Since 2017, children have been disappearing from Camden’s schools. Rolls are down and 52 classes have been removed in primary schools alone.
The dwindling pupil numbers have hit school finances, and the Council has been struggling to fill the gap. State schools in England receive funding per pupil with various top-ups such as the pupil premium or funding for special educational needs. The dramatic drop in Camden’s rolls has therefore led to four school closures in just four years. The remaining children have scattered to nearby schools and staff have been let go.
But Camden is not alone in school closures. Many boroughs in areas of London that are perfect for families with excellent cultural opportunities, good transport links and good jobs for parents have seen a huge decline in families. Schools are closing across the capital. Hackney has closed 4, Islington 2; and Lambeth and Southwark will amalgamate 28 schools.
So where have all the children gone? Well, primarily their parents decided to leave for areas with less unaffordable housing. Housing costs in the capital have soared by over 50% in some boroughs since 2013. We began to see the trend of families leaving central London before 2019 in response to the high-cost. It was during the pandemic when the exodus came into focus as remote-work freed many more parents from the necessity of a daily commute. We can see that as school rolls fell in Camden, they rose in Kingston upon Thames over the same period.
But the narrative of moving out for cheaper housing and a garden isn’t the main factor. Camden’s population of families has actually increased as a proportion of the borough since the 2011 census. The families left just tend to have fewer children and are wealthy. This has meant that many families eschew state schools for private schools – which is remarkable given that Camden’s state schools are good by national standards. Indeed, the number of teenagers attending private schools is five times higher in Camden than the national average. High housing costs in central London haven’t pushed out families – they have pushed out less well-off families.
As well as the impact of those high costs on families, the shortage of housing has allowed landlords to be incredibly picky about their tenants and discriminate against families with young children. Flats for private rent have seen an increase in demand as the average number of enquiries rose to 25 per flat.
The case of Lexi Levens who could not find a home for her four children despite her husband and her passing affordability checks, highlights the hurdles that families face in finding a suitable home. Younger couples know that affordable housing is one of the largest barriers in starting a family and tend to leave London for cheaper places, despite the impact that has on work opportunities and social ties.
The alarming decline in school rolls and subsequent closures in Camden, along with several other boroughs in London, illustrate the housing challenge faced by families in the capital. Affordability remains a critical factor and it has disproportionately affected less well-off families.
The solution is to build more affordable homes in central London. But, apart, from parks, all the land is already used in some way, and many of the buildings are already tall or are historically protected. The most sensible direction would be to increase our social housing stock through estate renewals and building on underused public land. We see success in Kingston where the Cambridge Park Road Estate regeneration will help fill King’s Oak primary school in an area which had only recently closed another school in 2020 because of lack of children. While many boroughs face a future with fewer children, it is time we address the root cause of family flight and build our future family homes in central London.
Image source: horizontal.integration, CC BY-NC-SA
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