A childhood summer is the highlight of many of our lives. But it is not so for the hundred of thousands of kids living in overcrowded houses for whom a school day is a welcome break. Across Britain, a harsh reality is hidden quietly behind closed doors: the overcrowding crisis. While the housing crisis is often framed as a crisis of affordability for young people looking to get on the ladder, the staggering number of families forced into cramped living conditions is an overlooked symptom of our shortage of homes. There are over 3.4 million people in the country living in overcrowded housing, most of them children. These children and families living in cramped conditions must be high on the government’s house building agenda.
How many families are overcrowded?
The sheer scale of overcrowding is a stark indictment of the inequality perpetuated by our current housing market. Recent reports indicate that over a million households in the UK are living in overcrowded conditions. This number includes families with children who find themselves trapped in spaces barely fit for human habitation.
The impact of overcrowding
Overcrowding isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a state of living that wreaks havoc on physical and mental health. At no other time was this more apparent than during lockdown where COVID ripped through overcrowded households at an alarming rate. For example, devastating harm was suffered in the South Asian community in Newham, where a quarter of homes are overcrowded.
Children who grow up in cramped spaces suffer from stifled emotional and intellectual development, with limited access to quiet spaces to study or to play. Kids in this environment are 3 to 4 times more likely to suffer from mental health conditions with a long-run impact on their lives. The stresses from overcrowding lead to heightened tensions within families, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and hindering social mobility. Overcrowding is a clear barrier to ambitions to break down barriers at every level. Britain should be the best place in the world to grow up in and raise a family but for many working-class people there are too few good homes available.
Where does overcrowding happen in Britain?
The reality of overcrowding is not confined to any single corner of our nation. But it particularly impacts cities where people are drawn for better work opportunities. In London, where sky-high rents collide with a lack of affordable housing, overcrowding is particularly acute. Many of these families are located in councils that struggle with too few social homes to meet demand for them, and long waiting lists.
How do we avoid overcrowding?
To truly address overcrowding, we must commit to a radical reimagining of the role of government in delivering more housing. Too often the government leaves it to solely the private sector who don’t want to deliver truly affordable housing or to councils or housing associations who lack the resources to redevelop their housing stock. One powerful solution to overcrowding in urban areas could come through empowering local government to deliver estate renovation that builds larger flats for existing tenants, and new social housing for local residents in overcrowded and unaffordable private renting. Estate regeneration in cities can deliver tens of thousands homes that are larger, built sustainably, and that have lower running costs. Furthermore, in many of the most unaffordable places like Cambridge, York or London, these improvements will pay for themselves through cross-subsidy. This requires a government to get behind local councils and residents for a long-term solution to local housing pressures.
Conclusion
We must rally behind building more homes for overcrowded families. Too many children suffer the sharp edge of the housing crisis that leaves a long-lasting impact on their lives. It is not an insurmountable task, as demonstrated by the success rate of estate ballots in London but we must be more ambitious in the number of estates. A determination to build more social housing and redevelop estates is an investment in Britain’s children.
Image source: IStock.com / DGLimages
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