vercrowding in England
Levels of overcrowding in London are more than twice as high as the rest of England for every tenure ( but it’s worst for tenants).
In England:
- 1% of owner occupier households are over crowded,
- 3 % of private tenants are living in overcrowded housing and in Social housing
- 4% are living in over crowded house holds
Over Crowding In London :
- 3% of owner occupier households are over crowded,
- 11% of private tenants are living in overcrowded housing and in Social housing
- 13% are living in over crowded house holds
Houses in Multiple occupation.
Londoners have it tough, with house and rental prices spiralling over the past decade, HMOs (home of multiple occupancy) have become a popular choice for the young single people and couples.
London has 40% of the country’s total HMO tenancies.
It is often the cheapest form of housing available to people and can have a reputation of being a bit “scuzzy” and the choice of poeple with no other choice. But most working people in London living on their won live in a HMO.The biggest complaint is small hutch like units as developers try and sqeeze and squash in as many in a building as possible.The New regulations, which came in on 1.10.18 may just start to tackle the biggest problem.
- Bedrooms must not fall below a minimum room size(6.52 sqm for one person and 10.23 sq. m for two persons). Only rooms that meet the minimum room sizes can now be occupied for sleeping in in a licensed HMO, whether the room is in a shared house or is a bedsit.
- he definition of an HMO : for licensing purposes, from 1/10/18 , will be ” any property occupied by five or more people, forming two or more separate households” and must be licenced by the local authority .
- new minimum /standards/ numbers of bins and storage facilities for waste to be setWe think that as the biggest change will be that rooms under 4.64 sqm cannot be used for sleeping ( plus the fact that any floor area under a height standard of 1.5m is not included in the calculation.) will have the biggest change. Council can make it better Local councils can also apply further conditions to licence HMO local IE building on the minimum room sizes, amenity standards (kitchen facilities, number of bathrooms etc) the standard of HMO accommodation may , at long last , improve.
We think that LA need to set the agenda for higher standards – they have the power to demand higher standards and should do so for the benefit of local residents.
Rogue landlords often try and cram as many bedsit units in as possible to maximise their rental income. This has been standard pratice in central London.We hope local councillors will aim to set higher standard local : they have the power. If you think people in bedsits need more room than 1 single bed plus a coffee table please do rise this with local councillors
If the above effects you please do ring us on 02073734005