One million children living in overcrowded homes, says Shelter

Housing shortage sees record number of under-15s living in cramped conditions

• Anthea Lipsett
• The Guardian, Wednesday 29 July 2009
• Article history

More than one million children in England now live in overcrowded homes, a rise of 54,000 in the last two years, a charity warned today.

New figures released by Shelter highlight the record number of under-15-year-olds living in cramped conditions, with one in 10 children in overcrowded housing.

The figures, calculated from the government's annual Survey of English Housing, reveal the problem is particularly acute in London and among those living in social housing. One in five (331,000) children in London and one fifth (520,000) of those in social rented housing live in cramped conditions, while social housing in London is worst hit. More than a third of children (234,000) living in social housing in the capital are in either overcrowded or seriously overcrowded homes.

Under the law, overcrowding is defined as two people of the opposite sex sleeping in the same room, unless they are a couple or at least one of them is under 10 years old.

The legal definition, which has been in place since 1935, deems kitchens and living rooms as acceptable places to sleep and discounts under-one-year-olds as a person living in a property – those between one and 10 count as half a person.

The housing and homelessness charity said overcrowding was devastating for family life and health, with children up to 10 times more likely to contract meningitis as a result. Sam Younger, Shelter's chief executive, said the problem of children living in overcrowded conditions in particular had been hidden for too long.

"There is no doubt that overcrowding has a massive impact on children's health, safety and future prospects and can cause depression for parents struggling to cope in cramped conditions," he said.

"With many children unable to study due to a lack of space, the impact of overcrowding is robbing them of an education and a fair chance in life.

"The government must ensure enough affordable family-sized homes are built and introduce an updated definition of overcrowding that reflects a modern need for space and privacy."

Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on housing, said overcrowding could ruin a child's life. "We have a chronic lack of family-sized social housing and unless the government addresses this shortage, many more children will be condemned to life in crowded housing.

"We need a massive increase in the number of social homes to stop more families suffering the misery of overcrowded and unsuitable housing."