-of-the box idea either – and that's tricky to explain to the public in a way that's both clear and appealing.' Loading So what is 10 News+, exactly? Although it gives viewers the news of the day, it's not a traditional bulletin. Often, it features longer-form stories in the style of Seven's Spotlight or Nine's 60 Minutes. While its direct rivals might devote 45 seconds to a report about declining childhood literacy rates, 10 News+ will invite experts to spend five minutes debating the topic. 'My hope is that when people watch the show, they will be informed about something they might not have known beforehand,' Sutton says. 'I want them to hear an opinion or an idea that they hadn't considered.' White agrees, offering three recent stories as examples. 'We had the Melbourne mum taking TAB to court because she's a known problem gambler; a lot of other networks were interested but she came to us,' he says. 'We interviewed Hannah Thomas, the Greens candidate who could lose an eye after a clash with police during a protest. And we've done a lot of very nuanced and contextual reporting around the situation in Gaza.' Ben Willee, executive director of media and data at Spinach Advertising, says Ten's task is not an easy one. 'It's hard to launch any new show in 2025 because there is so much competition,' he says. 'But it's even more difficult if your ratings are not as strong as the other networks, because you have fewer viewers to promote your new programs to.' But Willee does not accept that a one-hour news and current affairs show, airing six nights a week, is destined to fail in what some believe is an already-saturated market. 'There's a reason the networks invest so much in news, and that's because it rates,' he says. 'There's still a very strong appetite for it, so if 10 News+ isn't working, it could be that there's a problem with the format or a problem with the promotion. 'Ten still have a few levers they can pull: they might go very hard on promotion, which I don't feel they've done yet. They might tweak the format or they may do something really surprising that brings in a whole new crop of viewers.' Last week, 10 News+ attracted an average audience of 159,000 – its highest figure in three weeks. Although it was thumped by the 6pm bulletins on Seven and Nine, which averaged more than 1.37 million viewers each, it may suggest early signs of recovery. Loading Ten's 5pm bulletin continues to draw its biggest audience since 2022, and has grown by 14 per cent compared to last year, giving the network a stronger lead-in to its fledgling program. (Ten's lunchtime, afternoon and late bulletins – all of which serve as cross-promotional platforms – have enjoyed even greater increases.) On social media, 10 News+ content has racked up 1.2 million views on TikTok, 1.9 million on YouTube and 2.2 million on Instagram. The program is also available on Spotify, in audio and video formats, where it can be streamed ad-free by paid subscribers. 'It's not just a ratings game any more,' says White, referring to the traditional TV metric of live broadcast audiences. 'We've got to be a bit less binary in terms of how we judge success because it's a multi-platform game now – and it does take time to build brand awareness.' A journalist from a rival network, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insists it's too early to write off 10 News+.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
10 News+ is being thumped by its rivals. Can it be saved?
It's tempting to assume the death of 10 News+ is imminent: in its first week on air, Network Ten's bold prime-time news and current affairs offering, which debuted on June 30, averaged just 211,000 viewers nationally. Four weeks later, its audience had dwindled to 149,000 – while the 6pm bulletins on Seven and Nine each attracted a viewership around nine times this size. 'They need to double their ratings, at the very least, to be sustainable,' says Pearman Media analyst Steve Allen, noting the challenge is compounded by the network's financial constraints. 'Ten don't have the luxury of choice; they don't have a cupboard full of programs they can pick from if this fails – which gives them an even stronger incentive to make it work.' Ten news boss Martin White admits the one-hour program, which airs at 6pm between Sunday to Friday, has a long way to go. 'I have no illusions about the task we're facing, given we're in one of the most hotly contested time slots in TV,' he says. 'But we're not in as dire a position as some have suggested.' Indeed, the program's co-anchors, Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock, take comfort from other Ten series that got off to an equally dismal start. Chief among them is Have You Been Paying Attention?, which debuted with 301,000 viewers in 2013 before sinking to 168,000 the following year. Had it aired on Seven or Nine (the owner of this masthead), it almost certainly would have been axed in its infancy – but Ten stuck with it. Now, HYBPA? is one of the network's biggest hits, regularly exceeding 1 million viewers. Likewise, The Cheap Seats fell to 255,000 viewers a few weeks after its 2021 launch; since then, it has roughly doubled its audience. And The Project – which notched up almost 16 years before being cancelled in June due to high production costs – was first reported to be on the chopping block a mere 10 days after it premiered in 2009. 'Ten has a unique position in the marketplace in that it can take more risks and give things more time to grow,' Brace says. 'Historically, they've been rewarded for that, which certainly gives us confidence.' Adds Hitchcock: 'We were sitting opposite [Ten network president] Beverley McGarvey at the Logies the other night. She told us, face-to-face, that she loves the show and that this is a long-term project.' This doesn't mean the 10 News+ format won't evolve: recently, Ten commissioned market research to gauge viewers' opinions about everything from its 'tone, pace and delivery' to the length of its reports. '10 News+ is actually quite a hard sell; it's tricky to explain to the public.' Network Ten insider 'We're not making huge, wholesale changes, although those decisions ultimately rest with the network,' says Dan Sutton, the program's executive producer. 'What you might see are some little tweaks as we go along. It's a smart move by any network to do market research on a new show, and we're listening to that feedback so we can deliver a show that people love to tune in to.' Allen sees Ten's investment in research as proof the network is not giving up on 10 News+, although he remains sceptical about its long-term prospects. 'Ten are very strong at 5 o'clock [with their state-based 10 News First bulletins],' he says, 'but I'm not convinced that another hour of news and current affairs at six o'clock is going to work.' To some inside Ten, Allen's observation about 'another hour of news and current affairs' sums up their challenge. ' 10 News+ is actually quite a hard sell,' says one journalist who is not authorised to speak publicly. 'Here at Ten, we know it's not just a replica of the straight news bulletins on Seven and Nine, but it's not a completely new, out-of-the box idea either – and that's tricky to explain to the public in a way that's both clear and appealing.' Loading So what is 10 News+, exactly? Although it gives viewers the news of the day, it's not a traditional bulletin. Often, it features longer-form stories in the style of Seven's Spotlight or Nine's 60 Minutes. While its direct rivals might devote 45 seconds to a report about declining childhood literacy rates, 10 News+ will invite experts to spend five minutes debating the topic. 'My hope is that when people watch the show, they will be informed about something they might not have known beforehand,' Sutton says. 'I want them to hear an opinion or an idea that they hadn't considered.' White agrees, offering three recent stories as examples. 'We had the Melbourne mum taking TAB to court because she's a known problem gambler; a lot of other networks were interested but she came to us,' he says. 'We interviewed Hannah Thomas, the Greens candidate who could lose an eye after a clash with police during a protest. And we've done a lot of very nuanced and contextual reporting around the situation in Gaza.' Ben Willee, executive director of media and data at Spinach Advertising, says Ten's task is not an easy one. 'It's hard to launch any new show in 2025 because there is so much competition,' he says. 'But it's even more difficult if your ratings are not as strong as the other networks, because you have fewer viewers to promote your new programs to.' But Willee does not accept that a one-hour news and current affairs show, airing six nights a week, is destined to fail in what some believe is an already-saturated market. 'There's a reason the networks invest so much in news, and that's because it rates,' he says. 'There's still a very strong appetite for it, so if 10 News+ isn't working, it could be that there's a problem with the format or a problem with the promotion. 'Ten still have a few levers they can pull: they might go very hard on promotion, which I don't feel they've done yet. They might tweak the format or they may do something really surprising that brings in a whole new crop of viewers.' Last week, 10 News+ attracted an average audience of 159,000 – its highest figure in three weeks. Although it was thumped by the 6pm bulletins on Seven and Nine, which averaged more than 1.37 million viewers each, it may suggest early signs of recovery. Loading Ten's 5pm bulletin continues to draw its biggest audience since 2022, and has grown by 14 per cent compared to last year, giving the network a stronger lead-in to its fledgling program. (Ten's lunchtime, afternoon and late bulletins – all of which serve as cross-promotional platforms – have enjoyed even greater increases.) On social media, 10 News+ content has racked up 1.2 million views on TikTok, 1.9 million on YouTube and 2.2 million on Instagram. The program is also available on Spotify, in audio and video formats, where it can be streamed ad-free by paid subscribers. 'It's not just a ratings game any more,' says White, referring to the traditional TV metric of live broadcast audiences. 'We've got to be a bit less binary in terms of how we judge success because it's a multi-platform game now – and it does take time to build brand awareness.' A journalist from a rival network, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insists it's too early to write off 10 News+.
News.com.au
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Disaster': Network 10 could ‘pull the plug' on 10News+ after disastrous first week ratings
Numerous executives at Network 10 reportedly believe that replacing The Project with a hard news show has been a 'big screw up'. 10 News+ began last week on the channel after The Project aired its final episode, but sadly for the network the ratings were lacklustre at best. It reflected on social media too, where criticism of the new show was swift and cutting from viewers. Launching with just 291,000 viewers, it continued to decline throughout the week, eventually being surpassed by a regional offering. According to insiders at 10, the original proposal was to replace The Project with a five-nights-a-week version of The Cheap Seats. However, after much deliberation, bosses at 10 decided to opt for a hard news show instead. 'They screwed up ... and that probably wasn't the right foundation for what was needed to triumph in that timeslot,' 10 insider told Daily Mail Australia. 'Everyone felt rushed. It was clear the format wasn't ready but they needed something fast to replace and justify the budget cuts.' Things have reportedly gone so bad after the show's first week on air that insiders at the network believe the show won't last out the year. 'There's already talk that they'll pull the plug once the ratings come in,' added the insider, while another called the show a 'total disaster' for Network 10. Martin White, vice president of broadcast news at Paramount and EP Daniel Sutton are the two faces thought to be facing the most heat from the new show's poor showing. 'Disaster. An EP who has never produced anything before. Hosts who have never hosted anything before,' they said. 'I watched it last night – it's genuinely terrible. Day one – stillborn. Day two – buried. Martin's masterpiece.'' A spokesperson for Network 10said they recognise that building up an audience is a 'marathon and not a sprint'. 'Daniel Sutton is a seasoned journalist and producer with 25 years' experience. Network 10 is proud to invest in its staff and promote talented executives.' 'Ten is taking a long-term, multi-platform view of audience development. Building a loyal news audience takes time, and we are prepared for gradual growth as audiences discover and connect with our unique approach to news delivery across many platforms. 'Ten is fully committed to 10 News+. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We are investing in building a sustainable, quality multi-platform news service that will grow and evolve with our audience's needs over time.'
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Why Britain is the divorce capital of the world: The reasons wealthy warring couples are flocking to UK to do battle over their finances
It all started with a pair of farmers. Martin and Pamela White got married in 1961 and went into business together, investing £2,000 each in a burgeoning dairy farm. A year later, they bought Blagroves Farm in Somerset - some 160 acres of land, with what was remarked upon as a 'fine Jacobean house' at its centre. All in all, their own little corner of the country cost £32,000, funded by a mortgage and a family loan. The business expanded, growing the land to 337 acres, which the pair owned together and jointly, going as far as to merge their capital accounts. Mr White was a hard-toiling farmer; his wife the homemaker who brought up their children Katherine, Philip and Hilary while also contributing to the farm's running. In short, they did everything together. Until they didn't. In 1994, Mrs White left the farm and filed for divorce, seeking her share of their combined fortune which, when all was considered, weighed in at £4.6million. But a judge gave her £800,000 - less than she wanted to start a new business - after ruling that she should hand all jointly owned assets to her ex-husband. To break up their farming business, he said, would be 'unwise', and the £800,000 he granted should be enough to allow her to continue living comfortably. She appealed - and the Court of Appeal upped the settlement to £1.5million, ruling that she had contributed just as much to the family as a homemaker and was entitled to her fair share. Mr White appealed to the House of Lords, then the highest court in the country, while his wife cross-appealed in a bid for exactly half of the assets. Ultimately, the appeals were dismissed in October 2000 - but not before the Lords made legal history by requiring courts to consider the 'yardstick of equality' as the starting position. Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead considered: 'If (they) by their joint efforts over many years, his directly in his business and hers indirectly at home, have built up a valuable business from scratch, why should... the husband left with a much larger share?' Unlikely as it seems, this agricultural dissolution, and the conclusion that couples share wealth, regardless of who earns it, elevated England and Wales - and London in particular - to the status of divorce capital of the world. 'Before White v White, that idea that the contribution from the homemaker was considered as valuable as the contribution from the breadwinner, was not the approach,' Stacey Nevin, a partner in Kingsley Napley's family and divorce department and a specialist in international family law, told MailOnline. 'The conclusion of the case was that the contribution, the value added to the marital partnership, has equal value. 'So the decisions during the marriage and the assets that are built up during that partnership are considered, as a starting position, to be equal, because it is considered that the decisions were made together as a couple.' These days, divorcees-to-be flock to the capital to take advantage of the precedent set by White v White, which established the jurisdiction as one of the most generous when it comes to 'financially weaker' individuals. It's why London courts ruled on Princess Haya of Jordan's £554m split from Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and the ex of Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov as she fought to claim a share of his $1.375bn oil fortune. 'The starting position for the court is an equal division of the matrimonial resources,' Ms Nevin added. 'But the court then looks for reasons to depart from that equality, and that could mean the financially weaker party has a greater share. 'It's that discretionary element that can make England and Wales a very beneficial jurisdiction to the financial weak party. We are known as the divorce capital of the world, particularly London.' In England and Wales, divorce laws permit people who have foreign marriages to file for a split regardless of where it was registered. But they can also launch bids for financial relief if the divorce was granted abroad - so long as the court considers they have grounds for doing so and meet certain requirements. These relate to whether at least one of the parties being domiciled in England and Wales at the time they apply, or being habitually resident for a period of time beforehand. But should a test be met, those who are less well off than their spouses can take advantage of what experts say are some of the most generous settlement principles in the world. And it can often mean the financially weaker party is racing to file divorce papers before their better-off better-half - sometimes, before they even tell them that they want to break things off. In fact, the biggest divorce cases in English legal history have involved foreign couples who were already divorced sometime before papers were filed seeking a division of assets. Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan was awarded £554million by the High Court from her husband, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - the ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed had divorced her under Sharia law in 2019 - before she fled to the UK where, as an ambassador of Jordan, she had leave to remain, and waited a year before filing her claim. And Tatiana Akhmedova - later Soroka - claimed £150million of what was meant to be a £453million award from her ex-husband, Russian gas baron Farkhad Akhmedov. The pair were married for 20 years as he made millions from his early investment in, and subsequent takeover of, energy firm ZAO Northgas. Azerbaijan-born Akhmedov filed for divorce in 2000 - but Akhmedova, who lives in London, did not seek a division of assets until 2013, a year after he sold his stake in Northgas for $1.375billion. Ms Nevin continued: 'Sometimes we see couples divorcing here who are not English nationals and were married elsewhere, but one or both has since moved here. 'It can be suggested that the weaker financial party has re-centred their life here for jurisdictional purposes. More often than not it's because the outcome is likely to be more generous (for them) here. 'We do often see the financially weak party starting proceedings here before the prospect has even been discussed with their partner, because they want to secure the jurisdiction of the court.' Such practice, of browsing for the ideal jurisdiction in which to hear a case, is known as 'forum shopping' or 'divorce tourism'. 'Some people wrongly assume that if you're not from England or Wales, if you're not a national and or you are married elsewhere, then this country can't deal with the divorce. That's not the case,' said Ms Nevin. 'So, in terms of where there might be a race to court to secure the jurisdiction, here we see it a lot where there aren't divorce proceedings yet, and it benefits one person to have the divorce here, and they can attach themselves (to the country). 'Absent of there being a legitimate legal challenge, you're stuck with our far more discretionary court.' Such a challenge came from businessman Vladimir Potanin - a sanctioned Russian businessman worth some £16billion - who was facing a multibillion-pound challenge from his ex-wife Natalia Potanina in London. Lawyers for the billionaire took his bid to stop Mrs Potanina's claim going ahead at a Supreme Court hearing in the capital in October 2023, arguing that Mr Potanin faced 'prolonged litigation' in the English courts, which, they noted, are 'renowned for their generosity' in divorce cases. The case had already been heavily litigated in Russia - giving rise to questions over whether an English court ought to be involved at all. The Supreme Court ruled in Mr Potanin's favour, concluding that earlier rulings were 'wrong in law' and had come amid a 'dystopian situation' in the litigation. Mr Potanin's lawyers have claimed that the ruling could deter 'divorce tourism' in future. Divorce battles like these, fought in public, can be messy affairs that give the public an unflinching look into the inner workings of a marriage gone wrong - a trump card for the aggrieved, perhaps, and an incentive to wrap things up quickly. But some couples are now seeking other means of resolving their differences such as arbitration, a direct alternative to court with more flexibility and, crucially, legally-binding decisions that are kept private. A process such as arbitration may well have been used by former Miss UK Kirsty Roper and her billionaire husband Ernesto Bertarelli in 2021, when they agreed a split after 'amicable' discussions. She walked away with £400million, which included a lump sum and the keys to a £52million home in Switzerland. Courts are now actively encouraging the use of arbitration and other forms of 'alternative dispute resolution', but these require both parties to agree to do so. Some may prefer to go through court regardless, fighting out the terms of their separation in the public eye after taking months to build up their case. 'There can be real tangible benefits to individuals for stepping outside of the court process, particularly with something as painful and as personal as a marital breakdown,' Ms Nevin adds. 'If privacy is important to those clients, then arbitration is an excellent option and is often quicker than the court process. 'But for some people the threat of publicity might be beneficial to them, tactically.' Since White v White, cases have continued to modify and clarify divorce law further - and the latest Supreme Court appeal has given judges another new perspective on how to divide the assets of the rich and not-so-rich alike. This week, Anna Standish failed in her bid to claim half of banker ex-husband Clive Standish's £132million fortune. Ms Standish, described by her ex-husband's lawyers as having 'no significant pre-marital wealth' had been given £25million by the divorce courts, reduced from £45m after Mr Standish appealed. She had wanted to hold onto a greater share of the £80million she was given to be invested into offshore trusts for their children, taking advantage of her non-dom status and avoiding inheritance tax. However, she had not established the trusts before the marriage broke down. Mr Standish had argued that the majority of his assets, including those intended for his children's trusts, were earned before the marriage and were therefore his - a claim with which the court has agreed. It undermines the idea that all personal assets are 'matrimonialised' following marriage: instead establishing that some, but not all, assets may become shared. Kate Clark, head of family law at Mishcon de Reya, said the ruling establishes the idea a 'practical approach' to matrimonialisation. The word itself did not exist in the English language prior to the Standish case coming to court. 'If the parties have treated the non-matrimonial asset as a shared resource over a sufficient period of time, it will be treated as matrimonial,' Ms Clark said. 'It is hoped that this will help reduce lengthy disputes as to exactly how much each spouse has contributed to assets that have clearly become joint resources over time. 'That said, the practical effects of the decision will take some working out.' Lawyers have said the ruling will spark an increase in couples signing pre- and post-nuptial agreements to avoid similarly messy public battles. While they are largely respected by the courts, pre and post-nups have no legal standing in the UK. This could change following a recommendation in December from the Law Commission to give them legal recognition - further driving couples to consider drawing them up. Claire Reid, a partner at Hall Brown Family Law, said today: 'Wealthier spouses will now be alive to the need to formalise the terms of any transfers of cash or other assets even more clearly to avoid falling into the same complicated situation.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Yahoo
Grieving mum told 'move 200 miles from city' as she mourns loss of beloved husband
A grieving mum vowed to live in a tent rather than split her family up - after Birmingham Council identified a new home for her nearly 200 miles from the city. Mum-of-four Geraldine White was stunned to be told she was a potential match for a new home in Hartlepool after her family were forced out of their previous privately-rented home. They had to quit the property in Nechells as they mourned the loss of Geraldine's husband Martin, who died days into the the New Year. READ MORE: Boy, 16, arrested as armed police swoop on Small Heath street where 'gun seen in car' Despite being bounced between a hotel in Walsall, a hostel in Tyseley and even a night sleeping rough in their shed, Geraldine refused the move to the north-east, which would have only included her and her youngest son. But she said a council worker still tried to tempt her - telling her: 'You'll be by the beach'. The authority denied a formal offer was made but said "all-time high" demand for homes in the city "severely restricted" what it could offer. "I'd rather buy a tent and camp on a piece of grass," Geraldine said. "All I have left is my family. "It's breaking my heart. We haven't been able to grieve properly. I've lost my home and my husband and If I wanted to sit beside his grave, I'd have to travel all the way down from Hartlepool." Of the Hartlepool offer, a journey of some 187 miles, she said: "The woman was very abrupt, I said I couldn't move there because it was nowhere near my family, my son's school.' She said: 'But you'll be by the beach.'" Geraldine said the upheaval around their housing meant her children, aged between 17 and 33, had been 'unable to grieve' their beloved husband and father, who died after setting himself on fire. The couple had been celebrating with a friend and two sons when the harrowing incident took place. She recalled: "I saw was a ball of smoke and saw him standing there. He'd got a lighter and set himself on fire." Warned of a four-hour wait for an ambulance, the family rushed him to hospital themselves but nothing could be done and he died on January 3. Geraldine said "nobody knew" why the incident took place. But she stressed it wasn't suicide. "We were in a rented property, we were trying to save up and move somewhere. We were trying to find somewhere smaller." While the family were arranging Martin's funeral, bailiffs turned up at the property as the landlord was served a High Court writ. She said: "We had to get out that day. We had nowhere to go. "Me and my daughter slept in the shed that night. The next day, we went to a Travelodge in Walsall." Now, the family are bidding on three-bed homes where they can "all be together". She added: "I'm not asking for a fancy house, we all want to be together. "The stress is mounting. There's only so much you can handle. I'm trying to stay as strong as I can because I'm trying to sort things out. But everywhere I turn, I'm hitting a brick wall. "We're such a close knit family, with what's happened it's made us even closer. The trauma we've been through, we just want some normality - whatever normal is." Birmingham City Council said: "The country is in the grip of a severe national housing crisis and demand for accommodation in Birmingham is at an all-time high. "The accommodation shortage severely restricts what options we can offer to people in need, and we know many people across the city are in difficult situations and facing a long wait for a home. "The council's housing service looks at all options for suitable homes and we focus on matching families to properties which are both affordable and provide a positive environment for them, meeting their specific needs. "Geraldine was initially placed as a potential match for a property outside Birmingham, however after discussions with the housing team, it was determined the property was not suitable, so an offer was not made. We understand Geraldine is in a difficult situation and are working with her to find suitable housing for herself and her family." Have you been affected by this? We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing
