For 44 years, an elderly couple has been living in an 8-square meter corrugated sheet hut built on the roof of a toilet.

The ramshackle "hut" stands in a small alley on Hang Bac street in Hanoi's Old Quarter. Its residents are 80-year-old Nguyen Phung Hai, his 70-year-old wife Nguyen Thi Xam and their 26-year-old daughter. The toilet on which their dwelling stands is used by 6 households (including them) in the alley.

One of the hut’s walls made with corrugated metal sheets, has become rusty and is riddled with holes. Inside, it is always dark and paint peels off damp walls.

The couple and their daughter have a difficult time when it rains. "If I do not sweep quickly, the water can rise by up to 20cm," said Xam. If it rains all night, the family has to stay up to ensure the house does not get flooded.

In the past, there was only Hai’s family living in the alley. After 1975, he wanted to move out and decided to use the roof of the restroom as a bedroom. "It used to be a 3-square-meter room until I got married, then they allowed me to expand it," Hai recalled.

Hai was 50 and Xam 40 when they got married 30 years go. The met via a matchmaker. However, until the wedding was over, she had not known how he lived, and was duly shocked when saw the squalid, cramped set up. She did not spend the first night at her husband’s place, but returned the next day because "for better or for worse, he was my husband". The couple has never invited anyone to their home since.

Living on the roof of a toilet shared by many people, there are times when the couple can’t stand the stink, especially its really hot and sunny. So Hai and his wife keep cleaning it with water regularly. In the summer, the 80-year-old man spends hours splashing water on to the walls to keep his hut cool.