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Concern five Broxtowe bereaved siblings will have to move out of their family home

By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter 

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There is concern five bereaved siblings in Broxtowe will have to move out of their family home after the council did not provide a guarantee over a future tenancy address.

The Starbuck family, made up of parents Stewart, 44, and five children between the ages of 10 and 20, have lived in their Kimberley home for around four years.

Both Stewart and late wife Mandy have dealt with their own separate cancer battles for ‘quite some years’ and, sadly, Mandy died in June 2025 aged 42.

Now, Stewart is on end-of-life care and has been recently told he has weeks or months to live, leaving questions surrounding where his five children will live after his passing.

Under UK housing law there is a rule that – generally – only allows one ‘successor’ to a council housing tenancy when the original tenant dies.

In the Starbuck family’s case, when Mandy died that ‘succession’ moved on to Stewart and now the family are asking Broxtowe Borough Council if an exception could be made to allow Stewart’s 19-year-old son, Mason, to take on the tenancy of their home after he passes.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) on Friday (July 18), Christina Starbuck, Stewart’s sister and the children’s aunt, said there was no written “clarity” from the council whether this was possible.

Christina said a council officer previously visiting Stewart’s home said a tenancy would be given to a family member but they ‘could not guarantee’ it would be for the same property as the family’s current home.

Currently, Stewart still has sole responsibility for his children but, with his oncologist and a police officer as witnesses, he has signed a letter to ensure that, upon his passing, joint guardianship over the children will be given to Mason and Christina – sole responsibility will lie with Mason.

Speaking to the LDRS last Friday, Christina said: “[This] doesn’t clarify anything because until Stewart passes away Mason won’t be given guardianship – we wanted clarity [over the tenancy location] before Stewart passes away.

“[Mason’s] going to be grieving two parents – do you want him to pause his grief to call the council to ask for a tenancy agreement?

“Right now, Mason’s got his dad around for support. [Giving him the tenancy now] would give him time to adjust in terms of paying rent… it would make it so much easier for him and with the support of his dad who can teach him all of that.”

Mason Starbuck told the LDRS today (July 21) he wants written assurance from the council that he can take on the tenancy for his family home.

He said: “This does put a bit of stress on me, if we would have to move, it would mean finding all new schools for my [younger siblings] and finding a way of getting our stuff into a new place, or finding a place to store it all.

“The reason we want to stay here is it has all the memories with mum and dad – if we move we’re not going to have them memories there.”

The LDRS approached Broxtowe Borough Council asking for clarification on the Starbuck family’s case.

A council spokesperson said: “The Council confirmed to Mr Starbuck last Thursday that the council will offer a tenancy to the person that is given guardianship of his children and that his children will not be asked to leave their home whilst the guardianship matter is being concluded.”

They “apologised” for the delay it took for the council to inform Stewart of this decision.

The spokesperson continued: “The council can use discretion to grant the tenancy to another member of the family although there is not a legal right to do so.

“The council will use its discretion to do this. As Mr Starbuck does not currently know who will have guardianship of his children, we have been unable to agree who will be granted the tenancy at this stage.”

Responding to the council’s response on Friday (July 18), Christina said the family is still ‘wary’ as the authority’s letter has not given “definitive reassurance” that a future tenancy will be given to Mason for the current family home.

The family’s Broxtowe Borough Councillor Peter Bales (Labour), representing the Watnall and Nuthall West ward, told the LDRS today it is “disappointing” the council had not dealt with the Starbuck’s circumstances sooner.

The family waited more than two weeks for the council to respond to their circumstances in writing.

He said: “It’s taken so long after initially raising it at the beginning of the month [July]. It can’t just be affecting the Starbuck family… it’s the last thing people need when coping with such terrible circumstances.”

Cllr Bales added housing succession law should be reassessed nationally to account for these exceptional circumstances to prevent future similar cases happening for other bereaved families.