Britain’s biggest family The Radford’s torn apart by huge decision that threatens to ‘split up the family’
IN tonight’s episode of 22 Kids & Counting, we saw Britain’s biggest family torn apart by a huge decision.
As the family searched for a new house, Sue and Noel found their dream property - but there was a big problem - it was too small.
Faced with a difficult decision, the Radford couple were left to make a challenging choice - do they move house and split up their family, or stay put?
At the start of the episode, the couple shared one of the main reasons why they were keen to move - the lack of privacy.
While we’ve all experienced nosey neighbours, Sue and Noel explained that they regularly get keen cold callers visit their family’s home.
Sue looked outside the window and said: “She’s taking pictures of my car and she’s taking pictures of my motorhome.
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“People turning up at the house has definitely become a regular occurrence.
“They’ll start taking pictures. Then the front gate will open and they’ll start walking up the footpath.”
Noel then chimed in: “And that is where we draw the line.”
Sue explained: “I’m more than happy to meet people out and about, but I think when it’s your house, it’s just not ok. There’s definitely a line we draw with privacy, I think we have to.
"When they open the gate and knock on the door, that’s a line you don’t cross.”
These concerns led to a big decision for the family, as Noel revealed: “I think this has gone too far. We don’t think we can live here anymore, so we’ve decided to make another attempt to move house.”
It came two years ago the family dreamed of converting a derelict barn into a home fit for their bumper brood, when the huge costs involved and the low sale price of their own house meant a low bid that fell short.
But now, boosted by the improved family finances, they’re in with a much better shout.
The couple began house hunting and soon enough, found their dream home.
Before she’d even stepped foot inside, Sue was beaming, as she claimed: “I want that house Noel.”
Shortly after walking in, they’d already made up their minds, as Noel said: “Everything about it is exactly what we’ve been looking for. It ticked every box.”
Sue then agreed: “I can really see us living here. It is everything that we want. I really like it.”
But that night, Noel explained that he couldn’t sleep a wink, as all he could think about was the house.
The next morning, Noel put an offer in for the house. However, 30 minutes later, the estate agent confirmed that their offer had been rejected.
Despite this, after meeting in the middle, second time lucky, the offer was accepted on the house of their dreams.
Totally thrilled at the purchase of their new seven bedroom house, Sue gushed: “We’ve just bought a house! How exciting!”
But despite their excitement, they were faced with a difficult decision - where would everyone sleep?
With more children than bedrooms, Noel explained: “Obviously the garage is going to have to be converted. But I don’t think we’ll find anything better than this.”
The couple then got set on planning which child would have which room, but they’d quickly used up all the rooms and were left with five children.
In order to accommodate everyone, they would need to convert the garage and have an extension.
But adding the new extension would spoil the character of the house and not long later, the costs came back at nearly twice as much as what they had budgeted.
Under the threat of eviction were the five oldest kids - Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 23, Katie, 21, and James, 20.
Clearly stressed, Sue explained: “We’ve brought so many children home to this house. It’s where we’ve brought our family up for the last 19 years.
"It holds a lot of lovely memories. We’ve been here for so long. It’s a part of us.
“We’ve had all of the family together and now we’re buying this house and it’s not big enough for everybody.
“One child leaving home is emotional enough, but having five children leave home is something that I’ve never had to deal with before.
"It’s such a big thing to do. We are splitting up the family. Are we doing the right thing?”
With temperatures rising, at the end of the episode, after a lot of deliberation, Sue and Noel gathered the children in the front room, as they revealed their decision.
Sue told the kids: “This journey started off with me and dad falling in love with this house, but we can’t fit everyone in. There’s too many of you.”
Noel then chimed in: “We looked at each of you and thought, ‘can they look after themselves?’. ‘No’ was the answer, some of you probably can’t, but do you know what, you’re going to have to start.
“So you five, you won’t be coming with us.”
Tensions were high, but soon after, Sue explained the decision that would change everything, as she explained: “The thought of you going your separate ways was just too much for me to bear. I’ve realised that as much as I really want the house, I want my family more.
“We want you guys to stay here and rent it from us. Then you’ve still got somewhere to live.”
The decision would mean that Sue, Noel and the younger children would still be able to move into their dream home, whilst the older children would stay in the family home, learning to budget and live independently.
Noel then shared: “You’re going to have to start paying for your own gas, your own electric, your own shopping.”
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Whilst Sue chimed in: “It’s been the worst time seeing the family fall apart, but this is the perfect solution. We get to move and they get some independence, and I get to pop round for some hugs.”
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